The race between incumbent Republican A.C. Cordoza and Democrat challenger Virgil Thornton Sr. to represent House District 86 intensified after Thornton released an attack advertisement alleging Cordoza “has a long history of predatory behavior.”
Thornton’s campaign released the ad Sept. 17 that accused Cordoza, first elected in 2021, of sexual harassment, running an online sexting ring and pulling a gun on a retired state trooper. It also noted its allegations were “all public record.”
The race to represent District 86, which is comprised of Poquoson and parts of Hampton and York County, is the second tightest in the General Assembly, according to data from State Navigate, a nonpartisan political research nonprofit.
Cordoza said since his first campaign four years ago, he had gotten used to attack ads from opponents based on policy or ideological disagreements, but he was shocked when he saw an ad attacking his character.
“They are false and misleading in nature,” Cordoza, 35, said as he sat down for an interview this week about the allegations and his campaign.
Thornton, a first-time public office seeker, is standing by the attack ad. In an interview, Thornton, 64, said his campaign’s research and legal teams spent weeks making sure all the claims are truthful and within legal standards.
“The voters of the 86th District deserve to know the truth about who’s representing them in Richmond, because public office is a position of trust, and anyone that endangers our families or abuses that trust has no business serving our communities,” Thornton said. “We deserve leaders who put integrity and safety first.”
The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press investigated the ad’s claims.
Sexual harassment allegation
The ad points to a police report as the source of a sexual harassment allegation. Cordoza’s name is not in the report, but he confirmed he was the robbery victim referenced in the report.
According to the police report, which was obtained by the Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot, Hampton police responded to an allegation of a robbery of $540 at Cordoza’s home Aug. 18, 2009, when Cordoza was 19 and a student at Virginia Peninsula Community College. Police found an 18-year-old woman fleeing Cordoza’s home on foot, who asked police to file a report for sexual harassment. She claimed Cordoza had tried to touch her breast and “flipped” while they were at his house, and she got scared and ran, according to the report.
She initially denied having any money. Officers told her Cordoza said $100 was paid to her legitimately, and he would not press charges if he got the remaining $440 back. She then gave $100 to police, saying it was for a completing a paper for Cordoza.
The police report says the woman later changed her statement to say she received the $100 for speaking to a girl to leave Cordoza alone. She added she had gone to Cordoza’s house to collect her payment, and he offered more money for sex, according to the report. She said she ran out of the house, and Cordoza tried to “stop her and touch her.”
Police detained the woman and found the remaining $440. Cordoza agreed to not to pursue charges if the woman agreed not to retaliate against Cordoza, according to the report.
In an interview, Cordoza said the money was from his monthly Veterans Affairs check from his father’s service.
“I was in college, I wanted to feel like a superstar,” Cordoza said. “I’m going to wave it around and just feel it for a minute, which was dumb. I know now you don’t do that.”
Cordoza said he and the woman were and still are friends. He had loaned her money before, and the $100 was to help her pay her phone bill. He said that she came to borrow the $100, and when he went to the bathroom, the money was gone upon his return.
He said he chose not to pursue charges because of their friendship.
According to Cordoza, he was never formally questioned by police. He denied trying to have sex with the woman, as well as trying to touch her.
“She lied about that,” Cordoza said. “Those are all lies that she told. She took the money and I wanted the money back, and that’s the truth.”
Tagged.com
Thornton’s advertisement also accused Cordoza of running a sexting ring on a website called Tagged.com. Cordoza confirmed he did start an account on the site when he was 17, but said his dating profile and private group chat have long since been abandoned.
The advertisement showed a profile with Cordoza’s name and a username that matched documents provided by Cordoza’s campaign. However, he said the account was the result of a teenager trying to find a girlfriend, not a sexual predation, as the advertisement framed it.
“It’s incredibly immature,” Cordoza said. “I’m embarrassed about it. That’s embarrassing to look at your old dating profiles and stuff like that.”
Tagged launched in 2004 as an under-18 social networking site, but allowed users of any age to join in 2006. The website came under investigation in 2010 amid complaints about the sharing of sexual content involving minors.
