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Rep. Isaac Coles

Former Representative for Virginia’s 6th District

Coles was the representative for Virginia’s 6th congressional district and was a Republican. He served from 1795 to 1797.

He was previously the representative for Virginia’s 6th congressional district as a Republican from 1793 to 1795; and the representative for Virginia’s 6th congressional district as a Republican from 1789 to 1791.

Legislators who enslaved Black people

Coles was among more than 1,800 legislators who enslaved Black people. The Washington Post compiled the first database of slaveholding members of Congress by examining thousands of pages of census records and historical documents. Coles was one of them.

Voting Record

Missed Votes

From May 1789 to Mar 1797, Coles missed 50 of 261 roll call votes, which is 19.2%. This is on par with the median of 15.7% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Mar 1797. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.

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Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including: