Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2019

2019 Virginia House Elections
General	November 5, 2019

Democrats gained control of the Virginia House of Delegates on November 5, 2019. Democrats won a 55-45 majority. Heading into the election, Republicans held a 51-49 majority. All 100 seats were up for election.^[1]

Democrats picked up Districts 28, 40, 76, 83, 91, and 94. They defeated four Republican incumbents: Tim Hugo (HD-40), Chris Jones (HD-76), Christopher Stolle (HD-83), and David Yancey (HD-94). Races in the other two districts were open as Robert Thomas Jr. (HD-28) and Gordon Helsel (HD-91) did not seek re-election.

Ballotpedia identified 27 battleground races that would determine who controlled the chamber after the election. Click here to read about those races.

The elections determined control of Virginia’s government heading into congressional and state legislative redistricting after the 2020 Census.^[2] Because Democrats won both chambers of the legislature, they had a trifecta—control of the state legislature and the governorship—during redistricting. Gov. Northam will serve through 2021 and can veto new maps.

In addition to the 49 seats Democrats won in the 2017 elections, there were 11 districts that Gov. Ralph Northam (D) won in the gubernatorial election that had a Republican incumbent heading into the 2019 elections. There were no districts where the inverse was true (districts won by Republican Ed Gillespie and held by a Democratic delegate). To read more about the gubernatorial results by house district, click here.

Following a shooting in Virginia Beach that killed 12 people on May 31, gun policy became a prominent issue in this election. An October 2019 poll by The Washington Post found that gun policy was the top issue for those voting in the election.^[3] Everytown for Gun Safety and the National Rifle Association each gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to campaigns across the state.^[4] Gov. Northam called a special session to consider gun legislation, which the legislature adjourned after two hours without considering any legislation. Republican leaders called the move an "election-year stunt" by Northam, while the Virginia Democratic Party said in a statement it would "make sure on November 5th that [Republicans'] 90 minutes on the floor [were] their last 90 minutes in the majority."^[5]

Ahead of the election, the The Washington Post wrote, "If Democrats win the House and Senate, the party will control every lever of state power for the first time in 25 years. Many long-stymied Democratic goals — to restrict guns, expand gay rights, loosen restrictions on abortion and raise the minimum wage, to name a few — would probably become law."^[6] The elections in Virginia also attracted national attention because they "could offer clues on party strength in suburban swing districts for next year's presidential election," according to The Wall Street Journal.^[7]

In 2017, Virginia Democrats flipped 15 Republican-held House of Delegates seats—their largest gains in the chamber since 1899.^[8]

The primary was on June 11, 2019, and the filing deadline for candidates was March 28, 2019. The Virginia House of Delegates was one of seven state legislative chambers with regular elections in 2019. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

Click here to read more about the 2019 Virginia State Senate elections.
Click here to read more about the 2019 Virginia Democratic state legislative primaries.
Click here to read more about the 2019 Virginia Republican state legislative primaries.
Click here to read more about the 2017 Virginia House of Delegates elections.

Candidates[edit]

The candidate lists below are based on candidate filing lists provided by the Virginia Department of Elections. (I) denotes an incumbent.^[9][10][11]

Incumbents retiring[edit]

Twelve incumbents did not run for re-election in 2019.^[12] Those incumbents were:

Retiring incumbents
Name	Party	Office
Todd E. Pillion	Republican	House District 4
Richard Bell	Republican	House District 20
T. Scott Garrett	Republican	House District 23
Steve Landes	Republican	House District 25
David Toscano	Democratic	House District 57
Riley Ingram	Republican	House District 62
Debra Rodman	Democratic	House District 73
Matthew James	Democratic	House District 80
Cheryl Turpin	Democratic	House District 85
John Bell	Democratic	House District 87
Gordon Helsel	Republican	House District 91
Brenda Pogge	Republican	House District 96

The 2019 elections had the most open seats since 2011, when 14 seats were open.

General election candidates[edit]

