The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia serves as the head of government of Virginia for a four-year term. The incumbent, Glenn Youngkin, was sworn in on January 15, 2022.
Mills Edwin Godwin Jr. was an American politician who was the 60th and 62nd governor of Virginia for two non-consecutive terms, from 1966 to 1970 and from 1974 to 1978. Godwin was the first person to be elected governor of any state as a Democrat and a Republican.
Abner Linwood Holton Jr. was an American politician and attorney. He served as the 61st governor of Virginia, from 1970 to 1974, and was the first elected Republican governor of Virginia of the 20th century. He was known for supporting civil rights, integration, and public investment.
Julian Sargeant "Sarge" Reynolds of Richmond, Virginia, was an American educator, businessman, and Democratic politician. He served in both the House and Senate of the Virginia General Assembly and served as 30th Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia under Governor Linwood Holton. He died of an inoperable brain tumor at age 34 while in office as Virginia's Lieutenant Governor.
The 2005 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2005, to elect the Governor of Virginia. The Democratic nominee, Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine, the son-in-law to Linwood Holton, won the election. Virginia is the only state in the United States to prohibit governors from serving successive terms, meaning that the popular incumbent, Mark Warner, could not run for reelection.
The Byrd machine, or Byrd Organization, was a political machine of the Democratic Party led by former Governor and U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd (1887–1966) that dominated Virginia politics for much of the 20th century. From the 1890s until the late 1960s, the Byrd organization effectively controlled the politics of the state through a network of courthouse cliques of local constitutional officers in most of the state's counties.
Henry Evans Howell Jr., nicknamed "Howlin' Henry" Howell, was an American lawyer and politician from the Commonwealth of Virginia. A progressive populist and a member of the Democratic Party, he served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, was elected the 31st Lieutenant Governor of Virginia as an Independent Democrat, and made several runs for governor.
The politics of Virginia have followed major historical events and demographic changes in the commonwealth. In the 21st century, the northern region has become more liberal in attitudes and voting, constituting a reliable voting bloc for Democrats and joining with population centers in the Richmond Metropolitan and Hampton Roads areas to dominate the state. Political orientation varies by region, with the larger cities and suburban areas generally voting Democratic and the rural areas voting Republican. The southern, rural regions have remained Republican. Until 2021 when the GOP swept all statewide offices, Virginia was shifting more Democratic and now is considered a swing state again by most pundits.
The following offices were up for election in the United States Commonwealth of Virginia in the November 2009 general election:
William Cullen Battle was an American diplomat, lawyer, businessman, United States Ambassador to Australia, and president of the United States Golf Association.
Elections in Virginia are authorized under Article I of the Virginia State Constitution, sections 5–6, and Article V which establishes elections for the state-level officers, cabinet, and legislature. Article VII section 4 establishes the election of county-level officers. Elections are regulated under state statute 24.2-102. The Virginia State Board of Elections oversees the execution of elections under state law. In a 2020 study, Virginia was ranked as the 12th easiest state for citizens to vote in.
The 2013 Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2013, to elect the governor of Virginia. The incumbent governor, Republican Bob McDonnell, was not eligible to run for re-election due to term limits established by the Virginia Constitution. Virginia is the only state that prohibits its governor from serving immediate successive terms.
William Benjamin Hopkins Sr. was an American politician, lawyer and military historian.
The 2013 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2013, to elect the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. The incumbent Lieutenant Governor, Republican Bill Bolling, had originally planned to run for Governor of Virginia in the 2013 gubernatorial election, but withdrew upon the entry of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.
United States gubernatorial elections were held in November 1965, in two states.
In the 1977 Virginia gubernatorial election, incumbent Governor Mills E. Godwin, Jr., a Republican, was unable to seek re-election due to term limits. John N. Dalton, the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, was nominated by the Republican Party to run against the Democratic nominee, former Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Henry Howell.
In the 1973 Virginia gubernatorial election, incumbent Governor A. Linwood Holton, Jr., a Republican, was unable to seek re-election due to term limits. Mills E. Godwin, Jr., former Democratic Governor of Virginia, was nominated by the Republican Party to run against Independent Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Henry Howell. The Democrats did not field a candidate, mostly choosing to support Howell's candidacy.
In the 1965 Virginia gubernatorial election, incumbent Governor Albertis Harrison, a Democrat, was unable to seek re-election due to term limits. Linwood Holton, an attorney from Roanoke, was nominated by the Republican Party to run against Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Mills Godwin.
The Conservative Party of Virginia was a United States political party in the state of Virginia during the mid 20th century. The party formed after Mills E. Godwin, Jr. was selected as the Democratic party's candidate for governor in 1965 due to his openly soliciting the votes of African-Americans. 300 delegates met at Richmond, Virginia and formed the party and selected William J. Story, Jr., assistant superintendent of schools, Chesapeake, Va., for Governor; Reid T. Putney, a forestry consultant of Goochland, for Lieutenant-Governor, and John W. Carter for Attorney-General. In 1969 the party ran Beverly McDowell for governor.
Dwight Carter Holton is an American lawyer and politician from Oregon. Born in Roanoke, Virginia, he was approximately four years old when his father, Linwood Holton, was elected governor, becoming the first Republican in one-hundred years to hold that office. The elder Holton, who ran on a platform of racial reconciliation, famously sent his children to majority-Black public schools in Richmond, following court-ordered integration.
