Scott, Bobby, 1947-

Robert Cortez Scott (born April 30, 1947) is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Virginia's 3rd congressional district since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the dean of Virginia's congressional delegation. The district serves most of the majority-black precincts of Hampton Roads, including all of the independent cities of Franklin, Newport News (where he resides) and Portsmouth, parts of the independent cities of Chesapeake, Hampton, Norfolk and Suffolk and all of Isle of Wight County.

Scott was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Newport News, Virginia. He graduated from Groton School in 1965 and went on to receive his A.B. in government from Harvard College in (1969) and his Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School in 1973. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Scott is a former member of the Massachusetts Army National Guard (1970-1973) and Army Reserve (1974-1976). He was a lawyer in private practice in Newport News, Virginia from 1973 to 1991.

Scott was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates as a Democrat in 1977 and he was elected to the Senate of Virginia in 1982, after a census-based reapportionment changed district numbers. Scott first ran for Congress in 1986 in the 1st district, losing to Republican incumbent U.S. Congressman Herb Bateman 56%-44%.

In 1992, the Department of Justice directed the Virginia legislature to draw a black-majority district after the 1990 census. The legislature responded by shifting most of the black residents of Hampton Roads and Richmond into a newly created 3rd district. Scott won a three-way Democratic primary with 67% of the vote, which was tantamount to election in this heavily Democratic district. In the general election, he defeated Republican Dan Jenkins 79%-21%. In the subsequent fourteen elections between 1994 and 2020, Scott's percentage of the vote has ranged from 67 to 98 percent.