Virginia House of Delegates general election candidates
Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name.
Office	Democratic	Republican	Other
District 1		Terry Kilgore (i)
District 2	Jennifer D. Carroll Foy (i)	Heather Mitchell
District 3		James Morefield (i)
District 4	Starla Kiser	William Wampler III
District 5		Israel O'Quinn (i)
District 6	Jim Barker	Jeffrey Campbell (i)
District 7	Rhonda Seltz Did not make the ballot: Todd Fearer	Larry Rush (i)
District 8	Darlene Lewis	Joseph McNamara (i)
District 9	Did not make the ballot: Jordan Law	Charles Poindexter (i)
District 10	Wendy Gooditis (i)	Randall Minchew
District 11	S. Rasoul (i)
District 12	Chris Hurst (i)	T. Forrest Hite
District 13	Danica Roem (i)	Kelly Sweeney McGinn
District 14	Eric Stamps	Danny Marshall (i)
District 15	Beverly Harrison	Todd Gilbert (i)
District 16		Les Adams (i)	Dustin Evans (Libertarian Party)
District 17		Chris Head (i)
District 18	Laura Galante	Michael Webert (i)
District 19		Terry Austin (i)	Did not make the ballot: Dean Davison  (Libertarian Party)
District 20	Jennifer Lewis	John Avoli
District 21	Kelly Convirs-Fowler (i)	Shannon Kane
District 22	Jennifer Woofter	Kathy Byron (i)
District 23	David Zilles	Wendell Walker
District 24	Christian Worth	Ronnie Campbell (i)	Billy Eli Fishpaw (Independent)
District 25	Jennifer Kitchen	Chris Runion	Janice Allen (Independent)
District 26	Brent Finnegan	Tony Wilt (i)
District 27	Larry Barnett	Roxann Robinson (i)
District 28	Joshua Cole	Paul Milde III
District 29	Irina Khanin	Chris Collins (i)
District 30	Ann Ridgeway	Nick Freitas (i) (Write-in) Did not make the ballot: Nick Freitas (i)
District 31	Elizabeth Guzman (i)	Darrell Jordan
District 32	David Reid (i)
District 33	Mavis Taintor	Dave LaRock (i)
District 34	Kathleen J. Murphy (i)	Gary Pan
District 35	Mark Keam (i)
District 36	Ken Plum (i)
District 37	David Bulova (i)
District 38	Kaye Kory (i)
District 39	Vivian Watts (i)	Nicholas Bell
District 40	Dan Helmer	Tim Hugo (i)
District 41	Eileen Filler-Corn (i)		Rachel Mace (Libertarian Party)   John Wolfe (Independent)
District 42	Kathy Tran (i)	Steve Adragna
District 43	Mark Sickles (i)		Gail Parker (Independent Green Party of Virginia)
District 44	Paul Krizek (i)	Richard Hayden
District 45	Mark Levine (i)	Did not make the ballot: Michael Clinkscale
District 46	Charniele Herring (i)
District 47	Patrick Hope (i)
District 48	R.C. Sullivan, Jr. (i)
District 49	Alfonso Lopez (i)		Terry Modglin (Independent)
District 50	Lee Carter (i)	Ian Lovejoy
District 51	Hala Ayala (i)	Richard Anderson
District 52	Luke Torian (i)	Maria Martin
District 53	Marcus Simon (i)
District 54	Neri Canahui-Ortiz	Bobby Orrock (i)
District 55	Morgan Goodman	Buddy Fowler (i)
District 56	Juanita Matkins	John McGuire (i)
District 57	Sally Hudson
District 58	Elizabeth Alcorn	Rob Bell (i)
District 59	Tim Hickey	Matt Fariss (i)
District 60	Janie Zimmerman	James Edmunds II (i)
District 61	Trudy Bell Berry	Tommy Wright (i)
District 62	Lindsey Dougherty	Carrie Coyner
District 63	Lashrecse Aird (i)		Larry Haake (Independent)
District 64	Michele Joyce	Emily Brewer (i)
District 65	Mike Asip	Lee Ware (i)
District 66	Sheila Bynum-Coleman	Kirk Cox (i)	Linnard Harris Sr. (Independent)
District 67	Karrie Delaney (i)
District 68	Dawn Adams (i)	Garrison Coward
District 69	Betsy Carr (i)
District 70	Delores McQuinn (i)
District 71	Jeff Bourne (i)		Pete Wells (Libertarian Party)
District 72	Schuyler VanValkenburg (i)	GayDonna Vandergriff
District 73	Rodney Willett	Mary Margaret Kastelberg
District 74	Lamont Bagby (i)
District 75	Roz Tyler (i)	H. Otto Wachsmann Jr.
District 76	Clinton Jenkins	Chris Jones (i)
District 77	Cliff Hayes (i)	Did not make the ballot: Ron Wallace
District 78		Jay Leftwich (i)
District 79	Steve Heretick (i)
District 80	Don Scott Did not make the ballot: Matthew James (i)	Jim Evans	Ryan Collin Benton (Independent)
District 81	Lenard Myers	Barry Knight (i)
District 82	Gayle Johnson	Jason Miyares (i)
District 83	Nancy Guy	Christopher Stolle (i)
District 84	Karen Mallard	Glenn Davis (i)
District 85	Alex Askew	Rocky Holcomb
District 86	Ibraheem Samirah (i)
District 87	Suhas Subramanyam	Bill Drennan
District 88	Jessica Foster	Mark Cole (i)
District 89	Jerrauld Jones (i)
District 90	Joseph Lindsey (i)
District 91	Martha Mugler	Colleen Holcomb
District 92	Jeion Ward (i)
District 93	Michael P. Mullin (i)	Heather Cordasco
District 94	Shelly Simonds	David Yancey (i)	Michael Bartley (Libertarian Party)
District 95	Marcia Price (i)
District 96	Mark Downey	Amanda Batten	James Jobe (Libertarian Party)
District 97	Kevin Washington	Scott Wyatt
District 98	Ella Webster	Keith Hodges (i)
District 99	Francis Edwards	Margaret Ransone (i)
District 100	Philip Hernandez	Robert Bloxom (i)

