Virginia's 4th Congressional District election, 2016
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November 8, 2016 |
June 14, 2016 |
Donald McEachin  |
Randy Forbes  |
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Cook Political Report: Likely D[1] Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe D[2] Rothenberg & Gonzales: Safe D[3] |
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The 4th Congressional District of Virginia held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 8, 2016.
Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Donald McEachin (D) defeated Mike Wade (R) in the general election on November 8, 2016. McEachin defeated Ella P. Ward in the Democratic primary, while Wade defeated Jackee Gonzalez to win the Republican nomination. The primary elections took place on June 14, 2016. Incumbent Randy Forbes (R) chose to seek re-election in the 2nd District instead of the 4th after redistricting flipped his safely Republican seat to a safely Democratic one.[4][5]
Virginia's 3rd and 4th Congressional Districts were redrawn after a court found the state's previous map unconstitutional. The ruling determined that the legislature had unlawfully concentrated Black voters in the 3rd District to strengthen Republican control in the neighboring districts.[6]
As a result of the ruling, Virginia's congressional map was redrawn. Using the redrawn map, Virginia's 4th Congressional District was likely to flip from being a safely Republican district to becoming a safely Democratic one. However, the redrawn map was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.[7]
On March 21, 2016, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Virginia's redistricting case. The Court rejected the Republican challenge to the lower court's ruling on May 23, 2016. As a result, the redrawn map was used in the 2016 election.[7][8]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: 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.[9]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
Incumbent: Heading into the election, the incumbent was Randy Forbes (R), who was first elected in 2001. Due to redistricting, Forbes sought re-election in the 2nd Congressional District rather than the 4th.
As of the 2010 redistricting cycle, Virginia's 4th Congressional District was located in the southern portion of the state and included all of Amelia, Dinwiddie, Greensville, Nottoway, Powhatan, Southampton, and Sussex counties. It also included portions of Chesterfield, Isle of Wight, and Prince George counties. All of Chesapeake city, Colonial Heights city, Emporia city, Franklin city, and Hopewell city, as well as portions of Suffolk city, were included in the district.[10]
Election results
General election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Donald McEachin |
57.7% | 200,136 | |
| Republican | Mike Wade | 42% | 145,731 | |
| N/A | Write-in | 0.2% | 789 | |
| Total Votes | 346,656 | |||
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections | ||||
Primary election
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mike Wade |
64% | 4,987 | ||
| Jackee Gonzalez | 36% | 2,801 | ||
| Total Votes | 7,788 | |||
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections |
||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Donald McEachin |
75.4% | 11,851 | ||
| Ella Ward | 24.6% | 3,867 | ||
| Total Votes | 15,718 | |||
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections |
||||
Candidates
|
General election candidates: Donald McEachin  Mike Wade |
|
Primary candidates:[11] |
|
Democratic Ella P. Ward - Chesapeake city councilor[13] |
Republican Jackee Gonzalez[15] |
|
Did not run: |
District history
2014
Incumbent Randy Forbes (R) won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. He defeated Elliott Fausz (D) and Bo Brown (L) in the general election.
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Randy Forbes Incumbent |
60.2% | 120,684 | |
| Democratic | Elliott Fausz | 37.5% | 75,270 | |
| Libertarian | Bo Brown | 2.2% | 4,427 | |
| N/A | Write-in | 0.1% | 257 | |
| Total Votes | 200,638 | |||
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections | ||||
2012
The 4th Congressional District of Virginia held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Randy Forbes (R) won re-election in the district.[16]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Ella Ward | 42.9% | 150,190 | |
| Republican | Randy Forbes Incumbent |
56.9% | 199,292 | |
| Write-In | N/A | 0.2% | 564 | |
| Total Votes | 350,046 | |||
| Source: Virginia State Board of Elections "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Important dates and deadlines
- See also: Virginia elections, 2016
The calendar below listed important dates for political candidates in Virginia in 2016.
| Dates and requirements for candidates in 2016 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Deadline | Event type | Event description | |
| March 31, 2016 | Ballot access | Filing deadline for primary candidates | |
| April 15, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| June 6, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| June 14, 2016 | Election date | Primary election | |
| June 14, 2016 | Ballot access | Filing deadline for general election candidates | |
| July 15, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| September 15, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| October 17, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| October 31, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| November 8, 2016 | Election date | General election | |
| December 8, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| January 17, 2017 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| Sources: Virginia Department of Elections, "November 8, 2016 Elections Candidacy Requirements," accessed January 11, 2016 Virginia Department of Elections, "2016 Candidate Reporting Deadlines," accessed January 11, 2016 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia, 2016
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2016
- Virginia elections, 2016
Footnotes
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2016 House Race Ratings for July 11, 2016," accessed July 19, 2016
- ↑ Sabato's Crystal Ball, "2016 House," accessed July 18, 2016
- ↑ Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report, "House Ratings," accessed July 19, 2016
- ↑ The New York Times, "Virginia Primary Results," June 14, 2016
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "List of Candidates," accessed September 8, 2016
- ↑ Daily KOS, "More good redistricting news: Court-appointed expert proposes plans favorable to Virginia Democrats," November 17, 2015
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Hill, "Supreme Court weighs legality of Virginia redistricting," March 21, 2016
- ↑ Daily KOS, "Supreme Court rejects Republican challenge to Virginia's new congressional map," May 23, 2016
- ↑ Virginia Legislative Information System, "Va. Code § 24.2–530," accessed September 16, 2025
- ↑ United States Census Bureau, "Counties by Congressional Districts," accessed June 8, 2016
- ↑ Candidates are listed by party and alphabetically within each party.
- ↑ The Richmonder, "Donald McEachin to announce Congressional run tomorrow," March 14, 2016
- ↑ The Virginian-Pilot, "Chesapeake's Ella Ward running for Forbes' congressional seat in 4th District," March 14, 2016
- ↑ Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Henrico Sheriff Wade to run for Congress in redrawn 4th District," March 2, 2016
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "Republican candidates for the June 14, 2016, Primary," accessed April 6, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "2012 Election Map, Virginia"
For information about public policy issues in the 2016 elections, see: Public policy in the 2016 elections!
