Editing Virginia (section)

===State elections===
{{See also|Elections in Virginia|Political party strength in Virginia}}
{{multiple image |align= right |direction= vertical |width= 250px |caption_align= center |footer_align= center
|image1=2023VirginiaStateHouseElection NoInsert.svg
|alt1=A map of Virginia showing the results of the 2023 Virginia House of Delegates election, with Republican districts in red and Democratic districts in blue, with heavier shading showing which changed parties.
|caption1=[[2023 Virginia House of Delegates election]]
|image2=2023 Virginia State Senate election.svg
|caption2=[[2023 Virginia Senate election]]
|alt2=A map of Virginia showing the results of the 2023 Virginia Senate election, with Republican districts in red and Democratic districts in blue, with heavier shading showing which changed parties.
|footer={{legend inline|#f48c84|Republican hold}}&emsp;&emsp;{{legend inline|#92c5de|Democratic hold}}<br />{{legend inline|#ca0120|Republican gain}}&emsp;&emsp;{{legend inline|#0671b0|Democratic gain}}
}}
Because Virginia enacted their post-Civil-War [[Constitution of Virginia|constitution]] in 1870, state elections in Virginia occur in odd-numbered years, with executive department elections occurring in years following U.S. presidential elections and [[Senate of Virginia|State Senate]] elections occurring in the years prior to presidential elections.<ref name=offyear>{{cite news |url= https://wamu.org/story/17/09/13/virginia-hold-elections-off-off-years/ |title= Why Does Virginia Hold Elections In Off-Off Years? |website= WAMU |first= Martin |last= Austermuhle |date= September 13, 2017 |access-date= April 25, 2024}}</ref> [[Virginia House of Delegates|House of Delegates]] elections take place concurrent with each of those elections. National politics often play a role in state election outcomes, and Virginians have elected governors of the party opposite the U.S. president in eleven of the last twelve contests, with only [[Terry McAuliffe]] beating the trend [[Virginia elections, 2013|in 2013]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2017-elections/inside-data-what-virginia-election-results-mean-18-n820001 |title= Inside the Data: What the Virginia Election Results Mean for '18 |website= NBC News |date= November 12, 2017 |first= Dante |last= Chinni |access-date= November 7, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191119060422/https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2017-elections/inside-data-what-virginia-election-results-mean-18-n820001 |archive-date= November 19, 2019 |url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/polls-open-across-virginia-in-hotly-contested-governors-race/2013/11/04/06c6205c-45d2-11e3-bf0c-cebf37c6f484_story.html |title= McAuliffe narrowly wins Va. governor's race |newspaper= The Washington Post |first= Marc |last= Fisher |date= November 6, 2013 |access-date= November 7, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191107191400/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/polls-open-across-virginia-in-hotly-contested-governors-race/2013/11/04/06c6205c-45d2-11e3-bf0c-cebf37c6f484_story.html |archive-date= November 7, 2019 |url-status= live}}</ref>

