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Hanging on to a slim majority in Virginia’s House of Delegates headed into Tuesday’s election, Democrats held on to two tightly contested seats in Northern Virginia and flipped two more.
Democrats came into Tuesday with a 51-48 edge in the chamber, with one vacancy in a firmly Republican district.
Statewide, Democrats emphatically expanded their majority Tuesday night, according to projections from The Associated Press, winning 64 seats. And the Northern Virginia region contributed to that trend.
Of the 100 House of Delegates seats voters decided, 10 were labeled “competitive” in the Virginia Public Access Project Index.
The Virginia Public Access Project is a nonprofit that provides nonpartisan state government and election data.
Of those 10 competitive seats, three were in the Northern Virginia region. Democrats won them all.
In addition, the index rated Virginia’s 30th District, including parts of Loudoun and Fauquier counties, as “leans Republican,” but the Democratic candidate came into Election Day with a significant fundraising advantage and flipped the seat blue.
House District 21 — Prince William County (partial)
Virginia’s 21st District pitted incumbent Democratic Del. Josh Thomas against Republican challenger Gregory Lee Gorham.
Thomas declared victory in the race before 9 p.m. Tuesday, with 58.3% of the vote to Gorham’s 41.7% and 95% of the total ballots counted. The Associated Press called the race for Thomas just after 10:20 p.m.
“I’m deeply grateful to the people of the 21st District for putting their trust in me once again,” Thomas said in a news release. “Serving our community in Richmond has been an honor, and I’m proud of the progress we’ve made cutting costs for working families, fully funding our public schools, and protecting our communities.”
Among the top issues in the district, according to University of Mary Washington political science professor Stephen Farnsworth, were the economy and data centers, of which the district is home to dozens.
“There is a great challenge for figuring out a way to create the electric capacity that would be required from the data centers that are being proposed. A statewide mechanism would allow for a more effective calculation,” Farnsworth said. “There’s a great deal of frustration on the part of voters with respect to the potential downstream costs in terms of their own electric bills.”
Former Vice President Kamala Harris won the district in 2024’s presidential election, but Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin won it in the state’s last election for governor.
Thomas ended the campaign with a significant edge in fundraising, collecting over $1 million to Gorham’s $21,570, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
“This victory belongs to every volunteer, voter, and neighbor who believed in our vision for a stronger, fairer Virginia. I’m ready to get back to Richmond and keep delivering results for Northern Virginia families,” Thomas said.
More Election News
House District 22 — Prince William County (partial)
Republican Del. Ian Lovejoy currently holds the seat in Virginia’s District 22, but not for much longer. He lost his reelection bid to Democratic challenger Elizabeth Guzman.
The Associated Press called the race for Guzman just after 10:50 p.m. with 54.6% of the vote to Lovejoy’s 45.4%. About 95% of the total votes had been counted at that time.
“The voters of Prince William made it clear — they are ready for change and for leadership that actually delivers results,” Guzman said in a news release. “I’m humbled and grateful to once again earn the trust of my community and to bring this seat back home to the people it belongs to.”
The district is home to neighborhoods such as Linton Hall, Bristow, Nokesville and Buckhall.
“I think the district in an ordinary election would be more favorable to Republicans, just in terms of where the lines are drawn,” Farnsworth said. “But Guzman is an experienced candidate, who has won a number of elections in Prince William County and has become a candidate for statewide office during the primaries. And those have created environments where she has a national donor network.”
Guzman represented Virginia’s 31st District, which includes parts of Prince William and Fauquier counties, for six years.
Before his time in the House of Delegates, Lovejoy was elected to two terms on the Manassas City Council.
Farnsworth said this race was no different from others across the state, in that it was affected by the national political climate.
“As our nation faces growing division and chaos, Virginia must continue to be a place that leads with compassion, common sense, and courage. That’s the kind of leadership I’ll bring to Richmond — and I’m ready to get to work,” Guzman said.
House District 30 — Parts of Loudoun and Fauquier counties
Democratic challenger John McAuliff took on Republican incumbent Geary Higgins in Virginia’s 30th District, which includes nearly 63,000 Loudoun County voters and nearly 9,000 Fauquier County voters.
McAuliff pulled off a narrow victory, getting 50.7% of the vote to Higgins’ 49.3% with about 97% of the total vote counted. The AP called the race just after 4:20 p.m. Wednesday.
The Virginia Public Access Project marked the district as “leans Republican,” and President Donald Trump won it in 2024’s presidential race by a narrow margin. Youngkin carried the district in 2021 with a significant margin of more than a dozen points.
But McAuliff had a hoard of campaign funds on his side, and a boost from the building frustration in Northern Virginia with Trump’s administration, which has laid off federal workers there in droves.
McAuliff raised more than $3 million for his campaign to Higgins’ $1 million, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
House District 65 — Fredericksburg and parts of Spotsylvania and Stafford counties
A bit farther from the D.C. metro, there was yet another competitive race in Virginia’s 65th District. Incumbent Democratic Del. Joshua Cole faced a challenge from Republican Sean Steinway.
The Associated Press called the race for Cole just before 10:30 p.m. He had 58.5% of the vote to Steinway’s 41.5%, and 96% of the total vote had been counted.
Cole was first elected to the seat in 2019, but lost the seat in 2021 in a tight race. He won the seat back in 2023.
Before running for the seat, Steinway served in the Marines, Fairfax County Police Department and Stafford County Sheriff’s Department and worked with the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Cole ended the campaign with more than double the funds, raising $1.2 million to Steinway’s $576,082.
Former Democratic presidential nominee Harris won the district, which includes all of Fredericksburg, by a sizable 9.3 points in 2024, but the district went for Youngkin by nearly 3 points in 2021 — the same election that resulted in Cole losing the seat.
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