The Virginia Elections and State Elected Officials Database Project, 1776-2007

 

2005 General Assembly Election Summary

On November 8, 2005, Virginia voters elected a new Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State Attorney General, and 100 state legislators for the 100-member Virginia House of Delegates. Whereas the elections of the former offices were held statewide and the individuals elected serve one four-year term, the newly elected Members of the House of Delegates represent individual local districts, serve two-year terms, and may seek and serve multiple consecutive terms. Seats in the 40-member Virginia Senate are elected from individual senatorial districts every fours years: the next Virginia Senate elections will be held along with new House of Delegates elections on November 6, 2007. Special elections for individual seats in the Virginia General Assembly are called between regular elections after the retirement, death or impeachment of a previously elected Delegate or State Senator.

In the 2005 General Election, 1,926,065 Virginia voters cast ballots, a slight increase over the 2001 General Election in which 1,920,202 Virginia voters participated. Measured relative to the number of registered voters eligible to vote, voter turnout was 43.14% in 2005 and 45.07% of all registered voters in 2001. The noted increase in the number of voters and the seemingly paradoxical decline in voter turnout reflects the fact that 196,100 more individuals were registered to vote in 2005 than in 2001.

Table 1 reports these data and offers another useful and more inclusionary measurement of democratic participation by calculating the ratio of voters who participated in 2001 and 2005 relative to the total population of the State of Virginia. After all, those who vote select not only the political representatives of all eligible voters--including those who decide not to vote--but also of all unregistered and ineligible persons within the state, too.

 

In the 2005 General Election, Virginia voters elected Tim Kaine Governor. Kaine, the Democrat Party gubernatorial candidate and former Lieutenant Governor, defeated both Jerry Kilgore, the Republican candidate and former state Attorney General, and Independent candidate Russ Potts, a former state Senator. Kaine received 1,025,942 votes or 51.72% of the total vote; Kilgore received 912,327 votes or 45.99%; and Potts received 43,953 votes or 2.22%.

William Bolling (R), a Virginia state Senator since 1996, won election to serve as Virginia Lieutenant Governor for the next four years. Bolling received 50.47% of the vote, and defeated Leslie Byrne (D), a former Delegate, state Senator, and U.S. Representative. Byrne received 49.32% of the vote.

Two Members of the Virginia General Assembly vied for the Office of State Attorney General in 2005. Robert McDonnell (R), a Delegate from Virginia Beach since 1992, received 49.96% of the vote, winning the election over Creigh Deeds (D), a state Senator since 2001 and a former Delegate from Bath County since 1992. McDonnell defeated Deeds by 323 votes, a strikingly small margin given that over 1.9 million official ballots were cast for Attorney General in this election.

In the 2005 House of Delegates elections, 85 of 88 incumbent Delegates who ran for reelection won their races, or a 96.6% incumbency reelection rate. Two Republican incumbents and one Democrat incumbent lost in the 2005 General Election. Fifty incumbents faced no opposition in their most recent reelection bids. In partisan terms, the November 2005 elections and the three special House elections held in January 2006 yielded a 2006 House of Delegates composed of 57 Republicans, 40 Democrats, and 3 Independents. After the 2003 Election, the House of Delegates had 61 Republicans, 37 Democrats, and 2 Independents. In the 40-member Virginia Senate, there presently are 23 Republicans and 17 Democrats.

Table 2, below, offers a convenient summary of major party candidate vote totals in 2005. These statewide totals are compared to the 2001 election, the last General Election held simultaneously for Virginia Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General and the House of Delegates.