Primary candidates[edit]

Virginia House of Delegates primary candidates
Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name.
Office	Democratic	Republican	Other
District 1		The Republican primary was canceled.
District 2	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 3		The Republican primary was canceled.
District 4		David Eaton William Wampler III
District 5		Israel O'Quinn (i) Michael Osborne
District 6	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 7	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 8	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 9	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 10	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 11	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 12	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 13	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 14	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 15	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 16		The Republican primary was canceled.
District 17		The Republican primary was canceled.
District 18	Laura Galante Tristan Shields
District 19
District 20		John Avoli Dave Bourne
District 21	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 22	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 23		Ronald Berman   E.J. Turner Perrow Jr. Wendell Walker
District 24	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 25	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 26	Catherine Copeland Brent Finnegan
District 27	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 28		Robert Thomas Jr. (i) Paul Milde III
District 29	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 30	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 31	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 32	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 33	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 34	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 35	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 36	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 37	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 38	Kaye Kory (i) Andres Jimenez
District 39	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 40	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 41	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 42	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 43	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 44	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 45	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 46	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 47	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 48	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 49	Alfonso Lopez (i) Julius Spain Sr.
District 50	Lee Carter (i) Mark D. Wolfe
District 51	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 52	Luke Torian (i) Kevin Wade
District 53	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 54	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 55	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 56	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 57	Kathleen Galvin   Sally Hudson
District 58	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 59	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 60	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 61	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 62	Lindsey Dougherty   Tavorise Marks
District 63	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 64	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 65	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 66	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 67	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 68		Garrison Coward Lori Losi
District 69	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 70	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 71	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 72	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 73	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 74	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 75	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 76	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 77	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 78		The Republican primary was canceled.
District 79	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 80	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 81	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 82	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 83	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 84	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 85	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 86	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 87	Hassan Ahmad   Akshay Bhamidipati   Johanna Gusman   Suhas Subramanyam
District 88	Kecia Evans Jessica Foster
District 89	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 90	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 91	Martha Mugler Michael Wade
District 92	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 93	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 94	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 95	The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 96	Mark Downey Rebecca Leser Christopher Mayfield	Amanda Batten Melanie Rapp Beale
District 97	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 98	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 99	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 100	The Democratic primary was canceled.	The Republican primary was canceled.

Seats flipped[edit]

The map below displays each seat in the Virginia House of Delegates that changed partisan hands as a result of the 2019 elections, shaded according to the partisan affiliation of the winner in 2019. Hover over a shaded district for more information.

State legislative seats flipped in 2019, Virginia House of Delegates
District	Incumbent	2019 winner	Direction of flip
Virginia House of Delegates District 28	Robert Thomas Jr.	Joshua Cole	R to D
Virginia House of Delegates District 40	Tim Hugo	Dan Helmer	R to D
Virginia House of Delegates District 76	Chris Jones	Clinton Jenkins	R to D
Virginia House of Delegates District 83	Christopher Stolle	Nancy Guy	R to D
Virginia House of Delegates District 91	Gordon Helsel	Martha Mugler	R to D
Virginia House of Delegates District 94	David Yancey	Shelly Simonds	R to D

2019 battleground chamber[edit]

Ballotpedia identified the Virginia House of Delegates as one of three battleground chambers in 2019. These were chambers that we anticipated to be, overall, more competitive than other chambers and had the potential to see significant shifts in party control.

The chamber was selected because it met the following conditions:

• Competitive seats: These seats were last up in 2017. Eleven seats won by Republicans had a margin of victory that was less than 10 percent. Eleven seats won by Democrats had a margin of victory that was less than 10 percent. Four of the Republican seats were open because the incumbents were not seeking re-election. Another Republican incumbent lost in the primary election. Two Democratic incumbents ran for the Virginia State Senate rather than seeking re-election. See the 2019 races to watch here.

• Majority held less than 55 percent of seats: Republicans controlled 51 of 100 seats, which is 51 percent of the total.

