The 2009 Virginia gubernatorial election took place in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

on November 3, 2009. The incumbent

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Tim Kaine Timothy Michael Kaine ( ; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States ...

, was not eligible to run due to

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of Term of office, terms a Incumbent, person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in Presidential system, presidential and Semi-presidential republic, semi-president ...

established by the

Virginia Constitution The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia is the document that defines and limits the powers of the state government and the basic rights of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Like all other state constitutions, it is supreme ...

, though others in the state's executive branch were not restricted. (

is the only state that prohibits a governor from serving consecutive terms.) Republican

Bob McDonnell Robert Francis McDonnell (born June 15, 1954) is an American politician, attorney, businessman, academic administrator, and former military officer who served as the 71st governor of Virginia from 2010 to 2014. He is a member of the Republica ...

was elected as

as part of a Republican sweep. Republican

Bill Bolling William Troy Bolling (born June 15, 1957) is an American businessman, politician and educator who served as the 39th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2014. A member of the Republican party, he was elected twice to the position by ...

was reelected as

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

, and Republican

Ken Cuccinelli Kenneth Thomas "Cooch” Cuccinelli II ( ; born July 30, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Pa ...

was elected as

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

. The winners were inaugurated on January 16, 2010, and served until January 11, 2014.

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Creigh Deeds Robert Creigh Deeds (; born January 4, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as a member of the Senate of Virginia representing the 11th district since 2024, and previously the 25th district since 2001. Previously, he was the Dem ...

was selected as the Democratic nominee, having defeated former

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

Chairman

Terry McAuliffe Terence Richard McAuliffe (born February 9, 1957) is an American businessman and politician who served as the List of governors of Virginia, 72nd governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat ...

and former state Delegate

Brian Moran Brian Joseph Moran (born September 9, 1959) is an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He served as Virginia Secretary of Public Safety from 2014 to 2022, and was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1996 until ...

in the Democratic

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

. This was the first contested Democratic primary in two decades. McDonnell, a former state attorney general, was selected at his party's nominating convention. The two major candidates competed in the 2005 Virginia Attorney General election, and were in a rematch, but in the Governor's race. McDonnell defeated Deeds in the general election by a margin of 59%–41%, much larger than the previous Attorney General election. This would be the last time until

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

that a Republican would win any statewide election in Virginia. This is also the last time any of the following counties have voted Republican in a statewide race: Albemarle, Fairfax,

Prince William William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982), is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was born during the reign of his p ...

, Henrico,

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, Brunswick, and the independent city of

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

. Additionally, this is the last gubernatorial election in Virginia to be decided by double digits.

Democratic primary

Candidates

, former chairman of the

and chair of the

Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign Hillary Rodham Clinton, then junior United States senator from New York, announced her campaign for the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries on her website on January 20, 2007. Clinton was previously the first lady of the United State ...

, state senator from

Warm Springs Warm Springs may refer to: *Warm Springs Apache, a subdivision of the Chiricahua Apache *Warm Springs, California, in Riverside County *Warm Springs, Fremont, California **Warm Springs Elementary School, elementary school in Fremont, California **W ...

, former state delegate from

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

File:Creigh Deeds at event.jpg,

( campaign article) File:McAuliffe Herndon crop.png, Former

Chair

File:Brian Moran Rally (cropped).jpg, Former State Delegate

Campaign

The Democratic primary campaign for governor unofficially began on December 13, 2007, when

, who ran for

Attorney General of Virginia The attorney general of Virginia is an elected constitutional position that holds an Executive (government), executive office in the government of Virginia. Attorneys general are elected for a four-year term in the year following a United State ...

in 2005, announced that he would run for the Democratic nomination. State Delegate

, brother of

Congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

Jim Moran James Patrick Moran Jr. (born May 16, 1945) is an American politician who served as the mayor of Alexandria, Virginia, from 1985 until 1990, and as the U.S. representative for , including the cities of Falls Church and Alexandria, all of Arl ...