Table 2: 2005-2001 Virginia Election Summary
	Democrat Candidates	Democrat Vote Total (%)	Republican Candidates	Republican Vote Total (%)	Democrat - Republican Vote Differences (%)
Governor 2005: 2001: 2005-2001:	Tim Kaine Mark Warner	1,025,942   ( 51.72%) 984,177   ( 52.16%) +41,765 (- 0.44%)	Jerry Kilgore Mark Early	912,327 (45.99%) 887,234 (47.03%) +25,093 (- 1.04%)	+113,615  (5.73%)  Democrat +  96,943  (5.13%)  Democrat
Lieutenant Governor 2005: 2001: 2005-2001:	Leslie Byrne Tim Kaine	956,906 ( 49.32%) 925,974 ( 50.35%) +30,932 ( - 1.03%)	William Bolling Jay Katzen	979,265 (50.47%) 883,886 (48.06%) +95,379 (+2.41%)	+ 22,359 ( 1.15%) Republican + 42,088 ( 2.29%) Republican
Attorney General 2005: 2001: 2005-2001:	Creigh Deeds A.D. McEachin	970,563 ( 49.95%) 736,431 ( 39.92%) +234,132 (+10.03%)	Robert McDonnell Jerry Kilgore	970,886 (49.96%) 1,107,068  (60.01%) -136,182 (-10.05%)	+ 323 ( 0.01%) Republican + 370,637 (20.09%) Republican
House of Delegates 2005: 2001: 2005-2001:	58 Candidates 57 Candidates +1	641,029 (37.22%) 648,880 (38.95%) -7,851 (-1.73%)	78 Candidates 74 Candidates +4	979,280 (56.86%) 933,120 (56.02%) +46,160 (+0.84%)	+ 338,251 (19.64%) Republican + 284,240 (17.07%) Republican
2005 Vote Total (Gov, LtGov, AG, HoD candidates)		3,594,440		3,841,758	+ 247,318 Republican
2001 Vote Total (Gov, LtGov, AG, HoD candidates)		3,337,227		3,811,308	+ 474,081 Republican
2005-2001: Vote Total Difference		+257,213		+ 30,450	+ 226,763 Democrat

 

Table 3 summarizes candidate campaign expenditures in the 2005 General Election. Each candidate is required by state law to disclose his or her campaign expenses to the Virginia State Board of Elections. Campaign related expenditures by political parties, independent groups and non-candidate individuals are not included in the summary data below: to examine these additional types of campaign activities in more detail, see the Virginia Public Access Project (http://www.vpap.org/). Table 3 also includes 2001 expenditures as a reference for analyzing the 2005 election data.

 

 

For more 2005 election data on the individuals elections for Virginia Governor and the 100 House of Delegates seats, see the links to the Project database provided below in Table 4. For more detailed historical comparisons of the 2005 election, including 2005 inflation-adjusted campaign expenditure totals for past elections, see the Historical Election Data and Statistics page.  

 

Additional 2005 Virginia Election Data and Highlights

Election results, it is important to recall, are comprised of and determined by the voting decisions of individual voters. This brute fact of modern elections often is overlooked in the rush to identify election winners, majority parties and rising or declining electoral coalitions and interests. In addition, the modern convenience of the secret ballot typically obscures why individuals vote the ways they do. Exit polls are one common device designed to unveil the logic and preferences of a sample of voters shortly after they have voted. Sometimes, however, individual voters cannot or will not provide a full or transparent explanation of their voting actions. As a result, those who attempt to account for particular electoral outcomes confront the unavoidable task of devising analytical strategies that will assist them in making sense of individual voter decisions. This problematic is not trivial because the analytical methods adopted for aggregating individual votes shape the types of inferences and conclusions we draw about a particular election. These conclusions, moreover, often influence how individuals understand the political past in addition to, for some, the possibilities they associate with the political future. We need not leap far to see how views of the past may affect how some individuals approach the development of party strategies, candidate recruitment, and the decisions to seek state or local elected offices in the future. Still, the explicit recognition of this problematic ought not paralyze those interested in studying the determinants of electoral outcomes; on the contrary, it should spur the examination of 2005 Virginia election data across several different levels of aggregation.

 I.  The 2005 Election for Virginia Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General

Table 5 reports 2005 Election results for the three statewide races with reference to the geographical boundaries of Virginia"s eleven U.S. House Districts. The table aggregates the total votes candidates received within each individual District, revealing more precisely several relative differences in intra- and inter-party strength that were masked by the statewide totals reported in Table 2.

