On November 5, Democrats flipped six Republican-held seats to win a 54-45 majority in the Virginia House of Delegates, while one race was too close to call. Heading into the election, Republicans held a 51-48 majority with one vacancy. The next legislative session will be the first where Democrats have a majority since 1997. Democrats also gained a majority in the state Senate which, alongside Democratic governor Ralph Northam, will give Democrats trifecta control of Virginia for the first time since 1993.

 

Democrats defeated four Republican incumbents: Tim Hugo (HD-40), Chris Jones (HD-76), Christopher Stolle (HD-83), and David Yancey (HD-94). The other two seats picked up by Democrats were in open races for seats held by Robert Thomas Jr. (HD-28) and Gordon Helsel (HD-91).

 

One of the defeated incumbents, David Yancey in District 94, was defeated by Shelly Simonds (D) 58% to 40%. In 2017, Yancey beat Simonds in the same district by a coin flip after recounts found the election was a tie.

 

All six of the seats that Democrats picked up were won by Gov. Ralph Northam (D) in 2017. Hillary Clinton (D) won all but one of the seats in the 2016 presidential election.

 

In District 30, Del. Nick Freitas (R) won a write-in campaign against Ann Ridgeway (D). Freitas ran as a write-in candidate after he failed to qualify for the ballot.