2011 Virginia elections explained

Election Name:2011 Virginia Senate election
Country:Virginia
Type:legislative
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2007 Virginia Senate election
Previous Year:2007
Election Date:November 8, 2011
Next Election:2015 Virginia Senate election
Next Year:2015
Seats For Election:All 40 seats in the Senate of Virginia
Majority Seats:21
Turnout:1,398,172
Image1:File:124A5444 (crop).jpg
Leader1:Tommy Norment
Leader Since1:January 9, 2008
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Leaders Seat1:3rd district
Seats Before1:18
Seats1:20
Seat Change1: 2
Popular Vote1:768,914
Percentage1:55%
Leader2:Dick Saslaw
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Leader Since2:January 10, 1996
Leaders Seat2:35th district
Seats Before2:22
Seats2:20
Seat Change2: 2
Popular Vote2:535,703
Percentage2:38.3%
Majority leader
Before Election:Dick Saslaw
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Tommy Norment
After Party:Republican Party (United States)
Last Election1:19
Last Election2:21

The 2011 Virginia state elections took place on November 8, 2011. All 140 seats in the Virginia General Assembly were up for re-election, as were many local offices.

Virginia Senate

[1]

Prior to the election, 22 seats were held by Democrats and 18 seats were held by Republicans. Redistricting caused the 13th district to be moved from Hampton Roads to Northern Virginia and the 22nd district to be moved from the Roanoke area to a district stretching from Lynchburg to Richmond. Republicans gained two seats, making the Senate tied with 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans.

Four incumbent senators chose to retire: Fred Quayle (R-13), Patsy Ticer (D-30), Mary Margaret Whipple (D-31), and William Wampler Jr. (R-40). In addition, two senators, Ralph K. Smith (R-22) and Bill Stanley (R-19) chose to seek re-election in new districts: Smith went from the 22nd to Stanley's 19th, while Stanley opted to challenge incumbent Democrat Roscoe Reynolds in the 20th.

Results

Note: Only races with more than one candidate running are listed below. Unofficial results from the State Board of Elections website.[2]

Party abbreviations: D - Democratic Party, R - Republican Party, IG - Independent Green Party, I - Independent.

