The 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia were held on November 6, 2018, to elect the 11

U.S. representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, one from each of the state's 11 congressional districts. The elections coincided with other states' elections to the House of Representatives,

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

and various

and

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

. Primary elections took place on June 12. The state congressional delegation flipped from a 7–4 Republican majority to a 7–4 Democratic majority. Democrats last held a majority of seats in the state in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Overview

By district

Results of the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia by district:

District 1

Republican

Rob Wittman Robert Joseph Wittman (born February 3, 1959) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2007. The district stretches from the fringes of the Washington suburbs to the Hampton Roads area. He is a member of the Republi ...

had represented Virginia's 1st congressional district since 2007. He was re-elected in 2016 with 60% of the vote. Wittman was unopposed for the Republican nomination.

Democratic primary

Vangie Williams defeated both Edwin Santana and John Suddarth in the Democratic primary with 39.97% of the vote. With her win, she became the first woman of color to ever win a primary for Congressional office throughout Virginia.

Candidates

* Edwin Santana, former Marine * Vangie Williams, Strategic Planner * John Suddarth

Results

Republican primary

, incumbent

General election

Endorsements

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 22, 2018

Results

District 2

Republican incumbent Scott Taylor was in a race targeted by the DCCC. This was one of only two GOP held seats that voted for Democrat

Ralph Northam Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

in 2017. The

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the United States Democratic Party, Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises ...

supported Elaine Luria, a United States Naval

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

for the nomination. Roanoke Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell had been appointed as a

special prosecutor In the United States, a special counsel (formerly called special prosecutor or independent counsel) is a lawyer appointed to investigate, and potentially prosecute, a particular case of suspected wrongdoing for which a conflict of interest exis ...

to investigate claims that Taylor's aides forged signatures, including those of Delegate Glenn Davis and his wife, on Shaun Brown's petitions to make the ballot as an

independent candidate An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

. Taylor had already cut ties with his campaign manager when these irregularities came to light and promised to cooperate with the investigation, and said that the irregularities in the petitions should have no bearing on Brown's right to be on the ballot. Shaun Brown submitted 2,163 petition signatures which actually went through the verification process. 1,030 of those were considered valid. Democrats asked the

Virginia State Board of Elections The Virginia State Board of Elections (SBE) was created in 1946 as a nonpolitical agency responsible for ensuring uniformity, fairness, accuracy and purity in all elections in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The SBE promotes the proper administration ...

to remove Brown from the ballot for falling short of the 1,000 signatures required, and filed suit. They also asked

Attorney General of Virginia The attorney general of Virginia is an elected constitutional position that holds an executive office in the government of Virginia. Attorneys general are elected for a four-year term in the year following a presidential election. There are no ter ...

Mark Herring Mark Rankin Herring (born September 25, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 47th Attorney General of Virginia from 2014 to 2022. A Democrat, he previously served in the Senate of Virginia since a 2006 special election, ...

to investigate. A review of the signatures also revealed that more than 50 Virginia Beach sheriff's employees had signed petition forms at work to get Brown on the ballot during the closing days of the petition drive, when petitioners were scrambling to meet the deadline. Brown was accused by federal prosecutors of lying to the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Cam ...

about donating $700,000 to her campaign and bilking the government by falsifying the number of meals her nonprofit fed to needy children, but her trial—in which Brown testified in her own defense and was subjected to a lengthy cross-examination—ended in a mistrial after the jury deadlocked 11–1. In a new trial the following October, Brown was convicted of fraud conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud and theft of government property. In March, 2019 Brown was sentenced to 3 years in prison. In September, circuit judge Gregory Rupe ordered Brown off the ballot. Brown subsequently appealed to the

Virginia Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrative ...

but justices declined to hear her case. The

Virginia Attorney General The attorney general of Virginia is an elected constitutional position that holds an executive office in the government of Virginia. Attorneys general are elected for a four-year term in the year following a presidential election. There are no ter ...

's office argued that it was too late for her to appear on the ballot.

Democratic primary

Candidates

* Elaine Luria, United States Naval

* Karen Mallard, teacher

Results

Virginia 2nd Congressional district election 2018

Republican primary

Taylor was challenged in the Republican primary by former

James City County James City County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,254. Although politically separate from the county, the county seat is the adjacent independent city of Williamsburg. Located ...

Supervisor Mary Jones, who attacked Rep. Taylor for his moderate stances and because she believed he hadn't backed President Donald Trump's proposals strongly enough.

Results

General election

Endorsements

Polling

Results

District 3

Democratic incumbent Bobby Scott ran unopposed, as no Republican candidates filed for the district.

Democratic primary

* Bobby Scott, incumbent

General election

Results

District 4

After the 4th district was redrawn by the courts for the 2016 elections, Democratic incumbent

Donald McEachin Aston Donald McEachin ( ; October 10, 1961 – November 28, 2022) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 4th congressional district from 2017 until his death in 2022. His district was based in ...

was elected and ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Democratic primary

, incumbent

Republican primary

Candidates

* Ryan McAdams, pastor * Shion Fenty, fashion designer

Results

General election

Endorsements

Results

District 5

Incumbent

Tom Garrett Jr. Thomas Alexander Garrett Jr. (born March 27, 1972) is an American politician and attorney. He served one term in the United States House of Representatives for Virginia's 5th congressional district. A Republican Party (United States), Republica ...

, first elected in 2016, announced on May 28, 2018 that he would not run for reelection due to his struggle with

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

. Instead of a traditional primary to elect the Democratic and Republican nominees, party delegates voted to hold district conventions instead.

Democratic convention

The Democratic convention was held on May 5, 2018. The party delegates chose

Leslie Cockburn Leslie Cockburn ( ; born Leslie Corkill Redlich on September 2, 1952) is an American investigative journalist, and filmmaker. Her investigative television segments have aired on CBS, NBC, ''PBS Frontline'', and ''60 Minutes''. She has won an Emmy ...

as the Democratic nominee.

Candidates

, investigative journalist * Roger Dean "RD" Huffstetler, Marine veteran * Andrew Sneathern, former

Albemarle County Albemarle County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is Charlottesville, which is an independent city and enclave entirely surrounded by the county. Albemarle County is part of the Charl ...

assistant attorney

Republican convention

The Republican convention was held on June 2, 2018, less than one week after incumbent

announced he would not seek reelection. Denver Riggleman edged out Cynthia Dunbar, who had just lost the Republican nomination in the 6th district just weeks before, in the final round of voting to get the Republican nomination.

Candidates

Denver Riggleman Denver Lee Riggleman III (born March 17, 1970) is an American businessman and former politician from Virginia who served one term as the United States representative for Virginia's 5th congressional district. A former Air Force officer and Nation ...

, distillery owner * Cynthia Dunbar, national GOP committeewoman * Joe Whited, veteran * Michael Del Rosso, technology executive * Martha Boneta, farmer * Michael Webert, state delegate

General election

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 8, 2018

Endorsements

Polling

Results

District 6

The 6th district was an

open seat The Barcelona Open (currently sponsored by Banc Sabadell) is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players. The event has been held in Barcelona, Spain every year from 1953 (except for its cancellation in 2020), and is played on clay ...

in 2018, after the Republican incumbent,

Bob Goodlatte Robert William Goodlatte (; born September 22, 1952) is an American politician, attorney, and lobbyist who served in the United States House of Representatives representing for 13 terms. A Republican, he was also the Chair of the House Judiciary ...

, representative from the 6th district since 1993, announced his retirement in November 2017.

Democratic primary

Results

Republican convention

Republican delegates decided to hold a party convention instead of the primary to choose their nominee. Eight Republicans ran in the convention in this district, where State Delegate

Ben Cline Benjamin Lee Cline (born February 29, 1972) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 6th congressional district since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he represented the 24th district ...

was chosen as the GOP nominee.

Candidates

, state delegate * Chaz Haywood * Douglas Wright * Cynthia Dunbar * Ed Justo * Kathryn Lewis * Elliot Pope * Mike Desjadon

General election

Results

District 7

After

Dave Brat David Alan Brat (born July 27, 1964) is an American academic and politician who is the dean of the Liberty University School of Business. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 7th congressional di ...

upset the former House Majority leader,

Eric Cantor Eric Ivan Cantor (born June 6, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented Virginia's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2014. A Republican, Cantor served as House Minority ...

, in 2014, Brat won reelection in 2016 with 57% of the vote. Helen Alli originally was going to run as a Democrat but failed to turn in enough signatures; she then was nominated by the Whigs but again failed to turn in enough signatures; finally running as a write-in candidate.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Abigail Spanberger Abigail Anne Spanberger (née Davis, August 7, 1979) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Her district includes most of the northern suburbs of Richmond, as well a ...

, former

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

operations officer * Dan Ward, former U.S. Marine Corps

EA-6B Prowler The Northrop Grumman (formerly Grumman) EA-6B Prowler is a twin-engine, four-seat, mid-wing electronic-warfare aircraft derived from the A-6 Intruder airframe. The EA-6A was the initial electronic warfare version of the A-6 used by the United S ...

pilot * Joseph B. Walton

Results

Republican primary

David Brat David Alan Brat (born July 27, 1964) is an American academic and politician who is the dean of the Liberty University School of Business. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 7th congressional di ...

, incumbent

General election

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 15, 2018

Polling

Results

District 8

In the 8th district, Democrat

Don Beyer Donald Sternoff Beyer Jr. (; born June 20, 1950) is an American businessman, diplomat, and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, his district is in the heart of Northern Virginia and incl ...

had served since the 2014 election. Beyer won reelection in 2016 with 68% of the vote.

Democratic primary

, incumbent

Republican primary

*Thomas Oh, federal contractor

General election

Results

District 9

In the 9th district, Republican

Morgan Griffith Howard Morgan Griffith (born March 15, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician who has been the U.S. representative for Virginia's 9th congressional district since 2011. The district covers a large swath of southwestern Virginia, including the ...

had two Democratic opponents, Anthony Flaccavento and Justin Santopietro, and a Whig opponent, Scott Blankenship, in this strongly Republican district.

Democratic primary

Results

Republican primary

, incumbent

General election

Polling

Results

District 10

In the 10th district, six Democratic candidates, encouraged by the fact that Republican incumbent

Barbara Comstock Barbara Jean Comstock (née Burns; born June 30, 1959) is an American attorney and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 10th congressional district from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was a member o ...

's district voted for

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

in the 2016 U.S Presidential Election, submitted the required number of signatures to run for that seat. Republicans believed, however, that given that Comstock was an excellent fundraiser and fierce campaigner, she would be able to keep the seat. April polling was favorable to a generic Democrat against Comstock, although Comstock performed much better in polling when her name was on the ballot against a named Democratic opponent. Patriarchist libertarian

Nathan Larson Nathan Larson may refer to: *Nathan Larson (musician), American musician * Nathan Larson (criminal), American white supremacist and convicted felon See also *Nate Larson Nate Larson (born March 16, 1978) is a Baltimore-based artist and photograph ...

filed to run as an independent, but then withdrew his candidacy on August 13 and endorsed Wexton, calling her "the

accelerationist Accelerationism is a range of Marxist and reactionary ideas in critical and social theory that call for the drastic intensification of capitalist growth, technological change and other social processes in order to destabilize existing systems a ...

choice"; Wexton, through a spokesman, declined the endorsement. Comstock tweeted, "It is good news for all voters in the 10th District that Nathan Larson, a convicted felon who served time in prison for threatening to kill the President and is an admitted pedophile, an admitted rapist, white supremacist, and misogynist, is now off the ballot in the 10th Congressional District."

Democratic primary

Candidates

Jennifer Wexton Jennifer Lynn Wexton (née Tosini; born May 27, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the United States representative for Virginia's 10th congressional district since 2019. The district is anchored in the outer portion of Northe ...

, state senator * Lindsey Davis Stover, senior advisor to Barack Obama's Veterans Affairs Secretary

Eric K. Shinseki Eric Ken Shinseki (; born November 28, 1942) is a retired United States Army General (United States), general who served as the seventh United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs (2009–2014). His final United States Army post was as the 34th C ...

* Daniel Helmer, army veteran * Alison Friedman, former State Department official * Julia Biggins, scientist * Paul Pelletier, federal prosecutor

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

, incumbent congresswoman * Shak Hill, combat pilot

Results

General election

Debates

Complete video of debate
September 21, 2018

Polling

Results

District 11

In the 11th district, Democratic incumbent

Gerry Connolly Gerald Edward Connolly (born March 30, 1950) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 11th congressional district, first elected in 2008. The district is anchored in Fairfax County, an affluent suburban count ...

, who ran unopposed in 2016, faced no primary challengers. However, he faced Republican U.S. Army veteran Jeff Dove in the general election. Also running was Libertarian Stevan Porter.

Democratic primary

, incumbent

Republican primary

*Jeff Dove, veteran

General election

Results

References

External links

Candidates
at

Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in si ...

Candidates
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Campaign finance
at FEC
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at

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). ...

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United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...