 

Like U.S. House districts, county and city jurisdictions provide an alternative means of aggregating individual election decisions into larger, manageable, and potentially more meaningful wholes. Virginia contains 95 counties and 39 independent cities. These local political units are responsible for tabulating and reporting local election data to the State Board of Elections. Table 6 reports the number of counties and cities each major party candidate won in the 2005 election, as well as the total number of votes a candidate received, first, across all 95 counties and, second, across all 39 cities. Table 6 also includes a second measurement of electoral performance in Virginia"s counties and cities that commonly ranks these 134 local jurisdictions according to their population densities. Election results within the 44 jurisdictions with the highest population density are reported, as are election results within the 44 jurisdictions with the lowest population density.

 

 

The final data table offers two additional methods of aggregating individual election data. Table 7 reports election results for the 2005 and 2001 Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and House of Delegates elections with reference to the number of House of Delegates districts and the number of Virginia precincts won by each candidate.

 

 

II. Summary of 2005 House of Delegates Election

From its conception in 1999, The Virginia Elections and Elected Officials Database Project has aimed to empower its users with the capacities to query and to download the Virginia election data it contains in addition to the various types of summary statistics it is capable of generating. The following topical summaries of the 2005 House of Delegates Election reflect the breadth of the Project"s present capacities, while also suggesting several additional paths for future development of the Project.  

Contested House of Delegate Elections and Incumbency Reelection Rates

Of the 100 House of Delegates races in 2005, 51 races had only one official candidate. In the remaining 49 contested elections, 38 races had candidates from the two major state political parties. By comparison, in 2003, 61 House of Delegates elections were uncontested. Of the 39 contested House of Delegates seats in 2003, 31 elections had candidates from both major state political parties.

In the 2005 elections, 88 incumbents ran for reelection in the House of Delegates. Eighty-five incumbents, or 96.59%, were reelected. In 2003, 88 of 89 House incumbents, or 98.88%, won reelection. In 2001, the House of Delegates incumbency reelection rate was 95.1%.

In 2005, 50 incumbents faced no challenger in their House races. In 2003, 58 House incumbents were unopposed for reelection.

Of the 38 House of Delegate incumbents with 2005 election opponents, 92.1% won reelection to their seats. In 2003, the 31 House incumbents who faced challengers won 96.77% of their elections.

Of the 20 Republican House incumbents who were opposed for reelection in 2005, two lost: Richard Black (R-32^nd) and Bradley Marrs (R-68^th). Of the 18 Democrat House incumbents who faced challengers in 2005, only one lost: W. B. Keister (D-6^th).

 2005 Pre-Election Vulnerability and the 2007 House of Delegates Elections

Of the 38 incumbents who faced challengers in 2005, only five received less than 55 per cent of the vote in their last election. These five incumbents and their pre-2005 election vote percentages were: Del. W. B. Keister (D-6^th) 50.13%; Paula Miller (D-87th) 50.54%; Del. Stephen Shannon (D-35^th) 51.9%; Del. Richard Black (R-32^nd) 52%; and Del. Mark Sickles (D-43^rd) 53.79%. In the 2005 elections, two of these five most vulnerable incumbents lost. In the 6^th district, challenger Anne Crockett-Stark (R) received 53.8% of the vote and defeated 3-term incumbent Del. W. B. Keister (D-6^th). Keister received 9,109 votes, 968 more votes than his 2003 tally but only 46.17% of the 2005 district total. In the 32^nd House district, challenger David Poisson (D) received 52.99% of the votes and defeated 4-term incumbent Del. Richard Black (R), who received 11,034 votes. Black"s 2005 effort garnered him 3,359 more votes than in his 2003 election, but he received only 46.89% against Poisson in 2005.

Looking ahead to the 2007 House of Delegates elections, there are twelve 2005 winning House candidates who received less than 55 per cent of the vote in their districts. These present House members and their 2005 vote percentages are: Katherine Waddell (I-68^th), 49.93%; Paula Miller (D-87^th), 50.27%; Roslyn Tyler (D-75^th), 50.61%; Jeffrey Frederick (R-52^nd) 51.11%; David Albo, (R-42) 51.92%; David Bulova (D-37^th), 52.41%; Allen Dudley (R-9^th), 52.84%; David Poisson (D-32^nd), 52.99%; Matthew Lohr (R-26^th), 53.58%; Anne Crockett-Stark (R-6^th), 53.8%); Michele McQuigg (R-51^st), 53.86%; William Barlow (D-64^th), 53.98%.

