Edward Walter Gillespie is an American politician,strategist,and lobbyist who served as the 61st Chair of the Republican National Committee from 2003 to 2005 and was counselor to the President from 2007 to 2009 during the Presidency of George W. Bush. In 2012 Gillespie was a senior member of the Mitt Romney presidential campaign.
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.
Ralph Shearer Northam is an American physician and politician who served as the 73rd governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022. A pediatric neurologist by occupation,he was an officer in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1984 to 1992. Northam,a member of the Democratic Party,served as the 40th lieutenant governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018 prior to winning the governorship against Republican nominee Ed Gillespie in the 2017 election. Prohibited by the Virginia Constitution from running for a consecutive term,Northam left office in January 2022,succeeded by Republican Glenn Youngkin.
Shannon Rutter Valentine served as the Secretary of Transportation for Virginia from 2018 to 2022. She was appointed Secretary of Transportation by Governor Ralph Northam in January 2018,and oversaw a $5 billion multimodal transportation system crossing seven agencies with more than 10,000 employees. As Secretary,she also serves as Chair of the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB). Valentine served previously in the Virginia House of Delegates 2006–2010,representing the 23rd district,made up of the city of Lynchburg,Virginia and part of Amherst County,serving on the House Transportation and Courts of Justice Committees. Following an assignment as a Director of the Transportation Policy Council in 2013 for then Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe's transition team,Valentine was appointed as the Lynchburg District representative to the CTB in May 2014. During this time,she created the first Regional Connectivity Study in Virginia that correlated transportation decisions with workforce,business expansion and recruitment and investment,covering eight modes of transportation. Her legislative priorities focused on transportation,economic development,education,and ethics. She led bipartisan efforts to create transparent government,expand clean energy production,and invest in intercity passenger rail service for the first time in Virginia's history. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Jennifer Leigh McClellan is an American politician and attorney who has served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 4th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party,she represented the 9th district in the Virginia State Senate from 2017 to 2023 and the 71st district in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2009 to 2017. She ran in the Democratic primary for governor of Virginia in the 2021 election,losing to former governor Terry McAuliffe.
Terence Richard McAuliffe is an American businessman and politician who served as the 72nd governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party,he was co-chairman of President Bill Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign,chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005 and chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign.
The 2017 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 7,2017. Incumbent Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe was unable to run for reelection,as the Constitution of Virginia prohibits the officeholder from serving consecutive terms;he later ran unsuccessfully for a second term in 2021.
Levar Marcus Stoney is an American politician who has served as the 80th mayor of Richmond,Virginia since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party,he previously served as the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2014 through 2016,being the youngest member of Governor Terry McAuliffe's administration.
The 2017 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 7,2017. After the party primary elections were held,the major party nominees were Jill Vogel (Republican) and Justin Fairfax (Democrat). The incumbent Lieutenant Governor,Democrat Ralph Northam,declined to run for re-election in order to run for Governor. In the general election on November 7,2017,Democratic nominee Justin Fairfax defeated Republican state Senator Jill Vogel to become the 41st Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. This is the last time that a Democrat won the lieutenant governorship in Virginia.
The 2017 Virginia Attorney General election was held on November 7,2017. The incumbent attorney general,Democrat Mark Herring,was expected to run for governor,but announced he would run for re-election instead. As only Herring and Republican John Adams qualified for their respective party primaries,the two automatically became their parties' nominees. In the general election,Herring defeated Adams to win a second term as Attorney General of Virginia. This is the last time that a Democrat was elected Attorney General of Virginia.
Richmond,Virginia,held a general election on November 8,2016. Voters elected the Mayor of Richmond,Virginia,members of the Richmond City Council,as well as several other local officials. In an officially nonpartisan,three-way race,Levar Stoney,the former state Secretary of the Commonwealth defeated Jack Berry,former Hanover County Administrator,and Joe Morrissey,former delegate of the Virginia House of Delegates. Former councilperson,Michelle Mosby,finished in a distant third. On January 1,2017,Stoney took office as the 80th mayor of Richmond,Virginia.
Aubrey Lee Layne,Jr. is an American businessman who served as the Virginia Secretary of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was previously appointed by Governor Terry McAuliffe,to the Commonwealth Transportation Board for a five-year term and later served as Virginia Secretary of Transportation in McAuliffe's administration. Layne was subsequently appointed as Virginia Secretary of Finance by Governor-elect Ralph Northam.
Felony disenfranchisement in Virginia is a provision of the Virginia Constitution:"No person who has been convicted of a felony shall be qualified to vote unless his civil rights have been restored by the Governor or other appropriate authority".
Justin Edward Fairfax is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 41st lieutenant governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party,he is the second African-American elected statewide in Virginia,following Douglas Wilder. In 2019,he faced sexual assault allegations dating to 2000 and 2004,which he denied. In 2021,he was a Democratic candidate for Governor of Virginia. He finished fourth in the Democratic primary with 3.54% of the vote.
Carlos LeMont Hopkins is an American attorney and National Guard soldier. Previously serving as counsel to Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe,he was selected to serve as Virginia Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs following the departure of John C. Harvey Jr. in 2017,and was retained in that post when Ralph Northam took office as Governor in January 2018.
Atif Mustafa Qarni is an American teacher,former military non-commissioned officer,and Democratic politician who was appointed by Governor Ralph Northam as Virginia Secretary of Education. Emigrating from Karachi,Pakistan,with his family at the age of ten,Qarni grew up in Parkville,Maryland,before moving to Manassas,Virginia,in 2005. He served in the United States Marine Corps,was deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom,and rose to the rank of Sergeant. He served as a paralegal at the international law firm McDermott Will &Emery LLP before beginning a career in teaching. Qarni ran for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in 2013,losing to incumbent Bob Marshall,and for the Virginia Senate in 2015,losing the Democratic nomination to Jeremy McPike.
Matt Strickler is the former Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources,serving under Governor Ralph Northam since January 2018.
Keyanna Conner is an American politician. She served as the Virginia Secretary of Administration in the Cabinet of Governor Ralph Northam. She worked for Mark Warner's campaign and administration before joining Northam's cabinet.
The 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election will be held on November 4,2025. Incumbent Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin will be ineligible to run for re-election,as the Constitution of Virginia prohibits the state's governors from serving consecutive terms.
The 2025 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election will be held on November 4,2025,to elect the lieutenant governor of Virginia. Incumbent Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears is eligible to run for re-election to a second term in office.
