Politics of Virginia

The politics of Virginia have followed major historical events and demographic changes in the commonwealth. In the 21st century, the northern region, often referred to as NOVA (an abbreviation for "Northern Virginia") has become more liberal in attitudes and voting, constituting a reliable voting bloc for Democrats and joining with population centers in the Richmond Metropolitan and Hampton Roads areas to dominate the state. Political orientation varies by region, with the larger cities and suburban areas generally voting Democratic and the rural areas voting Republican. The southern, rural regions have remained rural and conservative.[1]

Former Governor Tim Kaine with former U.S. Senator John Warner and former Senator and Governor George Allen, and former Representative Thelma Drake.

History
See also: History of Virginia
Senator Harry F. Byrd Sr. ran the important Byrd Organization until the 1960s.

After the American Civil War (1861–1865), Virginia was in political turmoil. Forty-eight counties, which created the state of West Virginia in 1863, were about to be joined by two more. The Commonwealth of Virginia unsuccessfully appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

After U.S. Senator William Mahone and the Readjuster Party lost control of Virginia politics around 1883, Democrats regained the state legislature. They proceeded to use statute and a new constitution in 1901, with provisions such as a poll tax, residency requirements, and literacy test to disfranchise most African Americans and many poor whites. Their disfranchisement lasted until after passage of civil rights legislation in the mid-1960s.

White Democrats created a one-party state, with a nearly unchallenged majority of state and most federal offices through the middle of the 20th century. The Byrd Organization headed by Harry F. Byrd Sr. largely controlled statewide politics. Through their leadership and activism in the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans gained national support for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which provided Federal oversight and enforcement to maintain all citizens' ability to vote. Under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, decisions affecting elections are subject to preclearance by the U.S. Department of Justice before they can take effect.

Regional differences play a large part in Virginia politics.[2] Rural southern and western areas moved to support the Republican Party in response to its "southern strategy", while urban and growing suburban areas, including much of Northern Virginia and recently, Richmond form the Democratic Party base.[3][4] Democratic support also persists in union-influenced Roanoke in Southwest Virginia, college towns such as Charlottesville and Blacksburg, and the southeastern Black Belt Region.[5] Enfranchisement and immigration of other groups, especially Hispanics, have placed growing importance on minority voting,[6] while voters that identify as "white working-class" declined by three percent between 2008 and 2012.[7]

State election seasons traditionally start with the annual Shad Planking event in Wakefield.[8]

Recent events
Treemap of the popular vote by county, 2016 presidential election.

In 2007, the Virginia General Assembly proposed Civil Remedial Fees or "abusive driver fees" were fines that could exceed $1,000 for certain moving violations. The proposal had gained bi-partisan support as a way to generate revenue while not increasing taxes. An online petition to oppose the bill quickly gathered nearly 100,000 signatures.[9] These were repealed one year later in 2008 and fees were refunded.[10]

Criticism

Dozens of delegates run unopposed each election cycle, which led 2001 Libertarian gubernatorial candidate and former national LP chair Bill Redpath to conclude that "Virginia has a democracy that is uncompetitive and boring."[11] Redpath proposed eliminating the 40 single-member districts and have all state senators run state-wide, with the top 40 candidates with the highest vote count getting elected. However, this proposal would give more power to the highly populated urban areas of the state, and thus has little chance of statewide support.[12]

Elections
Main article: Elections in Virginia

State elections

Political party strength in Virginia has likewise been in flux. In the 2007 state elections, Democrats regained control of the State Senate, and narrowed the Republican majority in the House of Delegates to eight seats.[13] Yet elections in 2009 resulted in the election of Republican Bob McDonnell as Governor by a seventeen-point margin, the election of a Republican Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General, as well as Republican gains of six seats in the House of Delegates.[14] In 2011, the Republican caucus took over two-thirds (68–32) of the seats in the House of Delegates, and a majority of the Senate based on the Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling as the tie-breaker.[15]

Unity control only lasted two years, and in the 2013 elections, Democrat Terry McAuliffe was elected Governor by two percentage points,[16][17] and Democrat Ralph Northam was elected Lieutenant Governor by double digits.[18][19] Republicans, however, maintained their super-majority (68–32) in the House of Delegates.[18][20]

The 2017 statewide elections resulted in Democrats holding the three highest offices, with outgoing lieutenant governor Ralph Northam winning the governorship, Justin Fairfax becoming the second African-American elected lieutenant governor, and Mark Herring continuing as attorney general. Republicans meanwhile continued a statewide electoral drought that dates to McDonnell's 2009 gubernatorial victory. In concurrent House of Delegates elections, Democrats flipped fifteen of the Republicans' previous sixteen-seat majority.[21] Control of the House came down to the tied election in the 94th district, which was won by Republicans through drawing of lots, giving them a 51–49 majority.[22]

In 2019, Democrats took full control of the state's legislature, flipping at least two state senate seats and five state house seats from Republican to Democratic candidates.[23][24]

Federal elections
Presidential elections results[25]
Year Republicans Democrats
2020 44.00% 1,962,430 54.44% 2,413,568
2016 44.33% 1,769,443 49.75% 1,981,473
2012 47.28% 1,822,522 51.16% 1,971,820
2008 46.33% 1,725,005 52.63% 1,959,532
2004 53.68% 1,716,959 45.48% 1,454,742
2000 52.47% 1,437,490 44.44% 1,217,290
1996 47.10% 1,138,350 45.15% 1,091,060
1992 44.97% 1,150,517 40.59% 1,038,650
1988 59.74% 1,309,162 39.23% 859,799
1984 62.29% 1,337,078 37.09% 796,250
1980 53.03% 989,609 40.31% 752,174

In federal elections since 2006, both parties have seen successes. Republican Senator George Allen lost close races in 2006, to Democratic newcomer Jim Webb, and again in 2012, to Webb's replacement, former Governor Tim Kaine.[26] In 2008, Democrats won both United States Senate seats; former Governor Mark Warner was elected to replace retiring Republican John Warner.[27] The state went Republican in 11 out of 12 presidential elections from 1948 to 2004, including 10 in a row from 1968 to 2004. However, Democrat Barack Obama carried Virginia's 13 electoral votes in both the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.[7]

In the 2010 elections, Republicans won three United States House of Representatives seats from the Democrats. Of the state's eleven seats in the House of Representatives, Democrats hold seven and Republicans hold four. The state is widely considered blue-leaning, a trend which moves parallel with the growth of the Washington D.C. and Richmond suburbs.[28] A Federal District Court redrew the malapportioned 3rd District as violating the Voting Rights Act for the 2016 election. That allowed Virginians to choose in an additional Representative from the 4th District, and added one to the Democratic total.[29]

New Virginia Majority

An organization called New Virginia Majority (NVM) claimed a significant role in the Democratic Party’s victories in the November 2019 state elections. NVM leader Tram Nguyen explained in The New York Times how the organization helped Democrats take control of the Virginia legislative and executive branches, including through registration drives and canvassing over a period of more than a decade.[30] The Democratic Party also claimed victory in Virginia in the general election of 2020, and NVM had already declared its opposition to President Donald J. Trump.

New Virginia Majority is a member of an association called the State Power Caucus. NVM’s founder and co-executive director, Jon Liss, who founded the State Power Caucus, wrote in June 2019 that it consisted of “22 organizations from 15 states,” all of which “recognized the need to develop a systematic and long-term alternative to Trumpism.”[31] New Virginia Majority, has aligned with Liberation Road, a radical leftist American organization founded on Maoist revolutionary principles.[32] Liberation Road, an offshoot of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization,[33] is the parent organization of the Black Lives Matter protest movement and has close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

In 2016, then-Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) attempted to restore voting rights to Virginia’s 200,000 convicted felons through an executive order, but was blocked in the courts. However, over the following two years, McAuliffe granted voting rights to 173,000 Virginians on an individual basis. His successor, Gov. Ralph Northam (D), continued the practice for 22,000 more felons. New Virginia Majority reaches out to re-enfranchised felons to inform them of their restored voting rights.

Statewide referenda

In 2006, a statewide referendum on the Marshall-Newman Amendment added a provision to the Bill of Rights of the Virginia Constitution banning gay marriage; it passed with 57% of the vote.

