Politics of Virginia
[1] Until 2021[2] when the GOP swept all statewide offices, Virginia was shifting more Democratic and now is considered a swing state again by most pundits.
In the late 1870s, a coalition of Conservative Democrats, Republicans, and African Americans was assembled and the Readjuster Party took power for about 10 years.
Senator William Mahone and the Readjuster Party lost control of Virginia politics around 1883, white 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.
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.
Senator John Warner and Congressman Tom Davis also exemplified the more "moderate-conservative" tendencies of Virginia Republicans.
[8] 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 in response to their "Identity politics strategy".
[9][10] Democratic support also persists in union-influenced Roanoke in Southwest Virginia, college towns such as Charlottesville and Blacksburg, and the southeastern Black Belt Region.
[11] Enfranchisement and immigration of other groups, especially Hispanics, have placed growing importance on minority voting,[12] while voters that identify as "white working-class" declined by three percent between 2008 and 2012.
[16] On February 28, 2023, President Joe Biden visited the city of Virginia Beach in hopes of rallying support regarding affordable healthcare.
"[19] Redpath proposed eliminating the 40 single-member districts and have all state senators run statewide, 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.
[22] 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.
In concurrent House of Delegates elections, Democrats flipped fifteen of the Republicans' previous sixteen-seat majority.
[29] 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.
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.
