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Virginia 2011 legislative election results

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Senate

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2011 State Legislative Elections

State Pages
Louisiana (S, H) • Mississippi (S, H) • New Jersey (S, H) • Virginia (S, H)
Overall Election Results

State-by-State Analysis
LouisianaMississippiNew JerseyVirginia

Other 2011 Election information
Primary electionsStatewide elections, 2011State Senate electionsState House electionsBallot MeasuresExecutive Officials Elections

Virginia State Senate Election Results

This page contains macro-level election results and analysis for the Virginia State Senate. For results in individual contests see our Virginia State Senate elections, 2011 page. The following is a breakdown of the state senate before and after the election:

Virginia State Senate
Party As of November 2011 After the 2011 Election
     Democratic Party 22 20
     Republican Party 18 20
Total 40 40

What You'll See on This Page

This page displays the following lists of candidates

  • Incumbents who ran on November 8
  • Incumbents who were defeated
  • Challengers who defeated an incumbent
  • Newly elected senators
  • List of all winners
  • Unopposed candidates
  • Third party candidates

State Senate Overview:

  • All 40 of the state's Senate seats were up for election in 2011.
  • There were 34 incumbents who ran in the November 8 general election. Only 2 incumbents lost, and thus 32 incumbents were re-elected to the Virginia State Senate.
  • No incumbents were defeated in the August 23 primary election.
  • Of the 2 incumbents defeated in the general election, both were Democrats.
  • 8 new senators were elected, 2 Democrats and 6 Republicans.
  • Of the 40 seats up for election, 20 were won by Democrats and 20 by Republicans.
  • 16 candidates were unopposed, 4 Democrats and 12 Republicans.
  • Only 5 candidates ran as an independent or third party candidate in the general election.

Incumbency Analysis

Incumbents who ran on November 8

The following is a list of all of the incumbents who ran on the November 8 general election ballot:

Incumbents defeated

The following is a list of incumbents defeated on November 8:

Challengers who beat an incumbent

The following is a list of challengers who defeated an incumbent on November 8:

New State Senators and General Election Winners

Newly elected senators

The following are the newly-elected members of the Virginia State Senate:

Democratic

Republican

Open Seat Winners

The following is a list of candidates who won election in seats where no incumbent was running:

Democratic

Republican

Candidates who won election

The following is a list of all candidates elected to the Virginia State Senate:

Democratic

Republican

Competitiveness

Unopposed candidates in general election

The following candidates did not face major party competition:

Democratic

Republican

Ballot Access

Third party candidates

The following is a list of third party and independent candidates who ran in 2011:

House

SLP elec2011 badge.jpg
2011 State Legislative Elections

State Pages
Louisiana (S, H) • Mississippi (S, H) • New Jersey (S, H) • Virginia (S, H)
Overall Election Results

State-by-State Analysis
LouisianaMississippiNew JerseyVirginia

Other 2011 Election information
Primary electionsStatewide elections, 2011State Senate electionsState House electionsBallot MeasuresExecutive Officials Elections

Virginia State House Election Results

This page contains macro-level election results and analysis for the Virginia House of Delegates. For results in individual contests, see our Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2011. The following is a breakdown of the state house before and after the election:

Virginia House of Delegates
Party As of November 2011 After the 2011 Election
     Democratic Party 39 32
     Republican Party 58 67
     Independent 2 1
     Vacancy 1 0
Total 100 100

What You'll See on This Page

This page displays the following lists of candidates

  • Incumbents who ran on November 8
  • Incumbents who were defeated
  • Challengers who defeated an incumbent
  • Newly elected representatives
  • List of all winners
  • Unopposed candidates
  • Third party candidates

State House Overview

  • All 100 of the state's House seats were up for election in 2011.
  • There were 86 incumbents who ran in the November 8 general election. Only 2 incumbents lost, and thus 84 incumbents were re-elected to the Virginia House of Delegates.
  • No incumbents were defeated in the August 23 primary election.
  • Of the 2 incumbents defeated in the general election, both were Democrats.
  • 16 new delegates were elected, 1 Democrat and 15 Republicans.
  • Of the 100 seats up for election, 32 were won by Democrats and 67 by Republicans.
  • 64 candidates were unopposed, 20 Democrats and 44 Republicans.
  • Only 12 candidates ran as an independent or third party candidate in the general election.

