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Rep. Theodorick Bland

Former Representative for Virginia’s 9th District

Bland was the representative for Virginia’s 9th congressional district and was (unknown party). He served from 1789 to 1791.

Legislators who enslaved Black people

Bland 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compiled the first database of slaveholding members of Congress by examining thousands of pages of census records and historical documents. Bland was one of them.

Voting Record

Missed Votes

From May 1789 to Dec 1790, Bland missed 25 of 53 roll call votes, which is 47.2%. This is much worse than the median of 10.1% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 1790. 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: