2021 Virginia gubernatorial election

The 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2021, to elect the next governor of Virginia. The election was concurrent with other elections for Virginia's statewide offices, the House of Delegates, and other various political offices. Incumbent Democratic Governor Ralph Northam was ineligible to run for re-election, as the Constitution of Virginia prohibits its governors from serving consecutive terms. Businessman Glenn Youngkin won the Republican nomination at the party's May 8 convention, which was held in 37 polling locations across the state, and was officially declared the nominee on May 10. The Democratic Party held its primary election on June 8, which former Governor Terry McAuliffe won.

At the start of the general election, McAuliffe was widely considered to be the favorite, but Youngkin closed the gap throughout most of the Fall, leading most analysts to label the election as a toss-up. Youngkin ultimately defeated McAuliffe by 63,688 votes. Youngkin's coattails seemingly benefitted fellow down-ballot candidates Winsome Earle-Sears and Jason Miyares who concurrently won elections for Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General; 2021 remains the only time the Republican Party has won statewide elections in Virginia since 2009. The economy, education, public health, and cultural issues were centerpieces of Youngkin's campaign. Youngkin promised to ban the perceived teaching of critical race theory within public schools on "day one", push back against certain COVID-19 restrictions including vaccination mandates and mask mandates, and advocate for small government within the state of Virginia.

Democrats tried to portray Youngkin as a political ally of Donald Trump, who lost Virginia in 2020, and Trump did indeed express support for Youngkin. Walking a fine line between welcoming the endorsement and demonstrating independence, Youngkin was successfully able to appeal to both Republicans and independents. Political analysts believe that the main reason for the Democratic Party's defeat in Virginia was that voters were not satisfied with the performance of President Joe Biden, with whom McAuliffe allied himself.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Terry McAuliffe, former governor of Virginia (2014–2018) and former chair of the Democratic National Committee (2001–2005)

Eliminated in primary

• Jennifer Carroll Foy, former state delegate for Virginia's 2nd House of Delegates district (2018–2020)
• Lee J. Carter, state delegate for Virginia's 50th House of Delegates district
• Justin Fairfax, lieutenant governor of Virginia
• Jennifer McClellan, state senator for Virginia's 9th Senate district and former delegate for Virginia's 71st House of Delegates district (2006–2017)

Declined

• Mark Herring, attorney general of Virginia (2014–2022) and former state senator for Virginia's 33rd Senate district (2006–2014) (ran for re-election)

Endorsements

Debates

McClellan opened the debate calling for a "nominee who will excite and expand our base. I've spent 31 years building this party and electing Democrats at the local, state and national level. It's not enough to give someone something to vote against. We've got to give people something to vote for," McClellan said. Foy said in her opening statement that she is presenting bold ideas that past politicians have failed to bring to Virginia. The pointed remark came before she went after the record of McAuliffe, the first criticism of the night directed at the presumptive frontrunner. Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax compared scrutiny of his sexual assault allegations to that of the cases of George Floyd and Emmett Till in the debate. McAuliffe mainly avoided directly responding to the attacks, focusing instead on his record as governor, the support he's received during his campaign and, stopping Glenn Youngkin in November's general election. Later in the debate, Carter called McAuliffe out for mentioning Youngkin and Trump so often. "The debate that we're supposed to be having on this stage is a debate about the future of this commonwealth," he said. "It's about what we stand for and what we're going to fight for. And this is the first opportunity for the Democratic Party to define what it is going to be after Donald Trump is gone. And he is gone. So, we can't just be a party that is opposed to the other guys. We have to fight for something." Carter, a self-described socialist, reiterated his proposal to use tax revenue from the marijuana industry to fund reparations.

Polling

Results

Republican convention

The Republican nomination process for the 2021 elections was the subject of a lengthy and acrimonious debate within the Republican Party of Virginia. On December 5, 2020, the state Republican Party voted to hold a convention instead of a primary by a vote of 39 to 35. State Senator Amanda Chase initially indicated that she would run as an independent, but she later decided to seek nomination at the convention; on the day of the convention, she acknowledged that if she did not win the nomination, she may reconsider and run as an independent, although she eventually decided against this. Faced with pressure from the Chase campaign and activists to return to a primary, the state committee debated scrapping the convention on January 23, 2021. These efforts were unsuccessful and the party reaffirmed their decision to hold a convention. On February 9, 2021, the Chase campaign sued the Republican Party of Virginia, arguing that the convention is illegal under COVID-19-related executive orders signed by Governor Ralph Northam. The Richmond Circuit Court dismissed the Chase campaign's lawsuit on February 19, 2021. The Republican Party of Virginia announced on March 26, 2021, that seven gubernatorial candidates had qualified to appear on the convention ballot. On April 11, 2021, the state Republican Party Rules Committee voted to tabulate the ballots by hand; three days later, however, the committee reversed itself and decided to use a vendor's software-based tabulation method.

On April 20, 2021, five candidates (Amanda Chase, Kirk Cox, Sergio de la Peña, Peter Doran, and Glenn Youngkin) participated in a forum at Liberty University in Lynchburg. Two candidates, Octavia Johnson and Pete Snyder, did not attend the forum.

The state Republican convention to select the party's nominees for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general took place on May 8, 2021, in "unassembled" format, with ballots to be cast remotely at up to 37 locations statewide using ranked-choice voting. The complex process fueled internal party disputes. Up to 40,000 people were anticipated to become delegates, although not all would necessarily cast votes. Local Republican Party leaders control the application process to become a delegate, decide who can participate (voter registration in Virginia does not include a space to indicate party affiliation), and select the convention voting site. In the preceding Virginia Republican gubernatorial convention, 12,000 participated.

Orthodox Jewish Virginia Republicans asked the party to allow absentee voting for religious reasons (May 8 is on the Jewish Sabbath), but the State Central Committee initially voted down the request, failing to achieve the 75% supermajority needed to change the rules. However, the Virginia GOP ultimately reversed course and allowed those with religious objections to vote in the May 8 convention via absentee ballots. Republican candidates Kirk Cox, Peter Doran, and Glenn Youngkin had criticized the previous decision to not accommodate Orthodox Jews.

Cox received crucial endorsements of Bob McDonnell and George Allen, the former of whom was the last statewide elected Republican (alongside Bill Bolling and Ken Cuccinelli) in Virginia prior to 2022. He was regarded by some as the establishment favorite heading into the convention. Nonetheless, he finished fourth on the first voting round behind Glenn Youngkin, Pete Snyder, and Amanda Chase. Youngkin was nominated on the sixth round of voting.