The profile account mentioned in the ad, which Cordoza confirmed was his, created a group on the site for sharing nudes. According the group’s description on the site, joining required sharing pictures to group members.
“(The ad) is referring to some group. First off, it’s not a sexting ring. It’s an empty internet group chat. Completely empty,” Cordoza said. “There was one guy in there, and he said, ‘where’s everyone at?’”
Cordoza said he was only active in the group, which at its peak in 2010 had dozens of members, for three days in 2009. He said he hasn’t been active on the site in over a decade. He also denied requiring people to upload nude photos to join his group and denied ever interacting with a minor using the site.
“This is back in 2009, when the internet was in its infancy, especially social media,” Cordoza said.
Brandishing a firearm
The final claim in the ad states that Cordoza was charged with pulling a gun on a retired state trooper in 2017. Hampton General District Court records show Cordoza was charged with pointing and brandishing a firearm but was found not guilty.
According to Cordoza, the interaction referenced in the ad stemmed from a case of road rage involving another driver who Cordoza admitted to cutting off in traffic. While Cordoza acknowledges his .380 pistol was within sight and reach when the man approached his car, he denies pointing a gun at the man. He said the man tried to confront Cordoza, hitting his car and breaking his door handle, before getting back in his car and driving away.
“I didn’t even reach,” Cordoza said. “If he was to get in, totally different story.”
757 Votes: The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press 2025 election guide
Thornton’s campaign
All 100 of Virginia’s House of Delegates seats are up for election this year and House Democrats are pouring money into this year’s races to hold and expand upon their 51-49 majority. The caucus announced in August a more than $1 million investment into 18 races scattered across the state.
Fourteen of the 18 races Democrats are targeting are attempts to flip Republican-held seats, including District 86.
Thornton has outraised Cordoza, collecting more than $370,000 in donations compared to Cordoza’s roughly $220,000, according to campaign finance reports.
Cordoza defeated Democrat challenger Jarris Taylor Jr. in 2023 by more than 3,000 votes. However, Thornton said he believes the seat can be flipped blue, and voters are at a crossroads in prioritizing community needs.
“By having and expanding that majority, then we can meet people where they are and be able to help them meet their needs as far as education, health care and the economy, because that’s what I have found is really important to a thriving community, those three elements,” Thornton said.
Thornton said those priorities are shaped by his time living on the Peninsula. He has lived in Hampton for nearly 40 years. He’s a father of three and foster father of six, and worked in shipyards and was a civilian technician for the U.S. Navy.
He said his personal bout with cancer, which was discovered during a routine colonoscopy five years ago, opened his eyes to problems with affordable health care. He said despite his quality insurance, it nearly bankrupted his family.
“That’s one of the reasons why I want to work so hard toward making sure that people have access to quality health care, because health care shouldn’t be a privilege,” he said. “Health care needs to be a right.”
Cordoza’s campaign
Cordoza is no longer the underdog candidate he was when he first campaigned four years ago. However, he said he still feels like an underdog as the only minority Republican in Virginia’s General Assembly.
“I have to be immersed in all these spaces that I’m not originally used to,” Cordoza said. “But I have to represent them because a lot of them don’t feel like they have any other representation in the conservative community.”
Cordoza was the chief patron of 18 bills during the 2025 legislative session, including three commendations. The commendations were the only bills to pass. He was the chief patron for 32 bills during the 2024 session, including three commendations. Six of those bills and all three commendations passed.
Cordoza said he doesn’t care about being chief patron on a bill or the rate at which his bills are passed into law. He cares about total numbers.
“I’m not going to sit there and put in five bills and hope for one. I’ll put in 30 bills and hope for five,” Cordoza said. “Because I can get more done.”
One of the areas Cordoza said he particularly cares about pushing legislation through is regarding child safety and human trafficking, and has worked across the aisle on things like the state’s establishment of the CODI alert system, the state program designed to inform the public of missing children.
Cordoza introduced a bill to establish the CODI alert system in 2024. His bill was left in committee. House Democrats introduced a similar bill after his, which ultimately passed. Cordoza said he’s had bills killed because his name was on them as a patron.
“I don’t play those games,” Cordoza said.
Devlin Epding, 757-510-4037, [email protected]
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