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 ...

is currently divided into 11

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional body. Countries with congressional districts includ ...

s, each represented by a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

Current districts and representatives

List of members of the United States House delegation from Virginia, their terms, their district boundaries, and the district political ratings according to the

CPVI 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, comp ...

. For the

119th Congress The 119th United States Congress is the current term of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened on January 3, 2025, for th ...

, the state's delegation has a total of 11 members, with 5 Democrats, 5

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, and 1 vacancy.

Historical results

File:1998 Virginia United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District.png, 1998 File:2000 Virginia United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District.png, 2000 File:2002-2006 Virginia United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District.png, 2002 File:2002-2006 Virginia United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District.png, 2004 File:2002-2006 Virginia United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District.png, 2006 File:2008 Virginia United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District.png, 2008 File:2010 Virginia United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District.png, 2010 File:2012-2014 Virginia United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District.png, 2012 File:2012-2014 Virginia United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District.png, 2014 File:2016 Virginia United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District.png, 2016 File:2018-2020 Virginia United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District.png, 2018 File:2018-2020 Virginia United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District.png, 2020 File:2022 Virginia United States House of Representatives election by Congressional District.png, 2022

Historical apportionment

The

apportionment The legal term apportionment (; Mediaeval Latin: , derived from , share), also called delimitation, is in general the distribution or allotment of proper shares, though may have different meanings in different contexts. Apportionment can refer ...

of seats for the House of Representatives between the states is determined following each census. The number of seats to which Virginia has been entitled is as follows:

Obsolete districts

Virginia Congressional Districts by party

*, obsolete since the 1860 census *, obsolete since the 1860 census *, obsolete since the

1850 census The 1850 United States census was the seventh decennial United States Census Conducted by the Census Office, it determined the resident population of the United States to be 23,191,876—an increase of 35.9 percent over the 17,069,453 persons ...

*, obsolete since the 1850 census *, obsolete since the

1840 census The 1840 United States census was the sixth census of the United States. Conducted by U.S. marshals on June 1, 1840, it determined the resident population of the United States to be 17,069,453 – an increase of 32.7 percent over the 12,866,020 ...

*, obsolete since the 1840 census *, obsolete since the 1840 census *, obsolete since the 1840 census *, obsolete since the 1840 census *, obsolete since the 1840 census *, obsolete since the 1830 census *, obsolete since the 1820 census *, obsolete since 1935

District boundaries 1973–2023

Table of United States congressional district boundary maps in the State of Virginia, are presented chronologically below for the most recent iterations following the redistricting of the 1960s, after the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

ruled that congressional and state legislative districts had to satisfy the

one man, one vote "One man, one vote" or "one vote, one value" is a slogan used to advocate for the principle of equal representation in voting. This slogan is used by advocates of democracy and political equality, especially with regard to electoral reforms like ...

criteria for equal representation. The state legislature had long delayed redistricting, leading to outsize influence by rural districts and under-representation of urban areas. All redistricting events that took place in Virginia between 1973 and 2013 are shown.

Gerrymandering

Virginia pre-2016 congressional districts were ranked the 5th worst in the country by one analysis because counties and cities were broken into multiple pieces to create heavily partisan districts. Virginia's congressional districts did not meet the "competitive" mark of a 5% margin of victory, but they averaged a margin of 35%, comparable to the national district statistical average of all 435 districts. Districts 10 and 11 in northern Virginia and the

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds, The Second, or (The) 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Minute and second of arc, ...

in the Hampton Roads ranged between 16 and 18%. Virginia, like the nation as a whole, had about 73% of its delegation winning by a margin of 20% or more. Districts 4, 7, 5, 1, and 8 ranged from 22 to 32%, and three outliers had a margin of victory of more than 50%: the 9th district at 48%, the 6th district at 62%, and the 3rd district at 89%.

Reform efforts

The Redistricting Coalition of Virginia recommended reforms, including either an independent commission or a bipartisan commission that is not polarized. Member organizations include the

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan American nonprofit political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include Voter registration, registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and adv ...

of Virginia,

AARP AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, is an interest group in the United States focusing on issues affecting those 50 and older. The organization, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., said it had more than 38 ...

of Virginia,

OneVirginia2021 OneVirginia2021 is an American civic non-profit organization founded to advocate for a non-partisan redistricting of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The group was founded in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2013 and is currently based in Richmond, Virgin ...

, the Virginia

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

, and

Virginia Organizing Virginia Organizing, formerly known as the Virginia Organizing Project (VOP), is a non-partisan grassroots organization in the state of Virginia. Founded in 1995, Virginia Organizing brings people together to address issues that affect the qualit ...

