Virginia

Virginia, one of the original 13 colonies and birthplace of four of the first five U.S. presidents, joined the Union in June 1788. In 1792, Virginia controlled 15.9% of all electoral votes, the largest concentration in U.S. history. The Commonwealth did not participate in the 1864 and 1868 elections due to secession. From the post-Civil War Reconstruction period through 1948, Virginians almost always sided with the Democratic Party in elections. However, from 1952 through 2004, Virginia was reliably Republican (except for the landslide of Lyndon Johnson over Barry Goldwater in 1964). What changed? In the early 1950s, Virginia politics was controlled by Democratic Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr., and his political machine. For the 1952 cycle, Byrd announced he would not be endorsing a candidate, saying “Silence is Golden.” People knew this meant that it would be okay to vote for the Republican Dwight Eisenhower.

Shifting demographics, including more rapid population growth around Washington D.C., made the state a more competitive battleground beginning in the 1990s. However, this didn't put Democrats over the top until 2008. Three elections later, the state wasn't seriously in play for the GOP. Joe Biden won by ten points over Donald Trump in 2020.

ELECTORAL VOTES

13

2024 ELECTION

Likely Democratic
2024 Virginia Polls

Recent Presidential Elections

2020
54.1% 44.0%
2016
49.7% 44.4%
2012
51.2% 47.3%
2008
52.6% 46.3%
2004
45.5% 53.7%
2000
44.4% 52.5%
Show:

Presidential Voting History

State voted with the overall winning candidate

1976
R
1980
R
1984
R
1988
R
1992
R
1996
R
2000
R
2004
R
2008
D
2012
D
2016
D
2020
D

Electoral College Votes

Federalist
Democratic-Republican
Democratic
Constitutional Union
Republican

Colored bars represent electoral votes by party. Tap or hover to see names.

Gray indicates available electoral votes that were either not cast or cast for a candidate not on the ballot.

An empty column indicates the state did not participate in that election.

U.S. Senate Voting History

Class 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
1
D
D
R
D
D
D
2
R
R
R
D
D
D
3

Data: MIT Election Data and Science Lab / Harvard Dataverse through 2018; 270toWin research. These are general election results for the years listed. Special elections, if any, are excluded.

There are three classes of Senators; one is up for election every second year. Each state has one Senator in two of the three classes.

U.S. House Voting History

District 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
1
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
2
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
R
R
R
R
D
R
R
R
R
D
D
R
3
R
R
R
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
4
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
D
D
D
D
5
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
R
R
R
R
D
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
6
D
D
D
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
7
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
D
D
D
8
R
R
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
9
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
10
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
D
D
D
11
D
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D

Data: The Princeton Gerrymandering Project through 2018; 270toWin research. These are general election results for the years listed. Special elections, if any, are excluded.

Vertical lines before 1992, 2002, 2012, and 2022 show Census-related redistricting breakpoints. Geographic borders associated with district numbers may have changed.

The state had an additional redistricting before 1998, and 2016. Same caution about borders applies.

Governor Voting History

1977
R
1981
D
1985
D
1989
D
1993
R
1997
R
2001
D
2005
D
2009
R
2013
D
2017
D
2021
R

Data: Wikipedia through 2018; 270toWin research. These are general election results for the years listed. Special elections, if any, are excluded.