The [[Virginia elections, 2017|2017 state elections]] resulted in Democrats holding the three executive offices, as lieutenant governor [[Ralph Northam]] won [[2017 Virginia gubernatorial election|the race for governor]]. In concurrent [[Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2017|House of Delegates elections]], Democrats flipped fifteen of the Republicans' previous sixteen-seat majority.<ref>{{cite news |last1= Nirappil |first1= Fenit |title= Democrats make significant gains in Virginia legislature; control of House in play |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/democrats-poised-to-make-significant-gains-in-virginia-legislature/2017/11/07/9c2f4d24-c401-11e7-aae0-cb18a8c29c65_story.html |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= November 8, 2017 |access-date= November 7, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190912234942/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/democrats-poised-to-make-significant-gains-in-virginia-legislature/2017/11/07/9c2f4d24-c401-11e7-aae0-cb18a8c29c65_story.html |archive-date= September 12, 2019 |url-status= live}}</ref> Control of the House came down to a tied election in the [[Virginia's 94th House of Delegates district|94th district]], which the Republican won by a drawing of lots, giving the party a slim 51–49 majority in the [[160th Virginia General Assembly|2018–19 legislative sessions]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Moomaw |first1=Graham |title=Del. David E. Yancey wins tiebreaker for key Virginia House of Delegates seat |url=https://www.fredericksburg.com/news/election/del-david-e-yancey-wins-tiebreaker-for-key-virginia-house/article_785a475f-3ad0-5ad7-b7d8-79c051d642a2.html |newspaper= The Free Lance-Star |date=January 4, 2018 |access-date=August 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104175908/http://www.fredericksburg.com/news/election/del-david-e-yancey-wins-tiebreaker-for-key-virginia-house/article_785a475f-3ad0-5ad7-b7d8-79c051d642a2.html |archive-date=January 4, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> At this time, Virginia was ranked as having the most [[Gerrymandering in the United States|gerrymandered]] U.S. state legislature, as Republicans controlled the House with only 44.5% of the total vote.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://schwarzeneggerinstitute.com/theworstpartisangerrymanders |title= The worst U.S. State Legislative Partisan Gerrymanders |publisher= USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy |author1-link= Christian R. Grose |first1= Christian R. |last1= Grose |first2= Jordan Carr |last2= Peterson |first3= Matthew |last3= Nelson |first4= Sara |last4= Sadhwani |date= September 5, 2019 |access-date= July 8, 2021 |archive-date= March 8, 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220308223626/http://schwarzeneggerinstitute.com/theworstpartisangerrymanders |url-status= dead }}</ref> In 2019, [[Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Bd. of Elections|federal courts found]] that eleven House district lines, including the 94th, were unconstitutionally drawn to discriminate against African Americans.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/court-strikes-down-virginia-house-districts-as-racial-gerrymandering/2018/06/26/4e953752-7993-11e8-80be-6d32e182a3bc_story.html |title= Court strikes down Virginia House districts as racial gerrymandering |newspaper= The Washington Post |first= Rachel |last= Weiner |date= June 26, 2018 |access-date= November 7, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191031145205/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/court-strikes-down-virginia-house-districts-as-racial-gerrymandering/2018/06/26/4e953752-7993-11e8-80be-6d32e182a3bc_story.html |archive-date= October 31, 2019 |url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/17/politics/supreme-court-racial-virginia-gerrymandering-case/index.html | title = Supreme Court hands Democrats a win in Virginia racial gerrymander case | first1 = Ariane | last1 = de Vogue | first2=  Ryan | last2= Nobles | first3= Devan | last3= Cole | date = June 17, 2019 | access-date = June 17, 2019 | work = [[CNN]]}}</ref> Adjusted districts were used in the [[Virginia elections, 2019|2019 elections]], when Democrats won full control of the General Assembly, despite [[2019 Virginia political crisis|a political crisis earlier that year]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/05/us/politics/virginia-elections.html|title=Virginia Election: Democrats Take Full Control of State Government|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 6, 2019|access-date=March 6, 2019|first=Trip|last=Gabriel}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://qz.com/1743356/fixing-racial-gerrymandering-helped-democrats-take-back-virginia/ |title= Newly redrawn voting districts hand Virginia Democrats a sweeping victory |website= Quartz |first= Annalisa |last= Merelli |date= November 6, 2019 |access-date= November 7, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191107003650/https://qz.com/1743356/fixing-racial-gerrymandering-helped-democrats-take-back-virginia/ |archive-date= November 7, 2019 |url-status= live}}</ref> Voters in 2020 then [[2020 Virginia Question 1|passed a referendum]] to give [[Redistricting in Virginia|control of drawing]] both state and congressional districts to a commission of eight citizens and four legislators from each of the two major parties, rather than the legislature.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-redistricting-amendment-results/2020/11/02/5d1ef242-19f8-11eb-befb-8864259bd2d8_story.html |title= Virginians approve turning redistricting over to bipartisan commission |newspaper= The Washington Post |first= Rachel |last= Weiner |date= November 4, 2020 |access-date= November 10, 2020}}</ref>

In 2021, [[Glenn Youngkin]] became the first Republican to [[2021 Virginia gubernatorial election|win the governor's race]] since 2009,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Republican Youngkin wins Virginia governor's race in blow to Democrats, NBC News projects|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/polls-close-soon-virginia-s-closely-watched-gubernatorial-election-n1283066|access-date=November 3, 2021|website=NBC News|date=November 3, 2021}}</ref> with his party also winning the races for [[2021 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election|lieutenant governor]] and [[2021 Virginia Attorney General election|attorney general]] and gaining [[2021 Virginia House of Delegates election|seven seats in the House of Delegates]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Republican Winsome Sears projected to win lieutenant governor's race|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-lieutenant-governor/2021/11/02/27f9ed8c-36b3-11ec-91dc-551d44733e2d_story.html|access-date=November 3, 2021|issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Seddiq|first2=Grace |last2=Panetta |first1=Oma|title=Republican Jason Miyares defeats two-term Democrat Mark Herring for Virginia attorney general|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/virginia-attorney-general-election-mark-herring-jason-miyares-live-results-2021-11|access-date=November 3, 2021|website=Business Insider}}</ref> Two years later, new legislative maps drawn by [[special master]]s appointed by [[Supreme Court of Virginia|the state supreme court]] led to nine retirements in the state senate and to twenty-five House delegates not seeking re-election. In [[2023 Virginia elections|those elections]], Democrats claimed a slim majority of one seat in both the Senate and the House.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.virginiamercury.com/2023/11/13/virginia-voters-gave-democrats-control-of-the-legislature-what-will-it-mean-for-policy/ |title= Virginia voters gave Democrats control of the legislature. What will it mean for policy? |website= Virginia Mercury |first= Graham |last= Moomaw |date= November 13, 2023 |access-date= November 16, 2023}}</ref>