DistrictIncumbentPartyElectedStatus2011 Result
1stJohn MillerDemocratic2007ReelectedJohn Miller (D) 51.7%
Mickey Chohany (R) 48.1%
2ndMamie LockeDemocratic2003ReelectedMamie Locke (D) 65.4%
Thomas Harmon IV (R) 34.4%
6thRalph NorthamDemocratic2007ReelectedRalph Northam (D) 56.6%
Ben Loyola (R) 43.3%
10thJohn WatkinsRepublican1998ReelectedJohn Watkins (R) 56.6%
David Bernard (D) 43.2%
13thFred QuayleRepublican1991Retired (District eliminated);
Republican hold
Dick Black (R) 57.0%
Shawn Mitchell (D) 42.8%
16thHenry L. MarshDemocratic1991ReelectedHenry L. Marsh (D) 69.0%
Preston Brown (I) 30.5%
17thEdd HouckDemocratic1983DefeatedBryce Reeves (R) 50.2%
Edd Houck (D) 49.7%
19thBill StanleyRepublican2010Elected in 20th District;
Republican hold
Ralph K. Smith (R) 56.5%
J. Brandon Bell (I) 43.2%
20thRoscoe ReynoldsDemocratic1996DefeatedBill Stanley (R) 46.8%
Roscoe Reynolds (D) 45.5%
Jeff Evans (I) 7.6%
21stJohn EdwardsDemocratic1995ReelectedJohn Edwards (D) 55.9%
Dave Nutter (R) 44.0%
22ndRalph K. SmithRepublican2007Elected in 19th District (District
eliminated); Republican hold
Thomas Garrett, Jr. (R) 58.1%
Bert Dodson (D) 41.8%
23rdSteve NewmanRepublican1995ReelectedSteve Newman (R) 77.8%
Robert Short (D) 21.9%
25thCreigh DeedsDemocratic2001ReelectedCreigh Deeds (D) 64.4%
T.J. Aldous (R) 35.5%
27thJill Holtzman VogelRepublican2007ReelectedJill Holtzman Vogel (R) 74.6%
Shaun Broy (D) 23.2%
Donald Marro (I) 2.1%
29thChuck ColganDemocratic1975ReelectedChuck Colgan (D) 55.0%
Tom Gordy (R) 44.8%
30thPatsy TicerDemocratic1995Retired; Democratic holdAdam Ebbin (D) 64.4%
Tim McGhee (R) 35.4%
31stMary Margaret WhippleDemocratic1995Retired; Democratic holdBarbara Favola (D) 58.1%
Caren Merrick (R) 41.7%
32ndJanet HowellDemocratic1991ReelectedJanet Howell (D) 60.3%
Patrick Forrest (R) 39.7%
33rdMark HerringDemocratic2007ReelectedMark Herring (D) 54.1%
Patricia Phillips (R) 45.8%
34thChap PetersenDemocratic2007ReelectedChap Petersen (D) 59.7%
Gerarda Cullipher (R) 40.2%
35thDick SaslawDemocratic1980ReelectedDick Saslaw (D) 61.7%
Robert Sarvis (R) 36.0%
Katherine Pettigrew (IG) 2.3%
36thToddy PullerDemocratic2000ReelectedToddy Puller (D) 55.4%
Jeff Frederick (R) 44.4%
37thDave MarsdenDemocratic2010ReelectedDave Marsden (D) 53.8%
Jason Flanary (R) 46.2%
38thPhillip PuckettDemocratic1998ReelectedPhillip Puckett (D) 53.0%
Adam Light (R) 46.9%
39thGeorge BarkerDemocratic2007ReelectedGeorge Barker (D) 53.1%
Miller Baker (R) 46.8%
40thWilliam Wampler Jr.Republican1988Retired; Republican holdBill Carrico (R) 66.9%
John Lamie (D) 33.0%

Virginia House of Delegates

See main article: Virginia House of Delegates election, 2011. Prior to the election, the House of Delegates consisted of 58 Republicans, 39 Democrats, 2 Independents, with one vacant seat previously held by a Republican (Glenn Oder of the 94th district, who resigned in August 2011). Redistricting eliminated three seats: Southwestern Virginia's 2nd district, the Martinsville-area 10th district, and the Norfolk-based 87th district. These three seats were moved to Northern Virginia. Republicans gained seven seats from the Democrats and one seat from a retiring independent, making the House's composition 67 Republicans, 32 Democrats, and 1 Independent.

Thirteen incumbents chose not to seek another term in the House: Bud Phillips (D-2), Bill Carrico (R-5), Dave Nutter (R-7), Jim Shuler (D-12), Bill Cleaveland (R-17), Clay Athey (R-18), Adam Ebbin (D-49), Bill Janis (R-56), Watkins Abbitt, Jr. (I-59), Paula Miller (D-87), Glenn Oder (R-94), Harvey Morgan (R-98), and Albert C. Pollard (R-99).

Three Delegates retired in order to seek State Senate seats: Bill Carrico (R-5) opted to run for the open 40th district seat, Dave Nutter (R-7) decided to challenge incumbent Democratic Senator John Edwards in the 21st district, and Adam Ebbin (D-49) chose to run for the open 30th district seat.

Del. Ward Armstrong (D-10) decided to challenge Republican Del. Charles Poindexter in the 9th district rather than retire.

[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2011 Official General Assembly Candidates List . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130813124632/http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/Files/Cast%20Your%20Ballot/Candidate%20List/2011OfficialGeneralAssemblyCandidateList.xls . 2013-08-13.
  2. Web site: Unofficial election results - Senate . 2011-11-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111110170059/https://www.voterinfo.sbe.virginia.gov/election/DATA/2011/EB178FD6-875D-4B0D-A295-900A0482F523/Unofficial/7_s.shtml . 2011-11-10 . dead .
  3. http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/webdocs/candidates/2011UnofficialGeneralAssemblyCandidateList.xls 2011 Official General Assembly Candidates List