, joined Deeds on January 4, 2008, when he established a

political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...

. For the following year (before McAuliffe indicated his intentions to run), Deeds and Moran squared off picking up endorsements, and raising money. On January 3, 2009, McLean resident

, former chairman of the

and chairman of

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

's 2008 presidential campaign announced that he was also running. The Democratic primary, which took place on June 9, 2009, was the first contested in over twenty years. Moran received many endorsements from members of the State Democratic Party as well as the mayors of the

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...

area. Deeds picked up support from Northern and Western Virginia, such as the endorsement from U.S. Congressman

Rick Boucher Frederick Carlyle Boucher (; born August 1, 1946) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1983 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was defeated in his bid for a 15th term by Republican Morgan Gr ...

. The area of strength for Deeds was concentrated in Western and Southern Virginia, and the area of strength for Moran consisted mostly of Eastern Virginia with both reaching out to Northern Virginian voters. The race was close from the beginning, with McAuliffe considered to be a semi "front-runner" due to his lead in the polls and big campaign war chest. However, in the last few weeks of the race, Deeds began to surge up in the polls. By election night, June 9, Deeds swept to victory. Creigh Deeds spent $14.49 for each vote on the Democratic primary election. Terry McAuliffe spent $68.25 for each vote on the Democratic primary election.

Endorsements

Fundraising

Fundraising totals through June 30, 2009, from th
Virginia Public Access Project

Polling

Results

Republican convention

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

first announced his intention to run at

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

's Boys State of Virginia 2007. This was the sixth consecutive Virginian gubernatorial election in which an attorney general ran. McDonnell was the only Republican candidate to file with the election board before the November 2008 deadline. As a result, there was no Republican Party primary. McDonnell accepted the Republican nomination at a state convention on May 30, 2009, in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. Other potential candidates for the Republican nomination, lieutenant governor

and former senator George Allen, both declined to run. Chairman of the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

Michael Steele Michael Stephen Steele (born October 19, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, and political commentator who served as the seventh lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007 and as chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) f ...

had said that the election for governor of Virginia is one of the most important elections for the Republican Party. Bob McDonnell by Gage Skidmore.jpg, Former

( campaign article)

General election

Deeds and McDonnell both ran for

in 2005. McDonnell won by just over 300 votes, in the same election in which

was elected Governor with 52% of the vote. The main themes of the election were the economy, transportation, and jobs. The first debate was in

Hot Springs, Virginia Hot Springs is a census-designated place (CDP) in Bath County, Virginia, Bath County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 Census was 524. It is located about southwest of Warm Springs, Virginia, Warm ...

on July 25. Vice President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

campaigned for Deeds in

Henrico County, Virginia Henrico County , officially the County of Henrico, is a County (United States), county located in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population wa ...

, a suburb of

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

on July 16. Also attending were Richmond Mayor

Dwight Clinton Jones Dwight Clinton Jones (born February 3, 1948) is an American politician and pastor who served as the 79th Mayor of Richmond, Virginia. Jones took office on January 1, 2009, was inaugurated for his second term on January 12, 2013, and was succeed ...

, state senator

A. Donald McEachin Aston Donald McEachin ( ; October 10, 1961 – November 28, 2022) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 4th congressional district from 2017 until his death in 2022. His district was based in ...

(D-Henrico), and Virginia first lady

Anne Holton Anne Bright Holton (born February 1, 1958) is an American lawyer and judge who served as the Virginia Secretary of Education, Secretary of Education for the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia from 2014 to 2016. She is married to United States Se ...

. On August 6, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

and Governor

campaigned for Deeds in

McLean, Virginia McLean ( ) is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population of the community was 50,773 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is ...

. Deeds is from

Bath County, Virginia Bath County is a United States county located in the Shenandoah Valley on the central western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,209, making it the second-least populous county in Virginia. Bath ...

