Virginia 2015 Election Results

Virginia held its general election on November 3, 2015, deciding 140 legislative seats. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Republicans kept the Senate at 21-19, despite a well-financed effort led by Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D). One more seat would have given Democrats control through the lieutenant governor's tie-breaking vote. With the House also staying Republican, McAuliffe's top priorities, expanding Medicaid and passing tighter gun laws, stayed out of reach.
• The marquee Senate contests split. Candidates and outside groups spent more than $10 million on TV ads, and Michael Bloomberg's gun-safety group pledged $2.2 million to help Democrats in two key races; McAuliffe had intensified his push for gun control after the August shootings of two WDBJ journalists.
  • In Senate District 10, left open by retiring Sen. John Watkins (R), Richmond School Board member Glen Sturtevant (R) beat Daniel Gecker (D) by about 1,500 votes in the most expensive race in state history.
  • Jeremy McPike (D) kept a key Northern Virginia seat in Senate District 29, open after the retirement of Sen. Chuck Colgan (D), the state's longest-serving senator, beating Hal Parrish (R) by about 8 points.
  • Sen. Richard Black (R) held Senate District 13 against Jill McCabe (D) by about 5 points.
• In the House of Delegates, 3 open seats changed party, two to Democrats and one to Republicans, for a net Democratic gain of one; Republicans kept a 66-34 majority:
  • Jennifer Boysko (D) won House District 86 by about 12 points; she had lost to retiring Del. Tom Rust (R) by less than 100 votes in 2013.
  • John Bell (D) took House District 87, open after David Ramadan (R) did not seek re-election, by about 320 votes over Chuong Nguyen (R).
  • Mark Dudenhefer (R) beat Joshua King (D) by 125 votes in House District 2, returning to Richmond two years after losing the seat.
• Del. Kathleen Murphy (D) held House District 34 by 188 votes over Craig Parisot (R). No incumbent lost in November, and 79 legislative races had only one candidate.

Legislature

• House of Delegates (100 seats): 33 D, 67 R before the election, 34 D, 66 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (40 seats): 19 D, 21 R before the election, 19 D, 21 R after; control stayed with Republicans.

Legislative races