Virginia's 34th House of Delegates district elects one of 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates, the lower house of the state's bicameral legislature. District 34 currently represents the city of Harrisonburg and part of Rockingham County in the Shenandoah Valley.[1] The district is currently represented by Republican Tony Wilt.[2]
In the 2013 general election, Republican incumbent Barbara Comstock was challenged by Democrat Kathleen Murphy, a former Clinton administration official in the U.S. Department of Commerce.[3] Comstock edged out Murphy, winning re-election by 258 votes.[4]
Incumbent Comstock was elected to Congress in November 2014, vacating her House of Delegates seat and prompting a special election on January 6, 2015.[5] In another close contest, Democrat Murphy defeated Republican Craig Parisot by 326 votes.[6] In the November general election, the same candidates ran again.[7] Murphy won re-election by 188 votes.[8]
Murphy was re-elected with 61% of the vote, defeating Republican Cheryl Buford.[9]
Challenged by Republican Gary Pan, Murphy was re-elected with 58% of the vote.[10]
| Years | Delegate | Party | Electoral history | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nowrap | January 13, 1982 - January 12, 1983 | John Watkins | Republican | ||||
| nowrap | January 12, 1983 - January 9, 2008 | align=left | Vince Callahan | Republican | Declined to run for reelection | ||
| nowrap | January 9, 2008 - January 13, 2010 | align=left | Margaret Vanderhye | Democratic | Defeated in bid for reelection | ||
| nowrap | January 13, 2010 - November 10, 2014 | align=left | Barbara Comstock | Republican | |||
| nowrap | January 13, 2015 - present | Kathleen Murphy | Democratic | Elected via special election | |||