, a rural area of fewer than 5,000 people, where

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

received over 55% of the vote. McDonnell is from

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...

, which McCain won with 49.9%.

Fundraising

Predictions

Polling

with McAuliffe
with Moran

Results

By county and independent city

;Counties and independent cities that flipped from Republican to Democratic *

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

(Largest city:

Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

) ;Counties and independent cities that flipped from Democratic to Republican *

Accomack Accomac may refer to: Geography *Accomac, Virginia, a town in Virginia ** Accomac Shire, a former county in Virginia of which the town was the county seat * Accomac, Pennsylvania Peoples * Accomac people, a historic Native American tribe from ...

(Largest city: Chincoteague) * Albemarle (largest municipality: Scottsville) *

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

(Independent city) * Brunswick (largest borough: Lawrenceville) * Buchanan (largest city: Grundy) * Buena Vista (Independent city) * Caroline (largest municipality:

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

) *

Chesapeake Chesapeake most often refers to: *Chesapeake people, a Native American tribe also known as the Chesepian *Chesapeake Bay *Delmarva Peninsula, also known as the Chesapeake Peninsula Chesapeake may also refer to: Populated places In Virginia * ...

(independent city) * Danville (independent city) * Dinwiddie (largest municipality:

McKenney McKenney is an incorporated town in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, United States. The population was 483 at the 2010 census. History McKenney is located along a former railroad mainline. The Richmond, Petersburg and Carolina Railroad, passing throu ...

) * Fairfax (largest municipality: Herndon) * Fairfax (independent city) * Fluvanna (largest CDP: Lake Monticello) *

Galax ''Galax'', the wandplant, wandflower, or beetleweed, is a genus in the flowering plant family Diapensiaceae, containing a single species, ''Galax urceolata'' ( syn. ''G. rotundifolia'', ''G. aphylla''). It is native to the southeastern United S ...

(Independent city) * Giles (Largest city: Pearisburg) * Harrisonburg (independent city) * Henrico (largest borough:

) *

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

(largest city: Ridgeway) * James City (no municipalities) * King and Queen (Largest CDP: King and Queen Courthouse) *

Loudoun Loudoun () is a parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland and lies between five and ten miles east of Kilmarnock. The parish roughly encompasses the northern half of the Upper-Irvine Valley and borders Galston parish, Galston Parish (which encompasses ...

(largest borough: Leesburg) * Lynchburg (independent city) * Montgomery (largest municipality: Blacksburg) *

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

(largest municipality: Nellysford) *

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

(largest borough: Exmore) * Nottoway (Largest city: Blackstone) * Prince Edward (largest municipality:

Farmville ''FarmVille'' is a series of agriculture-simulation social network games developed and published by Zynga in 2009. It is similar to '' Happy Farm'' and ''Farm Town''. Its gameplay involves various aspects of farmland management, such as plo ...

) *

(largest borough:

Manassas Manassas (), formerly Manassas Junction, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. The population was 42,772 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Prince William County, although the two are separate jurisdi ...

) * Radford (Independent city) *

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

(largest municipality: Courtland) * Staunton (independent city) *

(independent city) *

(largest borough: Waverly) *

(independent city) * Westmoreland (Largest city: Colonial Beach) *

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

(independent city)

Notes

References

External links

2009 Virginia Gubernatorial General Election: Robert McDonnell (R) vs Creigh Deeds (D)
chart of aggregated polling results from ''Pollster.com''
2009 Virginia Governor
chart of aggregated polling results from ''VoteForAmerica.net''

from Virginia State Board of Elections Campaign Websites (Archived) *
Creigh Deeds campaign siteTerry McAuliffe campaign siteBrian Moran campaign site
{{United States general elections, 2009

November 2009 in the United States

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Democratic primary

Candidates

Campaign

Endorsements

Fundraising

Polling

Results

Republican convention

General election

Fundraising

Predictions

Polling

Results

By county and independent city

See also

Notes

References

External links