• 2016 presidential election results: Hillary Clinton (D) won seven districts that elected Republicans to the state House in 2017, including one district with a retired incumbent. Donald Trump (R) did not win any Democratic-controlled districts. See the 2016 presidential results in state legislative districts here.

Battleground races[edit]

Virginia House of Delegates Battleground races
Democratic seats
District 10
District 12
District 13
District 21
District 31
District 50
District 51
District 68
District 72
District 73
District 85
Republican seats
District 20
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 30
District 33
District 40
District 62
District 66
District 76
District 83
District 84
District 88
District 91
District 94
District 100

Ballotpedia identified 27 battleground races in the Virginia House of Delegates 2019 elections: 11 Democratic seats and 16 Republican seats. Based on analysis of these districts' electoral histories, these races had the potential to be more competitive than other races and to lead to shifts in the chamber's partisan balance.

To determine state legislative battleground races in 2019, Ballotpedia looked for races that fit one or more of the five factors listed below:

1. If the incumbent won less than 55 percent of the vote in the most recent election prior to 2019
2. If the presidential candidate opposite of the incumbent's party won the district in the 2016 elections and the incumbent’s margin of victory in the previous election was 10 percentage points or less
3. If the presidential candidate opposite of the incumbent's party won the district in the 2016 elections and the incumbent did not file to run for re-election
4. If the presidential candidate opposite of the incumbent's party won the district in the 2016 elections by 20 points or more
5. If the presidential candidate opposite of the incumbent's party won the district in the 2016 elections and the gubernatorial candidate opposite of the incumbent's party won the district in the 2017 gubernatorial election

Other factors could also cause a race to be classified as a battleground. For example, Ballotpedia may have considered an election to be a battleground race if an outside group or a national or state party announced that they were targeting a specific seat in order to flip it. We may have also determined a race to be a battleground if it received an unusual amount of media attention. Two additional factors were open seats and districts impacted by redistricting.

The chart below lists each battleground district, the party of the pre-election incumbent, and the party that won the district in the 2017 gubernatorial and 2016 presidential elections.

Virginia House of Delegates battleground districts, 2019
District	Pre-election incumbent	2017 gubernatorial result	2016 presidential result
District 10	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic
District 12	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic
District 13	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic
District 20	Republican	Republican	Republican
District 21	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic
District 26	Republican	Republican	Republican
District 27	Republican	Democratic	Republican
District 28	Republican	Democratic	Republican
District 30	Republican	Republican	Republican
District 31	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic
District 33	Republican	Republican	Republican
District 40	Republican	Democratic	Democratic
District 50	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic
District 51	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic
District 62	Republican	Republican	Republican
District 66	Republican	Democratic	Democratic
District 68	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic
District 72	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic
District 73	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic
District 76	Republican	Democratic	Democratic
District 83	Republican	Democratic	Democratic
District 84	Republican	Democratic	Republican
District 85	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic
District 88	Republican	Republican	Republican
District 91	Republican	Democratic	Democratic
District 94	Republican	Democratic	Democratic
District 100	Republican	Democratic	Democratic

The map below highlights the battleground districts in the 2019 Virginia House of Delegates elections.

District 10[edit]

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District 12[edit]

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District 13[edit]

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District 20[edit]

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District 21[edit]

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District 26[edit]

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District 27[edit]

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District 28[edit]

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District 30[edit]

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District 31[edit]

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District 33[edit]

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District 40[edit]

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District 50[edit]

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District 51[edit]

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District 62[edit]

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District 66[edit]

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District 68[edit]

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District 72[edit]

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District 73[edit]

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District 76[edit]

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District 83[edit]

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District 84[edit]

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District 85[edit]

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District 88[edit]

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District 91[edit]

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District 94[edit]

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District 100[edit]

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Polls[edit]

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

Satellite spending[edit]

Satellite spending, commonly referred to as outside spending, describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.^[14][15][16]

This section lists satellite spending in this race reported by news outlets in alphabetical order. If you are aware of spending that should be included, please email us.

