Virginia's ninth congressional district is a

United States congressional district Congressional districts in the United States are electoral divisions for the purpose of electing members of the United States House of Representatives. The number of voting seats within the House of Representatives is currently set at 435, wi ...

in the Commonwealth of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, covering much of the rural southwestern part of the state. The district includes the city of

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada * Salem, Ontario, various places Germany * Salem, Baden-Württemberg, a municipality in the Bodensee district ** Salem Abbey (Reichskloster Salem), a monastery * Salem, Schleswig-Holstein Israel * Salem (B ...

, along with the towns of Abingdon and Blacksburg. It has been represented by Republican

Morgan Griffith Howard Morgan Griffith (born March 15, 1958) is an American politician and lawyer who has been the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Virginia's 9th congressional district since 2011. The district covers most of rural ...

since 2011. Griffith took office after defeating 14-term incumbent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Rick Boucher Frederick Carlyle Boucher (; born August 1, 1946) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1983 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was defeated in his bid for a 15th term by Republican Morgan Gr ...

. With a

Cook Partisan Voting Index The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated PVI or CPVI, is a measurement of how partisan a U.S. congressional district or U.S. state is. This partisanship is indicated as lean towards either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, com ...

rating of R+22, it is the most Republican district in Virginia. The Ninth was the most competitive Virginia congressional district in the early 20th century, when the state was part of the

Solid South The Solid South was the electoral voting bloc for the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the Southern United States between the end of the Reconstruction era in 1877 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the aftermath of the Co ...

. For twenty years (1903-1923), it was the only congressional district in Virginia — and one of the few in the entire former Confederacy — to be represented by a Republican. The district alternated between Democratic and Republican representation over the rest of the century. Some of the election results were so close — and questionable — that the district became known as "The Fighting Ninth." Since the 1990s, the district has increasingly trended Republican in federal and state races, and it has taken over from the

Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia in the United States. The Valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the east ...

-based Sixth as the most Republican district in the state. It last supported a Democrat for president in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, and has supported a Democrat in only two statewide contests since then. The 9th is the only district in Virginia that cast more votes for

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

than

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

in the

2008 Democratic Presidential Primary From January 3 to June 3, 2008, voters of the Democratic Party chose their nominee for president in the 2008 United States presidential election. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois was selected as the nominee, becoming the first African Ame ...

. Clinton won more than 60% of the vote, despite local Congressman

endorsing Obama. Republican presidential candidate

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

received 59% of the vote in the 9th district in the 2008 General Election, however, his best performance in any of Virginia's eleven congressional districts. Voters in the 9th district supported McCain over Obama in the general election, despite reelecting Democratic Congressman Rick Boucher. In the 2010 midterm elections, in which Democrats lost their majority in Congress, Virginia State Delegate Morgan Griffith unseated Congressman Boucher by aligning Boucher with President Barack Obama and Speaker

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...

, both unpopular figures in the district at the time. Boucher's support for the American Clean Energy and Security Act, or Cap and Trade was unpopular in the district. Since then, the district has not supported a Democrat in a statewide or federal election. The district includes the entireties of the following counties: Bland, Buchanan, Carroll, Craig, Dickenson, Floyd,

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

, Giles, Grayson,

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

Lee Lee may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film * ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film * ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama about Lee Miller, American photojournalist * ''L ...

, Montgomery,

Patrick Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

, Pulaski, Russell,

Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sas ...

Smyth Smyth is an early variant of the common surname Smith (surname), Smith commonly found in Ireland.Citation: Bardsley, 1901 Shown below are notable people who share the surname "Smyth". Notable people sharing the Smyth surname Listed here are peop ...

, Tazewell,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, Wise, and

Wythe A wythe is a continuous vertical section of masonry one unit in thickness. A wythe may be independent of, or interlocked with, the adjoining wythe(s). A single wythe of brick that is not structural in nature is referred to as a masonry veneer. ...

, along with parts of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

and Roanoke counties. It also encompasses the independent cities of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

Galax ''Galax'', the wandplant, wandflower, or beetleweed, is a genus in the flowering plant family Diapensiaceae, containing a single species, ''Galax urceolata'' ( syn. ''G. rotundifolia'', ''G. aphylla''). It is native to the southeastern United S ...

, Martinsville, Norton, and Radford.

Recent election results from statewide races

Composition

For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), the district contains all or portions of the following counties and communities: Bedford County (5) :

, Big Island,

Moneta In Roman mythology, Moneta (Latin Monēta) was a title given to two separate goddesses: It was the name of the goddess of memory (identified with the Greek mythology, Greek goddess Mnemosyne), and it was an epithet of Juno (mythology), Juno, ca ...

, Montvale, Stewartsville Bland County (4) : All 4 communities Buchanan County (4) : All 4 communities Carroll County (5) : All 5 communities Craig County (1) : New Castle Dickenson County (4) : All 4 communities Floyd County (1) : Floyd Franklin County (8) : All 8 communities Giles County (7) : All 7 communities Grayson County (6) : All 6 communities Henry County (11) : All 11 communities Lee County (7) : All 7 communities Montgomery County (10) : All 10 communities Patrick County (3) : All 3 communities Pulaski County (10) : All 10 communities Roanoke County (2) : Cave Spring, Lafayette Russell County (7) : All 7 communities Scott County (7) : All 7 communities Smyth County (9) : All 9 communities Tazewell County (16) : All 16 communities Washington County (7) : All 7 communities Wise County (14) : All 14 communities Wythe County (6) : All 6 communities Independent cities (5) :

, Martinsville, Norton, Radford

List of members representing the district

Recent election results

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

Historical district boundaries

The Virginia Ninth District started in 1788 covering the counties of Brunswick, Sussex, Greensville, Prince George, Dinwiddie, Mecklenburg, Lunenburg, Ameila, Cumberland and Powhatan.Statute of 20 November 1788
/ref> VA 9th Congressional District

Notes

References

* *
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
{{DEFAULTSORT:Virginia's 9th Congressional District 09 Constituencies established in 1789 1789 establishments in Virginia Constituencies disestablished in 1863 1863 disestablishments in Virginia Constituencies established in 1873 1873 establishments in Virginia Constituencies disestablished in 1933 1933 disestablishments in Virginia Constituencies established in 1935 1935 establishments in Virginia