In the 2005 General Election, nine House of Delegates incumbent candidates were outspent by their opponents. Of these nine House incumbents, five were Republicans and four were Democrat candidates. Only one of the nine incumbents lost in 2005. The eight winning incumbents and their winning 2005 vote percentages are: Robert Marshall (HD13, R), 55.46%; Ben Cline (HD24, R), 62.44%; Ken Plum (HD36, D), 79.38%; Vivian Watts (HD39, D), 62.71%; Michele McQuigg (HD51, R), 53.86%; Jeffrey Frederick (HD52, R), 51.11%; William Kyle (HD64, D), 53.98%; Thomas Gear (HD91, R), 59.43%.

Intra-Party Primary Elections

In 2005, ten incumbent Republican Delegates were challenged for their party's nomination; one was defeated. In House District 67, Chris Craddock defeated Del. Gary A. Reese in a 2005 Republican primary. Craddock (R) lost the 67^th District in the 2005 General election, receiving 41.09% of the vote. Two incumbent Democrat Delegates were challenged for their party nomination; one was defeated. In House District 74, former Del. A. Donald McEachin defeated Del. Floyd Miles in a 2005 Democrat primary. McEachin won the General election with 75.32% of the vote in the 74^th District.

 Open Seat Elections

Of the 100 House of Delegates elections in the 2005 General Election, 12 House races were open-seat elections--that is, where no incumbent candidate ran for reelection. The 12 open-seat elections in 2005 were in House Districts: 15, 26, 37, 41, 45, 57, 67, 71, 74, 75, 84, and 99.

Two of the 12 open-seats in the 2005 General Elections opened after a party primary challenger defeated the incumbent House of Delegates member. Three other open-seats in 2005 opened because the incumbent Delegate decided to seek another state elective office. Delegate Robert McDonnell (R-84^th) was the 2005 Republican candidate for Virginia Attorney General. Delegates Viola Baskerville (D-71) and Chap Petersen (D-37^th) ran for but lost their bids for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor.

Five of the 12 House open-seat elections in 2005 were in districts represented by Republicans and seven were in House districts represented by Democrats. The Democrat Party fielded candidates in all 12 open-seat elections in 2005. The Republican Party ran challengers in 10 open-seat elections. By contrast, there were 11 open-seat House of Delegates elections in 2003, 18 open-seat elections in 2001, and 6 open-seat elections in 1999.

In 2005, Democrat candidates won 8 of 12 open-seat House of Delegate elections; Republican candidates won the remaining 4 open-seat elections. In 2003, Democrats won 8 of 11 open-seat elections; Republican candidates won the three remaining open-seat elections. In 2001, by contrast, Republican candidates won 16 of 18 open-seat elections; Democrat candidates won the 2 remaining open-seat elections.

2005-2003 House of Delegates Election Rematches

Three 2005 House of Delegates races were electoral rematches of 2003 elections that involved the same Democrat and Republican candidates. In House District 64, Del. William Barlow (D) again defeated Republican challenger Troy Lapetina in their 2005 rematch. In 2003, Barlow won 54.6% of the vote to Lapetina's 43.4%; in 2005, Barlow won with 54.98% of the vote. The second 2005 electoral rematch was in House District 87. In a December 2004 special election, Paula Miller (D) won with 50.54% of the vote over Michael Ball (R), who received 49.27%. In 2005, Miller again defeated Ball, this time with 50.27% of the vote. The third rematch was between Del. Mark Cole (R) and Charles Feldbush (D); Cole won both the 2005 and 2003 elections. In 2003, Cole received 71.18% of the vote; in 2005, he received 62.47% of the vote.

