Four of Virginia’s 100 state legislative seats up for election in 2025 are open, meaning no incumbent filed to run in the election.
This is the fewest for the state since Ballotpedia began tracking these figures in 2011, and newcomers are guaranteed at least 3% of the legislature. The average number of open state legislative seats in Virginia each election cycle between 2011 and 2023 was 17.
Virginia has 17 contested state legislative primaries this year, down 64% from 2023.
Of these, there are nine for Democrats and eight for Republicans. For Democrats, this is down from a high of 31 in 2023, a 71% decrease. Contested Republican primaries are down 50% from a high of 16 in 2023.
Three incumbents—two Democrats and one Republican—face primary challenges, representing 3.1% of all incumbents running for re-election. Seventeen percent of incumbents running for re-election faced primary challenges last cycle.
In total, 178 major party candidates filed to run: 102 Democrats and 76 Republicans. All 100 House of Delegates seats are up for election.
Virginia has had a divided government since 2022. Democrats currently have a 51-49 majority in the House and a 21-19 majority in the Senate. The governor is Glenn Youngkin (R).
Virginia’s state legislative primaries are scheduled for June 17.
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