• Everytown for Gun Safety is a group founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg whose stated goal is "to end gun violence and build safer communities."^[17] On September 5, 2019, the group announced that it would spend $573,000 across the state on efforts supporting Democratic candidates.^[4]

• Forward Majority is a political action committee that supports Democratic candidates for state legislative office. On September 10, 2019, they announced $500,000 in spending across 16 House districts.^[18]

• The National Rifle Association made a $200,000 donation to Speaker Todd Gilbert's (R) political action committee on September 3, 2019.^[4] According to the Virginia Public Access Project, it was the largest single amount given to a Virginia political fund by the group to date.^[19]

According to the Virginia Public Access Project, the most satellite spending had occurred in the following races as of October 15:^[20]

Background[edit]

Redistricting[edit]

See also: Redistricting in Virginia

On June 26, 2018, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled 2-1 in Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Board of Elections that 11 state legislative districts had been subject to racial gerrymandering and needed to be redrawn. The court gave the legislature until October 30, 2018, to draw new district lines. Writing for the majority, Judge Barbara Milano Keenan said, "Overwhelming evidence in this case shows that, contrary to this constitutional mandate, the state has sorted voters into districts based on the color of their skin." On July 9, 2018, state Republicans petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States to stay the district court's order pending an appeal of that court's decision. Governor Ralph Northam (D) convened a special session of the legislature, beginning August 30, 2018, to redraw the maps. The legislature was unable to adopt a remedial map during this session. Consequently, the federal district court appointed a special master, Bernard Grofman, a political science professor at the University of California, Irvine, to draft a remedial map. State lawmakers petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States to stay the ruling pending ultimate resolution of the case. The high court denied this request on January 8, 2019.^{[21][22][23][24][25]}

On January 22, 2019, the district court issued an order directing Grofman to finalize the district plan for the House of Delegates selected by the court. Pending appeals, the remedial map was slated to apply to the 2019 election cycle. House Speaker Kirk Cox (R) criticized the plan: "The Eastern District Court selected a series of legally indefensible redistricting modules that attempts to give Democrats an advantage at every turn. The modules selected by the Court target senior Republicans, myself included, without a substantive basis in the law." Meanwhile, Democratic attorney Marc Elias, who initiated the suit, praised the order: "In Virginia, the Federal Court in the long-running state house redistricting case has ordered the special master to adopt the alternative-map configuration we advocated. We are one important step closer to the end of the GOP's racial gerrymander." At the time of the ruling, Republicans controlled the House of Delegates, holding 51 seats to Democrats' 48. Larry Sabato, head of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said, "[The remedial map] would nearly guarantee a Democratic takeover of the House of Delegates."^[26]

On June 17, 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its ruling in Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill, finding that the state House, helmed by Republicans, lacked standing to appeal a lower court order striking down the original legislative district plan as a racial gerrymander. The high court ruled 5-4, with Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg penning the majority opinion, joined by Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Neil Gorsuch. Associate Justice Samuel Alito dissented, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Stephen Breyer and Brett Kavanaugh. As a result of the high court's ruling, the lower court order implementing a remedial district plan was upheld.^[27]

The new district map changed the boundaries of 25 House districts. Under the new map, voters in 56 House districts chose Hillary Clinton (D) over Donald Trump (R) in the 2016 presidential election. The new map had seven Republican-held seats that voted for Clinton and no Democratic-held seats that voted for Trump. Fourteen of the 15 Democratic victories in 2017 came in districts Clinton won in 2016.^[28]

Redrawn map[edit]

Using the 2016 presidential election results as a baseline, the net result of the redrawing moved the Virginia House map from one where 51 districts voted for Hillary Clinton (D) and 49 districts voted for Donald Trump (R) to one where 56 districts voted for Clinton and 44 districts voted for Trump. Clinton defeated Trump statewide 49.7 percent to 44.4 percent.

Twenty-five districts were affected by the redrawing—nine Republican-held seats and 16 Democratic-held seats. This spreadsheet from Daily Kos shows the magnitude of the effects on each district using data on how the districts voted in the 2016 presidential election.

The vote share received by Clinton increased in 12 districts (eight Republican-held and four Democratic-held), and the vote share received by Trump increased in 13 districts (12 Democratic-held and one Republican-held).

This chart shows the overall shift in how districts voted in the 2016 presidential election. There would have been four seats under the previous map where districts voted for a president of the opposite party of their state representative: three Clinton/Republican and one Trump/Democratic. Under the new map, there were seven Clinton/Republican seats and no Trump/Democratic seats.

This chart shows the seven districts that voted for Clinton and had a Republican representative after the redrawing. There were no districts that voted for Trump and had a Democratic representative.

*District was affected by the redrawn map

This chart shows how redistricting affected each of the 25 districts. It presents the new partisan lean of the district based on the 2016 presidential results, the partisan lean of the district before redistricting, and the difference in partisan lean between the new district and the old district.

State executive noteworthy events[edit]

Controversies involving Virginia’s top three executive officials (all Democrats) were in the backdrop for the House elections as well as elections for the state Senate, which Republicans controlled heading into the election 21-19.