See also

References
  1. "Inoljt" (2010-08-10). "Analyzing Virginia's 2009 Gubernatorial Election, Part 1". My Firedoglake. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  2. Turque, Bill; Wiggins, Ovetta; Stewart, Nikita (February 13, 2008). "In Virginia, Results Signal A State in Play for November". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 29, 2008.
  3. Miller, Gary; Schofield, Norman (May 2003). "Activists and Partisan Realignment in the United States". The American Political Science Review. 97 (2): 245–260. doi:10.1017/s0003055403000650. JSTOR 3118207.
  4. Craig, Tim (December 11, 2007). "Tensions Could Hurt Majority in Va. Senate". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 23, 2007.
  5. Clemons, Michael L.; Jones, Charles E. (July 2000). "African American Legislative Politics in Virginia". Journal of Black Studies. 30 (6, Special Issue: African American State Legislative Politics): 744–767. doi:10.1177/002193470003000603. JSTOR 2645922.
  6. Eisman, Dale (October 25, 2006). "Webb, Allen court Hispanic, white-collar voters in N. Va". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved March 29, 2008.
  7. Przybyla, Heidi (November 7, 2012). "Obama Repeats Win in Former Republican Stronghold Virginia". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
  8. Murray, Mark (April 16, 2009). "Shad Planking kicks Virginia race into gear". NBC News. Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  9. Va. Driver Fees Now Election Weapon, Tim Craig, The Washington Post, July 17, 2007.
  10. Abusive Driver Fees Refunds (Report). Virginia Department of Accounts. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  11. Bill Redpath, Libertarian Candidate for Virginia Governor, The Washington Post, Oct. 12, 2001.
  12. Laris, Michael (10 October 2001). "Libertarian Targets Political System". Washington Post. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  13. Craig, Tim; Kumar, Anita (November 8, 2007). "Kaine Hails 'Balance' in New Political Landscape". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 7, 2007.
  14. Helderman, Rosalind S.; Kumar, Anita (November 4, 2009). "GOP reclaims Virginia". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
  15. Lewis, Bob (November 10, 2011). "GOP claims Va. Senate majority after Dem concedes". The Boston Globe. Associated Press. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
  16. "Decision 2013: Virginia general election results". The Washington Post. November 6, 2013. Archived from the original on November 8, 2013. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  17. "McAuliffe wins nailbiter Virginia governor's race". CBS News. November 6, 2013. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  18. Bycoffe, Aaron (November 6, 2013). "2013 Elections: Governor, Mayor, Congress". Huffington Post. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  19. Lavender, Paige (November 6, 2013). "Virginia Election Results: Terry McAuliffe Beats Ken Cuccinelli In Governor's Race". Huffington Post. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  20. "2013: Virginia House of Delegates election results". Virginia Board of Elections. November 12, 2013. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  21. Barakat, Matthew (November 7, 2017). "Virginia House up for grabs after Democrats' historic gains". The Seattle Times. AP.
  22. Moomaw, Graham (January 4, 2018). "Del. David E. Yancey wins tiebreaker for key Virginia House of Delegates seat". Fredericksburg.com.
  23. "Democrats win full control of Virginia statehouse". AP NEWS. 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  24. Schwartzman, Paul (November 6, 2019). "Republicans wake to a blue Virginia". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  25. Leip, David. "Presidential General Election Results Comparison – New York". US Election Atlas. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
  26. Lewis, Bob (November 11, 2012). "In the aftermath of the 2012 election, battleground Virginia's political winners and losers". Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
  27. Kumar, Anita (November 5, 2008). "Warner Rolls Past His Fellow Former Governor". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
  28. Barnes, Fred. "Opinion | Why Virginia Is Turning Blue". WSJ. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  29. Virginia's 4th Congressional District election, 2016 Ballotpedia: the Encyclopedia of American Politics. viewed November 13, 2016.
  30. Nguyen, Tram. (November 11, 2019). “Democrats Could Learn a Lot from What Happened in Virginia”. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/06/opinion/virginia-election-democrats.html
  31. Liss, Jon (June 24, 2019. “Toward a Movement 40 Million Strong”. Portside. https://portside.org/2019-06-24/toward-movement-40-million-strong
  32. Liss, Jon (June 9, 2019). “Seize the Moment: Paving the Road for a Mass Left”. Organizing Up. https://organizingupgrade.com/seize-the-moment/
  33. https://roadtoliberation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/2016-FRSO-Strategic-Orientation-v1.pdf
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