Virginia continues to see few contested primary elections

August 22, 2011

By Geoff Pallay and Tyler King

RICHMOND, Virginia: The 2011 Virginia state legislative primaries take place tomorrow with very few contested races. Overall, with 7.1% of possible primaries having multiple candidates, Virginia has the lowest percent of contested primaries of the three states that will have held primaries thus far in 2011 (New Jersey and Mississippi held primaries earlier this year).

There are a total of 140 districts (40 senate and 100 house) that are up for election in 2011, meaning there are possibility of 280 primaries. Of the 280 possible primary elections, only 16 (9 senate and 7 house) are contested. These numbers keep in line with the 2009 and 2007 elections.

Thomas Norment, a Republican from Senate District 3, and Algie Howell, a Democrat from House District 9, are the only two incumbents facing primary opposition.

Voters will have the opportunity to choose between multiple candidates tomorrow in the following districts.

State Senate

There are nine state senate districts with contested primaries tomorrow. Those districts and candidates are:

District 3

August 23 GOP primary result:

• Thomas Norment Incumbent Norment was first elected in 1992.
• Mark Frechette

District 13

August 23 GOP primary result:

• Robert Fitzsimmonds
• Richard Black
• John Stirrup

District 21

August 23 GOP primary result:

• Tripp Godsey
• David Nutter

District 22

August 23 GOP primary result:

• Brian Bates
• Mark Peake
• Bryan Rhode
• Thomas Garrett
• Claudia Tucker

District 30

August 23 Democratic primary result:

• Adam Ebbin
• Rob Krupicka
• Libby Garvey

District 31

August 23 Democratic primary result:

• Jaime Areizaga-Soto
• Barbara Favola

District 36

August 23 GOP primary result:

• Jeffrey Frederick
• Tito Munoz

District 37

August 23 GOP primary result:

• Stephen Hunt
• Jason Flanary

District 39

August 23 GOP primary result:

• Miller Baker
• Scott Martin

State House

There are seven state house districts with contested primaries tomorrow. Those districts and candidates are:

District 10

August 23 GOP primary result:

• Randall Minchew
• Cara Townsend
• John Whitbeck

District 18

August 23 GOP primary result:

• Michael Webert
• Kevin Kelly

District 49

August 23 Democratic primary result:

• Alfonso Lopez
• Stephanie Clifford

District 87

August 23 GOP primary result:

• David Ramadan
• Jo-Ann Chase

District 90

August 23 Democratic primary result:

• Algie Howell Incumbent Howell was first elected in 2004.
• Richard James

District 98

August 23 GOP primary result:

• Catesby Baytop Jones
• Ken Gibson
• Keith Hodges
• Sherwood Bowditch

District 99

August 23 GOP primary result:

• John Lampmann
• Margaret Rasone
• Dean Sumner

Other method of nomination

One reason for the lack of contested primary elections is the method of nomination in some districts. Many districts use primaries to chose which candidates move on to the general election while others use party nomination, caucuses, or meetings, thereby eliminating the need for a primary.

The following district/party combinations do not use a primary in the State Senate.

Democrats: Districts 7, 12, 13, 15, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 38, 39

Republicans: Districts 6, 17, 25, 29, 38, 40

The following district/party combinations do not use a primary in the House of Delegates.

Democrats: Districts 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 25, 31, 32, 33, 50, 51, 56, 57, 59, 67, 72, 73, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 98

Republicans: Districts 1, 3, 15, 26, 47, 59, 64, 75, 88

Thus, a total of 56 of the 280 possible primaries in Virginia do not use primaries.

Given that there are 56 district party's that do not use a primary to select the nominee, there are therefore 224 possible primaries where multiple candidates could have declared to seek election. Out of the 224 districts that use a primary to select the candidate, voters more than option in only 7.1% of those races.

In the other two states that held primary elections this year, there were more overall contested primaries. In New Jersey, 15% of the primaries were contested while in Mississippi, 22.1% of the primaries had multiple candidates.

See also

• Virginia State Senate elections, 2011
• Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2011
• Virginia State Senate
• Virginia House of Delegates

External links

• 2011 Methods of Nomination, Virginia State Senate
• 2011 Methods of Nomination, Virginia House of Delegates