The three executive official controversies broke in February 2019:

• On Feb. 1, a website released pictures from Gov. Ralph Northam’s (D) medical school yearbook page showing a person in blackface. Northam said he was not in the yearbook photo.
• On Feb. 3 and Feb. 8, respectively, Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson accused Lieutenant Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) of sexually assaulting them. Fairfax said the allegations were false.
• On Feb. 6, Attorney General Mark Herring (D) released a statement saying he wore blackface in college.

2017 gubernatorial results by district[edit]

Under the new maps for the 2019 election, there were 11 Republican-held districts that were won by Ralph Northam (D) in the 2017 gubernatorial election. Northam also won 49 Democratic-held House districts, and Ed Gillespie (R) won 40 Republican-held districts. There were no districts won by Gillespie with a Democratic incumbent in 2019.

The following map details the results of the 2017 gubernatorial election by House district.

Potential impact on trifecta status[edit]

See also: Trifecta vulnerability in the 2019 elections

Heading into the 2019 elections, Virginia had been under divided government since Gov. Mark Warner (D) took office in 2002. Gov. Ralph Northam was a Democrat while Republicans held majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. Virginia held elections for all 40 state Senate seats and all 100 state House seats. Because the governorship was not up for election, Republicans could not win a trifecta in 2019. In order to prevent Democrats from gaining a trifecta, Republicans needed to maintain their majority in at least one chamber of the legislature. In order to gain a trifecta, Democrats needed to win both.

While each chamber was controlled by a margin of one seat, Democrats needed to flip two or more seats in both chambers in order to avoid sharing power. Because Democrats needed to flip two out of 40 seats (5%) in the state Senate and two out of 100 seats (2%) in the state House in order to gain majorities, Ballotpedia rated the chances of a Democratic trifecta forming in Virginia as a moderate possibility.

Democrats won 21 state Senate seats to Republicans' 19, a net gain of two seats. In the state House, Democrats won 55 seats to Republicans' 45, a net gain of seven seats (including one seat which was vacant at the time of the election).

Campaign finance[edit]

Campaign finance information for each candidate by district is available through the Virginia Public Access Project. Click here to view that data.

Timeline[edit]

• November 3, 2019: Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) appeared at a Democratic get-out-the-vote rally in Sterling, Virginia.^[29]

• October 29, 2019: Beyond Carbon donated $348,000 to Nancy Guy (D) and $264,000 to Shelly Simonds.^[30]

• September 16, 2019: Richard Uihlein made a $500,000 contribution to the campaign of Del. Nick Freitas (R).^[31]

• September 10, 2019: Forward Majority announced it would spend $500,000 in 16 targeted races to fund digital ads and mailings.^[18]

• September 5, 2019: Everytown for Gun Safety announced that it would spend $573,000 across the state in efforts to give Democrats control of the legislature.^[4]

• September 3, 2019: The National Rifle Association made a $200,000 to Speaker Todd Gilbert's (R) political action committee on September 3, 2019.^[4]

• August 8, 2019: After the Virginia Department of Elections denied his appeal, Del. Nick Freitas (R-30) announced he would run as a write-in candidate. His name did not appear on the ballot.^[32]

• August 1, 2019: The Virginia Department of Elections denied the legislative district committee's request to place Del. Nick Freitas (R-30) on the ballot as a replacement candidate for Freitas, who withdrew from the race on July 18.^[33]

• July 18, 2019: Del. Nick Freitas (R-30) withdrew from the race. He did so to avoid being removed from the ballot for failing to submit required paperwork by the specific deadline.^[34]

• June 11, 2019: Primary elections took place.

• March 28, 2019: The candidate filing deadline passed.

• January 22, 2019: A federal district court issued an order directing special master Bernard Grofman to finalize the state house district map selected by the court. The new map was praised by Democratic attorney Marc Elias, who initiated the suit, and criticized by House Speaker Kirk Cox (R). Larry Sabato, head of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said, "[The remedial map] would nearly guarantee a Democratic takeover of the House of Delegates."^[26] Read more below.

• January 8, 2019: The Supreme Court of the United States denied a request by Republican legislators to stay a federal district court's order that special master Bernard Grofman redraw the state house map. Read more below.

• August 30, 2018: The Virginia House of Delegates began a special session that Gov. Ralph Northam (D) called for the redrawing of 11 House districts a federal district court ruled were racially gerrymandered. The legislature was unable to agree to a map, leading the federal court to call for special master Bernard Grofman, a political science professor at the University of California, Irvine, to draw a new map. Read more below.

