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Virginia, U.S. House, District 5

Businessman Denver Riggleman (R) defeated journalist Leslie Cockburn (D) and write-in candidate John Hargis in the November 6 general election for Virginia's 5th Congressional District seat.

All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives were up for election in 2018. The Democratic Party gained a net total of 40 seats, winning control of the chamber. This race was identified as a 2018 battleground that might have affected partisan control of the U.S. House in the 116th Congress. Heading into the election, the Republican Party was in the majority holding 235 seats to Democrats' 193 seats, with seven vacant seats. Democrats needed to win 23 GOP-held seats in 2018 to win control of the House. From 1918 to 2016, the president’s party lost an average of 29 seats in midterm elections.

Heading into the election the incumbent was Tom Garrett (R), who was first elected in 2016 by a margin of 16 percentage points. Garrett announced on May 28, 2018, that he would not seek re-election in 2018. The district had not elected a Democratic representative since 2008.


Polls

If you are aware of polls conducted in this race, please email us.


Campaign finance

The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Leslie Cockburn Democratic Party $3,538,322 $3,530,910 $7,411 As of December 31, 2018
Denver Lee Riggleman III Republican Party $1,951,976 $1,941,099 $10,877 As of December 31, 2018

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2018.

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.


State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Virginia from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Virginia State Board of Elections.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Virginia every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Virginia 2000-2016

Year First-place candidate First-place candidate votes (%) Second-place candidate Second-place candidate votes (%) Margin of victory (%)
2016 Democratic Party Hillary Clinton 49.7% Republican Party Donald Trump 44.4% 5.3%
2012 Democratic Party Barack Obama 51.1% Republican Party Mitt Romney 47.2% 3.9%
2008 Democratic Party Barack Obama 52.6% Republican Party John McCain 46.3% 6.3%
2004 Republican Party George W. Bush 53.7% Democratic Party John Kerry 45.5% 8.2%
2000 Republican Party George W. Bush 52.5% Democratic Party Al Gore 44.4% 12.0%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Virginia from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Virginia 2000-2016

Year First-place candidate First-place candidate votes (%) Second-place candidate Second-place candidate votes (%) Margin of victory (%)
2014 Democratic Party Mark Warner 49.1% Republican Party Ed Gillespie 48.3% 0.8%
2012 Democratic Party Tim Kaine 52.8% Republican Party George Allen 46.9% 5.9%
2008 Democratic Party Mark Warner 65.0% Republican Party Jim Gilmore 33.7% 31.3%
2006 Democratic Party Jim Webb (Virginia) 49.6% Republican Party George Allen 49.2% 0.4%
2002 Republican Party John Warner 82.6% Grey.png Nancy B. Spannaus (Independent) 9.7% 72.9%
2000 Republican Party George Allen 52.3% Democratic Party Chuck Robb 47.7% 4.6%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Virginia.

Election results (Governor), Virginia 2000-2016

Year First-place candidate First-place candidate votes (%) Second-place candidate Second-place candidate votes (%) Margin of victory (%)
2017 Democratic Party Ralph Northam 53.9% Republican Party Ed Gillespie 45.0% 8.9%
2013 Democratic Party Terry McAuliffe 47.8% Republican Party Ken Cuccinelli 45.2% 2.6%
2009 Republican Party Bob McDonnell 58.6% Democratic Party Creigh Deeds 41.3% 17.3%
2005 Democratic Party Tim Kaine 51.7% Republican Party Jerry Kilgore 46.0% 5.7%
2001 Democratic Party Mark Warner 52.2% Republican Party Mark Earley 47.0% 5.2%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Virginia in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Virginia 2000-2016

Year Republicans Republicans (%) Democrats Democrats (%) Balance of power
2016 Republican Party 7 63.6% Democratic Party 4 36.4% R+3
2014 Republican Party 8 72.7% Democratic Party 3 27.3% R+5
2012 Republican Party 8 72.7% Democratic Party 3 27.3% R+5
2010 Republican Party 8 72.7% Democratic Party 3 27.3% R+5
2008 Republican Party 5 45.4% Democratic Party 6 54.5% D+1
2006 Republican Party 8 72.7% Democratic Party 3 27.3% R+5
2004 Republican Party 8 72.7% Democratic Party 3 27.3% R+5
2002 Republican Party 8 72.7% Democratic Party 3 27.3% R+5
2000 Republican Party 7 50.0% Democratic Party 3 50.0% R+4

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Virginia Party Control: 1992-2019
Two years of Democratic trifectas • Four years of Republican trifectas

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
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
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
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


Demographics

Demographic data for Virginia

VirginiaU.S.
Total population:8,367,587316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):39,4903,531,905
Gender
Female:50.8%50.8%
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)
for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Virginia.

As of July 2016, Virginia's three largest cities were Virginia Beach (pop. est. 450,435), Norfolk (pop. est. 244,703), and Chesapeake (pop. est. 240,397).