State of the Political Parties

The present partisan composition of the House of Delegates is 56 Republicans, 40 Democrats, and 3 Independents, with one special House election to be held on November 7, 2006. The Republicans have been the House majority since the 1999 elections. The last time Democrat candidates collectively polled more votes than Republican candidates in House of Delegates elections was in 1991. In 2003, Republican candidates received 630,343 votes, or 57.8% of the total recorded votes in House of Delegates elections; whereas Democrat candidates received 403,466 votes, or 37.0% of House candidate votes. In the most recent gubernatorial election in 2001, Republican House of Delegates candidates received 933,120 votes, or 59.0%; Democrat candidates received 648,880 votes, or 41.0%. In 2005, Republican candidates received 979,280 votes, or 56.86% of the total recorded votes in House elections, a net increase in votes but a relative percentage decline. In 2005, Democrat candidates received 641,029 votes, or 37.22% of the total recorded votes in House elections, a net and relative percentage decline since the 2001 election.

 

Campaign Expenditures

The last time Democrat House candidates collectively outspent Republican House candidates was the 1999 General Election. In 2005, Republican House candidates outspent their Democrat candidate rivals: $12,375,914 to $9,054,395. In the 2003 General Election, Republican candidates for House of Delegates seats reported spending $6,274,007; or 57.6% of all reported candidate expenditures. Democrat candidates reported spending $4,400,302 in 2003, or 40.37%.

In 2005, candidates for Virginia Governor again reported spending significantly more than the combined totals reported by House of Delegates candidates. Gubernatorial candidates in 2005 spent a combined total of $41,945,279, compared to $22,368,861 for House candidates in 2005. In 2001, gubernatorial candidates reported spending $30,749,603; House of Delegates candidates reported spending $13,144,430. In 1997, total reported expenditures were $20,413,707 for gubernatorial candidates, and $9,777,240 for House of Delegates candidates.. In the two previous gubernatorial elections (2001 and 1997), the winning gubernatorial candidates reported spending more than their opponents. In the four preceding gubernatorial elections (1993, 1989, 1985, 1981), the candidates who reported spending the most lost their election bids. In 2005, the winning gubernatorial candidate, Tim Kaine, was outspent by Jerry Kilgore by $2,770,760. In 2005, however, winning House of Delegates candidates outspent losing candidates by $10,102,025. Winning House candidates in 2005 also spent their campaign expenditures more efficiently than their losing rivals, spending $11.83 per vote received compared to $17.54 per vote received by losing 2005 House candidates.

 

Three Independent Members of the House of Delegates

 

Three Independents were elected to the House of Delegates in the 2005 General Election. Two incumbent Delegates--Del. Watkins Abbitt, (District 59) and Lacey Putney (District 19)--were unopposed in 2005. The third Independent elected, Katherine Waddell, represents the 68^th District, which includes parts of Chesterfield County and the City of Richmond. In 2005, Independent and third party House candidates received 101,843 votes; in 2003, they received 84,021 votes. Independent and third-party candidates reported spending $646,057 during the 2005 election.

Delegate Lacy Putney"s Virginia General Assembly Service Record

The 2006 session of the Virginia House of Delegates included an historic milestone for legislative service in the State of Virginia. Delegate Lacey Putney has served in the House of Delegates for 44 years: a Virginia House of Delegates service record that surpasses the 38 years served by former House Speaker, John Warren Cooke (1942-1979) and the 34 years served by former House Speaker, E. Blackburn Moore (1933-1976). Putney's election in 2005 was significant because it meant that his service in the House of Delegates in 2006 would be his 45^th year, a General Assembly record for legislative service that surpassed the existing record of 44 years held by former Delegate and Virginia Senator Richard O. Norris, Jr, who served between 1912-1955.

Gender and the House of Delegates

After the 2005 elections, the House of Delegates included 16 female Members: 9 Democrats, 6 Republicans, and 1 Independent, an increase of three female members. Of the 161 House candidates in the 2005 General Election, there were 24 female candidates (13 Democrats, 7 Republicans, and 4 Independents). Six Democrat and five Republican female incumbent Members of the House of Delegates ran for reelection in 2005: each incumbent won. Of the five female candidates who contested open seat elections in 2005, four were Democrat candidates and one was an Independent. Two of the five female candidates in these open seat elections won in 2005.