Virginia political history[edit]

Party control[edit]

See also: Partisan composition of state houses and State government trifectas

Presidential politics in Virginia[edit]

2016 Presidential election results[edit]

U.S. presidential election, Virginia, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine	49.7%	1,981,473	13
	Republican	Donald Trump/Mike Pence	44.4%	1,769,443	0
	Libertarian	Gary Johnson/Bill Weld	3%	118,274	0
	Green	Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka	0.7%	27,638	0
	Independent	Evan McMullin/Nathan Johnson	1.4%	54,054	0
	-	Other/Write-in	0.8%	33,749	0
Total Votes				3,984,631	13
Election results via: Federal Election Commission

Candidate and office information[edit]

See also: Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Virginia

See statutes: Title 24.2, Chapter 5 of the Election Code of Virginia

For partisan candidates[edit]

A political party candidate participating in a primary election must complete the candidate qualification certificate form for the office being sought. The form is a written statement (made under oath) indicating that the candidate is qualified to vote for and to hold the office for which he or she is a candidate. The form must be filed before a candidate can purchase a registered voter's list for petition purposes. A candidate for election to statewide office, the United States House of Representatives, or the Virginia General Assembly must file the statement with the Virginia State Board of Elections. A candidate for any other office must file the statement with the general registrar of the county or city where he or she resides.^[35][36]

A candidate must also file a written statement of economic interests if running for the state legislature, statewide office, a school board in a town or city with a population in excess of 3,500, or for constitutional office.^[37]

The candidate qualification certificate and statement of economic interests must be filed by the filing deadline for the primary.^[38]

The candidate must also file a declaration of candidacy and petition on or before the filing deadline for the election. The petition must contain the required number of signatures for the office being sought (signature requirements are summarized in the table below). Candidates seeking to participate in a primary election must also pay a primary filing fee. The filing fee is 2 percent of the minimum annual salary for the office being sought.^[39]

For independent candidates[edit]

An independent candidate for the United States House of Representatives or the United States Senate must file a declaration of candidacy, a petition, and a candidate qualification certificate form with the Virginia State Board of Elections. A candidate for statewide office or the Virginia General Assembly must file a declaration of candidacy form, a petition, a statement of economic interests form, and a candidate qualification certificate form. The candidate must file the required forms by 7:00 p.m. on the third Tuesday in June. A candidate for local office must file a declaration of candidacy, a petition, a statement of economic interests form, and a candidate qualification certificate form with the local authority in the county or city in which the office is being sought. The candidate must submit the required forms by 7:00 p.m. on the third Tuesday in June.^{[38][40][41][42][43][44]}

An independent candidate must gather the same number of petition signatures as partisan candidates. There are no filing fees for independent candidates.

For write-in candidates[edit]

Write-in votes are permitted in all elections but primaries. A voter may cast a write-in vote for any person other than the candidates for the given office listed on the ballot. Write-in candidates are not required to file any special forms in advance in order to have their votes tallied (except in the case of presidential and vice presidential candidates, who must file declarations of intent).^[45]

Qualifications[edit]

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

Candidates for the House of Delegates must be qualified to vote, have been a resident of Virginia for one year immediately preceding the election, and be a resident of the city or town in which they file for election.^[46]

Salaries and per diem[edit]

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

When sworn in[edit]

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

Virginia legislators assume office the second Wednesday in January after the election.

2017 elections[edit]

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2017

Timeline[edit]

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2017 (timeline)

From election night on November 7, 2017, until the 2018-2019 legislative session began on January 10, 2018, the question of which party would control the Virginia House of Delegates was unknown. This timeline details the recounts, legal proceedings, and other notable events that occurred following the 2017 elections.

Seats that switched party control[edit]

Fifteen Virginia House seats had switched from Republican to Democratic control. Heading into election night, Democrats needed to gain 17 seats to take control of the chamber.

The chart below shows the districts that switched control. In addition to showing the pre-election and post-election status of the seat, it details the 2017 margin of victory (based on unofficial results), the margin of victory in the 2016 presidential election, and increases in voter turnout in 2017 compared to 2013, the last election where both the governor's office and the state House were on the ballot. The average increase in turnout for the 14 districts that switched from Republican to Democratic control was 26.8 percent compared to 2013. Across all state House elections, voter turnout increased 19.3 percent compared to 2013.

District 94 tie-breaker[edit]

Unofficial recount results on December 19 showed Shelly Simonds (D) winning the District 94 race by one vote. Delegate David Yancey (R) held a 10-vote lead heading into the recount. On December 20, a panel of judges found that a previously disqualified ballot should have counted for Yancey, resulting in a tied race.

According to Virginia law, the winner of a tied race is determined by lot, which means a random chance event such as a coin flip or drawing straws.^[49] Yancey won the random drawing on January 4, 2018. On January 10, Simonds conceded the race to Yancey.^[50]

The chamber would have been tied 50-50 had Simonds won the tie-breaker.

