Bobby Scott unseated a 16-year veteran when he won his House of Delegates seat in 1977. He moved to the state Senate in a special election to fill the vacancy created when Republican Herbert H. Bateman was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Scott won re-election by increasing margins each time.
In 1986, he unsuccessfully challenged Bateman for the U.S. House. He was elected to the House in 1992 with 79 percent of the vote, defeating Republican Daniel Jenkins. He was re-elected in 1994 with 79 percent, defeating Republican Thomas Ward, and in 1996 defeated Republican Elsie Howard with 82 percent.
Scott was re-elected in 1998 and 2000 without major party opposition, and ran unopposed again in 2002.