. The Independent Bipartisan Advisory Commission on Redistricting for the Commonwealth of Virginia made its report on April 1, 2011. It made recommendations for both state legislative and congressional district redistricting, detailing three options for congressional districts, all improving on the 2001 congressional map by reducing the number of split jurisdictions, defining three districts in the DC metro northern Virginia area, and increasing compactness in each district. In accordance with the

Voting Rights Act The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movem ...

, it maintained one majority African-American district without packing to dilute community influence in other districts. In 2011, the Virginia College and University Redistricting Competition was organized by professors Michael McDonald of

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

and Quentin Kidd of

Christopher Newport University Christopher Newport University (CNU) is a public university in Newport News, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1960 as Christopher Newport College, an extension school of the College of William and Mary for mid-career working professiona ...

. About 150 students on sixteen teams from thirteen schools submitted plans for legislative and U.S. congressional districts. The winning submissions for the congressional redistricting were from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

and from the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest instit ...

. The "Division 1" maps conformed to the Governor's Executive Order, and did not address electoral competition or representational fairness. In addition to the criteria of contiguity, equi-population, the federal Voting Rights Act, and communities of interest in the existing city and county boundaries, "Division 2" maps in the competition did incorporate considerations of electoral competition and representational fairness. Judges for the cash award prizes were Thomas Mann of the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...

and Norman Ornstein of the

American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right think tank based in Washington, D.C., that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare ...

. They also created districts more compact than the General Assembly's earlier efforts. In January 2015, Republican State Senator

Jill Holtzman Vogel Jill Kendrick Holtzman Vogel (née Holtzman; born July 6, 1970) is an American attorney and politician who served as the Virginia State Senator from the 27th district from 2008 to 2024. A Republican, her district was located in exurban and ru ...

of the 27th district and Democratic State Senator

Louise Lucas Lillie Louise Lucas ( Boone; born January 22, 1944) is an American politician serving as a Virginia state senator, representing the 18th District in the southeast region of the state since 1992. Democrats won a majority of seats in the 2019 Vir ...

of the 18th district sponsored a Senate Joint Resolution to establish additional criteria for the Virginia Redistricting Commission of four identified members of political parties, and three other independent public officials. The criteria began with respecting existing political boundaries, such as cities and towns, counties and magisterial districts, election districts and voting precincts. Districts are to be established on the basis of population, in conformance with federal and state laws and court cases, including those addressing racial fairness. The territory is to be contiguous and compact, without oddly shaped boundaries. The commission is prohibited from using political data or election results to favor either political party or incumbent. It passed with a two-thirds majority of 27 to 12 in the

Virginia Senate The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...

, and was referred to committee in the House of Delegates. In November 2020, Virginia's ballot question #1, a constitutional amendment, moved the power to draw legislative districts to a 16-member bipartisan commission made up of eight legislators and eight citizens.

2016 redistricting

The redistricting of congressional districts prepared by the Virginia legislature, the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

, in 2012 was used in the

2012 elections * 2012 United Nations Security Council election Africa Egypt * 2012 Egyptian presidential election Mali * 2012 Malian presidential election * 2012 Malian parliamentary election Senegal * 2012 Senegalese presidential election * 2012 Senegalese p ...

and

2014 elections * 2014 United Nations Security Council election 16 October 2014 Africa * 2014 Algerian presidential election 17 April 2014 * 2014 Botswana general election 24 October 2014 * 2014 Comorian presidential election 21 February and 10 April 2014 * 2014 ...

. The redistricting was found unconstitutional and replaced with a court-ordered redistricting on January 16, 2016, before the

2016 elections Africa Benin Republic *2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 10 April 2016 Djibouti * 2016 Djiboutian presidential ...

. Gloria Personhuballah and James Farkas claimed that Virginia's 3rd congressional district violated the ''Voting Rights Act'' by packing black voters into the district for the political purpose of making surrounding areas better for Republican candidates. Following Supreme Court precedent, the Eastern District of Virginia Court found that U.S. congressional districts cannot be gerrymandered by race for partisan gain. In this case, the twisting non-contiguous 3rd district hopped the

James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...

in several places and divided multiple locality boundaries, resulting in 89% majorities for black Representative Bobby Scott (D) while surrounding Republican incumbents enjoyed majorities of 16–24%. Subsequent appeals by Republican lawmakers to the Supreme Court were unsuccessful.

References

External links

OneVirginia2021 About Us
"Making Democracy Work", League of Women Voters of Virginia {{USCongDistStateVA