Incumbency Analysis

Incumbents who ran on November 8

The following is a list of all of the incumbents who ran on the November 8 general election ballot:

Incumbents defeated

The following is a list of incumbents defeated on November 8:

Challengers who beat an incumbent

The following is a list of challengers who defeated an incumbent on November 8:

New Representatives and General Election Winners

Newly elected representatives

The following are the newly-elected members of the Virginia House of Delegates:

Democratic

Republican

Open Seat Winners

The following is a list of candidates who won election in seats where no incumbent was running:

Democratic

Republican

Candidates who won election

The following is a list of all candidates elected to the Virginia House of Delegates:

Democratic

Republican

Competitiveness

Unopposed candidates in general election

The following candidates did not face major party competition:

Democratic

Republican

Ballot Access

Third party candidates

The following is a list of third party and independent candidates who ran in 2011:

National Partisan Trends

SLP elec2011 badge.jpg
2011 State Legislative Elections

State Pages
Louisiana (S, H) • Mississippi (S, H) • New Jersey (S, H) • Virginia (S, H)
Overall Election Results

State-by-State Analysis
LouisianaMississippiNew JerseyVirginia

Other 2011 Election information
Primary electionsStatewide elections, 2011State Senate electionsState House electionsBallot MeasuresExecutive Officials Elections

National Partisan Trends

The following tables detail the partisan breakdown of national election results. These results provide context for Republican gains in Virginia.

Incumbents who were defeated in the general election

In the four states with elections, there were 473 incumbents running in the general election. The following is a breakdown of incumbent defeats in the 2011 general election:

Incumbents defeated in 2011 legislative elections
Party Senate House Total
Democratic 5 9 14
Republican 0 6 6
TOTALS 5 15 20

Total new legislators elected

In total, 137 (23.7%) new legislators were elected in 2011. Of these 137, 75 (13%) were Republicans and 41 (5.2%) were Democrats.

The following is the breakdown of new legislators.

New Legislators after the 2011 legislative elections
Party Senate House Total
Democratic 10 31 41
Republican 27 69 96
TOTALS 37 100 137

Winners of Open Seats

Open seats contests made up 105 (18.2%) of the 578 seats in 2011. Of these 105 open seats, Republicans won 75 (13%) while Democrats won 30 (5.2%). Going into the election, the number of open seats formerly held by each party was quite similar. Estimates prior to the election suggest that approximately 52% of the open seats were previously held by Republicans and 48% were held by Democrats.

The following is the breakdown of open seat winners.

Open Seat Winners in 2011 legislative elections
Party Senate House Total
Democratic 10 20 30
Republican 23 52 75
TOTALS 33 72 105

Impact on legislative majorities

See also: Partisan balance of state legislatures

Heading into the 2011 elections, each political party controls 4 chambers with November elections.

Partisan Balance of Chambers with 2011 Elections
Before November 2011 election After November 2011 election
Legislative chamber Democratic Party Republican Party Democratic Party Republican Party Purple.png
State senates 2 2 1 2 1
State houses 2 2 1 3 0
Totals: 4 4 2 3 1

Of the 578 seats that will be up for election, there were:

  • 287 Democratic legislators
  • 285 Republican legislators
  • 4 Independent legislators
  • 2 Vacancies

Thus, 49.7% of the seats were held by Democrats and 49.3% by Republicans.

Partisan breakdown of state legislators in Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey and Virginia
Before November 2011 election After November 2011 election
Party Senators Representatives Total state legislators Senators Representatives Total state legislators Gain/loss legislators
Democratic
87 200 287 79 178 257 -23
Republican
83 202 285 94 225 319 +26
Independent or nonpartisan
0 4 4 0 3 3 -1
Vacancies
1 1 2 0 0 0 -2
Partisan breakdown of state legislators in all 50 states
Before November 2011 election After November 2011 election
Party Senators Representatives Total state legislators Senators Representatives Total state legislators Gain/loss legislators
Democratic
879 2,454 3,333 875 2,439 3,310 -23
Republican
1,028 2,912 3,940 1,032 2,926 3,966 +26
Independent or nonpartisan
53 12 65 53 11 64 -1
Third-party and non-voting
2 9 11 2 9 11 0