Voter information[edit]

How the primary works[edit]

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Virginia utilizes an open primary process in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.^{[51][52][53][54]}

Poll times[edit]

In Virginia, all polls open from 6 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.^[55][56]

Registration requirements[edit]

To vote in Virginia, one must be a United States citizen, a resident of Virginia, and at least 18 years of age.^[57]

Registration can be completed online, in person at a local voter registration office, or by mail. Voters can also register at the following locations:^[57]

The registration deadline is 22 days before any primary or general election. The deadline is 14 days before any special election.^[57]

Automatic registration[edit]

On April 12, 2020, Governor Ralph Northam (D) signed HB235/SB219 into law, establishing automatic voter registration for individuals conducting business with the Department of Motor Vehicles.^[56]

Online registration[edit]

See also: Online voter registration

Virginia has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.

Same-day registration[edit]

Virginia does not allow same-day voter registration.

Residency requirements[edit]

To register to vote in Virginia, you must be a resident of the state. State law does not specify a length of time for which you must have been a resident to be eligible.

Verification of citizenship[edit]

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

Virginia does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration.

Verifying your registration[edit]

This page, run by the Virginia Department of elections, allows residents to check their voter registration status online.

Voter ID requirements[edit]

On April 12, 2020, Governor Ralph Northam (D) signed HB19/SB65 into law, rescinding the state's photo identification requirement for voters and replacing it with a non-photo identification requirement. Under the law, a voter is required to present one of the following:^[56][59]

• voter registration confirmation documents
• valid Virginia driver's license
• valid United States passport
• any other identification issued by the Commonwealth, one of its political subdivisions, or the United States
• any valid student identification card issued by any institution of higher education located in the Commonwealth or any private school located in the Commonwealth
• any valid student identification card issued by any institution of higher education located in any other state or territory of the United States
• any valid employee identification card containing a photograph of the voter and issued by an employer of the voter in the ordinary course of the employer's business
• a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter

As of April 2021, 35 states enforced (or were scheduled to begin enforcing) voter identification requirements. A total of 21 states required voters to present photo identification at the polls; the remainder accepted other forms of identification. Valid forms of identification differ by state. Commonly accepted forms of ID include driver's licenses, state-issued identification cards, and military identification cards.^[60][61]

Early voting[edit]

On April 12, 2020, Governor Ralph Northam (D) signed HB1/SB111 into law, establishing no-excuse early voting 45 days prior to an election. The legislation took effect in the November 3, 2020 election. On March 19, 2021, Northam signed HB1968 into law, which allowed local election officials to offer early voting on Sundays.^[56][62]

As of April 2021, 38 states and the District of Columbia permitted early voting. Early voting permits citizens to cast ballots in person at a polling place prior to an election. In states that permit early voting, a voter does not have to provide an excuse for being unable to vote on election day. States that do not permit early voting still permit some or all citizens to vote early by mail—often known as absentee voting. Some states allow no-excuse absentee voting, while others require an excuse. States that allow in-person absentee voting without an excuse are counted among early voting states. Click here for early voting laws by state.^[63]

Absentee voting[edit]

On April 12, 2020, Governor Ralph Northam (D) signed HB1/SB111 into law, establishing no-excuse absentee voting 45 days prior to an election. The legislation was set to take effect in the November 3, 2020 election.^[56]

On the same day, Northam also signed HB238/SB455, providing for absentee ballots postmarked on or before the date of an election to be counted if received by noon on the third day after the election.^[56]

Pivot counties[edit]

In the 2016 presidential election, Virginia was a battleground state. Hillary Clinton (D) won Virginia with 49.7 percent of the vote. Donald Trump (R) received 44.4 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Virginia voted Democratic 56.67 percent of the time and Republican 43.33 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, Virginia voted Democratic three times (2008, 2012, and 2016) and Republican two times (2000 and 2004).

State profile[edit]

See also: Virginia and Virginia elections, 2019

Partisan data[edit]

The information in this section was current as of May 7, 2019

Presidential voting pattern

• Virginia voted for the Democratic candidate in four out of the six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

Congressional delegation

• Following the 2018 elections, both U.S. Senators from Virginia were Democrats.
• Virginia had seven Democratic and four Republican U.S. Representatives.

State executives

• Democrats held four of Virginia's 13 state executive offices. Elections for the other offices are nonpartisan.
• Virginia's governor was Democrat Ralph Northam.

State legislature

• Republicans controlled the Virginia State Senate with a 21-19 majority.
• Republicans controlled the Virginia House of Delegates with a 51-49 majority.

See also[edit]

• Virginia House of Delegates
• Virginia State Legislature
• State legislative elections, 2019

External links[edit]

Suggest a link

• Virginia General Assembly

Footnotes[edit]