Virginia state legislative special elections, 2019

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In 2019, two special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the Virginia General Assembly. Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Virginia

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures


If there is a vacancy in the Virginia General Assembly, a special election must be conducted to fill the vacant seat. If the vacancy occurs while the legislature is in session, the presiding officer of the house in which the vacancy happens must call for a special election. If the vacancy occurs while the legislature is in recess, the governor shall call the special election. Within 30 days of a vacancy, the appropriate officeholder shall issue a writ of election. If an vacancy occurs between December 10 and March 1, the writ must declare the special election date be within 30 days of said vacancy. All special elections must be held promptly. However, no special election can be held if it occurs less than 55 days before any statewide primary or general election or if there are fewer than 75 days remaining in the vacated term.[1][2]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Virginia Code § 24.2-216


About the legislature

The Virginia General Assembly is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its existence dates from the establishment of the House of Burgesses at Jamestown in 1619. It became the General Assembly in 1776 with the ratification of the Virginia Constitution.

The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members, and an upper house, the Virginia State Senate, with 40 members.

Partisan breakdown

The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the general elections held in 2017 and 2015. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Virginia House of Delegates
Party Before November 7, 2017 After November 7, 2017
     Democratic Party 34 49
     Republican Party 66 51
Total 100 100
Virginia State Senate
Party As of November 3, 2015 After November 3, 2015
     Democratic Party 19 19
     Republican Party 21 21
Total 40 40

Special elections

Click [show] to the right of the district name for more information:

January 8, 2019

February 19, 2019

Special elections throughout the country

See also: State legislative special elections, 2019

In 2019, 77 state legislative special elections were held in 24 states. Between 2011 and 2018, an average of 77 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2019 special elections

In 2019, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

  • 47 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 21 due to a retirement
  • 6 due to the death of the incumbent
  • 1 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
  • 2 due to an election being rerun

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:

The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2019. The number on the left reflects how many vacant seats were originally held by each party, while the number on the right shows how many vacant seats each party won in the special elections. In elections between 2011 and 2018, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of four seats across the country. Between 2017 and 2018, Democrats had a net gain of 19 seats.

Note: This table reflects information for elections that were held and not the total number of vacant seats.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2019)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 39 36
     Republican Party 38 40
     Independent 0 1
Total 77 77

Flipped seats

In 2019, eight seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.

Seats flipped from D to R

Seats flipped from R to D

Seats flipped from R to I

State profile

See also: Virginia and Virginia elections, 2019
USA Virginia location map.svg

Partisan data

The information in this section was current as of May 7, 2019

Presidential voting pattern

Congressional delegation

State executives

State legislature

Virginia Party Control: 1992-2025
Four years of Democratic trifectas  •  Four years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor D D R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D R R R R D D D D D D D D R R R R
Senate D D D D S S R R R R R R R R R R D D D D R R D R R R R R D D D D D D
House D D D D D D S S R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R D D R R D D

Virginia quick stats
  • Became a state in 1788
  • 10th state admitted to the United States
  • The Virginia General Assembly is the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World.
  • Members of the Virginia State Senate: 40
  • Members of the Virginia House of Delegates: 100
  • U.S. senators: 2
  • U.S. representatives: 11
More Virginia coverage on Ballotpedia:


Demographic data for Virginia
 VirginiaU.S.
Total population:8,367,587316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):39,4903,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:69%73.6%
Black/African American:19.2%12.6%
Asian:6%5.1%
Native American:0.3%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0.1%0.2%
Two or more:3.2%3%
Hispanic/Latino:8.6%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:88.3%86.7%
College graduation rate:36.3%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$65,015$53,889
Persons below poverty level:13%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Virginia.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Virginia Law Library, "§ 24.2-216. Filling vacancies in the General Assembly," accessed February 16, 2021 (Statute 24.2-216, Virginia Code)
  2. ↑ Virginia Law Library, "§ 24.2-682. Times for special elections," accessed February 16, 2021
  3. ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "2019 February 19 Special," accessed February 19, 2019
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