The 2017 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2017. Incumbent Democratic governor

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 ...

was unable to run for re-election, as the

Constitution of Virginia 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 ...

prohibits the officeholder from serving consecutive terms; he later ran unsuccessfully for a second term in

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 ...

. Primary elections took place on June 13, 2017. Virginia utilizes an open primary, in which registered voters are allowed to vote in either party's primary election. Democrats nominated incumbent lieutenant governor

Ralph Northam Ralph Shearer Northam (born September 13, 1959) is an American physician and former politician who served as the 73rd governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022. A pediatric Neurology, neurologist by occupation, he was an officer in the Medical Co ...

and

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nominated former RNC Chair

Ed Gillespie Edward Walter Gillespie (born August 1, 1961) is an American politician, strategist, and lobbyist who served as the 61st Chair of the Republican National Committee from 2003 to 2005 and was counselor to the President from 2007 to 2009 during th ...

Libertarians Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

nominated Clifford Hyra by convention on May 6, 2017. In the general election on November 7, 2017, Northam defeated Republican Gillespie, winning by the largest margin for a Democrat since

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

. Northam assumed office as the 73rd

Governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The Governor (United States), governor is head of the Government_of_Virginia#Executive_branch, executive branch ...

on January 13, 2018. The election had the highest voter turnout percentage in a Virginia gubernatorial election in twenty years, with over 47% of registered voters casting their ballot.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

lieutenant governor of Virginia The lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The lieutenant governor is elected every four years along with the governor and attorney general. The office is currently held ...

Eliminated in primary

Tom Perriello Thomas Stuart Price Perriello (born October 9, 1974) is an American attorney, diplomat, and politician. For over four years until July 2023, Perriello served as the executive director for U.S. Programs at the Open Society Foundations. Perriello ...

, former

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Declined

Gerry Connolly Gerald Edward Connolly (March 30, 1950 – May 21, 2025) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 11th congressional district from 2009 until his death in 2025. A Democrat, he was first elected in 2008 ...

, U.S. representative *

Mark Herring Mark Rankin Herring (born September 25, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 47th Attorney General of Virginia from 2014 to 2022. A Democrat, he previously served in the Senate of Virginia since a 2006 special election, ...

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 ...

( running for re-election) *

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 ...

Virginia Secretary of Public Safety The secretary of public safety and homeland security is a Virginia government executive that serves as a member of the Virginia Governor's Cabinet. Duties # Work with and through others, including federal, state, and local officials as well as th ...

, former state delegate and candidate for governor in

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 ...

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

, former 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 ...

; nominee for the U.S. Senate in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Eliminated in primary

Corey Stewart Corey Alan Stewart (born August 1, 1968) is an American retired politician who served four terms as at-large chair of the Board of Supervisors of Prince William County, Virginia from December 2006 to December 2019. Stewart was the Republica ...

, chairman of the

Prince William Board of County Supervisors The Prince William Board of County Supervisors is the policy-making body for the government of Prince William County, Virginia Prince William County lies beside the Potomac River in the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the popul ...

and candidate for lieutenant governor in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

* Frank Wagner, state senator

Failed to qualify

* Emmanuel Peter, bishop

Withdrew

Denver Riggleman Denver Lee Riggleman III (born March 17, 1970) is an American businessman and former politician from Virginia who served as the United States representative for Virginia's 5th congressional district from 2019 to 2021. A former Air Force officer a ...

, businessman *

Rob Wittman Robert Joseph Wittman (born February 3, 1959) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2007. The district contains portions of the Richmond suburbs and Hampton Roads area, as well as the Northern Neck and Middle ...

, U.S. representative

Declined

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 ...

, former lieutenant governor of Virginia *

Eric Cantor Eric Ivan Cantor (born June 6, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented Virginia's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2014. A Republican, Cantor served as House Mino ...

, former Majority Leader of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

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 ...

, former

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 ...

; nominee for governor in

Randy Forbes James Randy Forbes (born February 17, 1952) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for , serving from 2001 to 2017. P ...

, former U.S. representative * Tom Garrett Jr., U.S. representative * Shak Hill, financial consultant and candidate for the U.S. Senate in

Jeff McWaters Jeffrey Linde "Jeff" McWaters (born September 6, 1956) is an American businessman and former member of the Senate of Virginia as a Republican. He represented the 8th district, which includes a portion of Virginia Beach. He was first elected in ...

, former state senator *

Mark Obenshain Mark Dudley Obenshain (born June 11, 1962) is an American attorney and politician. He is currently serving as a member of the Senate of Virginia from Harrisonburg. He is a member of the Republican Party. He took office in 2004. At the 2013 sta ...

, state senator; nominee for attorney general in

Pete Snyder Pete Snyder (born August 5, 1972) is an American entrepreneur and marketing executive who is best known as the founder and former chief executive officer of New Media Strategies (NMS), a social media marketing agency that he started in 1999. Sny ...

, technology executive and candidate for lieutenant governor in

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Libertarian convention

Candidates

Nominee

* Cliff Hyra, attorney

Withdrawn

*Jason Carrier

General election

The race had been closely watched by national observers. For Republicans, ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...

'' wrote that Gillespie's campaign was an important example of whether and how mainstream Republican politics can produce victories in a

purple state Purple is a color similar in appearance to violet light. In the RYB color model historically used in the arts, purple is a secondary color created by combining red and blue pigments. In the CMYK color model used in modern printing, purple is ...

in the "era of

Trumpism Trumpism, also referred to as the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, is the political movement and ideology behind U.S. president Donald Trump and his political base. It comprises ideologies such as right-wing populism, right-wing ...

" and said that the outcome would affect Republican strategies in future races. Many Democrats believed that the election was a test of whether the party could find its way after losing the

2016 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...

and several subsequent special elections.DNC Desperately Needs a Win in Virginia Governor Race
(NBC)

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

reported that Northam was the "hand-picked" choice of outgoing governor Terry McAuliffe, and that McAuliffe's legacy and potential 2020 presidential aspirations depended on Northam winning the election.

Debates

After the primaries, Gillespie challenged Northam to ten debates, but only three were held. The first debate was hosted by the Virginia Bar Association on July 22 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 ...

. The second was held on September 19, hosted by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce in

Tysons Corner, Virginia Tysons, also known as Tysons Corner, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, spanning from the corner of SR 123 (Chain Bridge Road) and SR 7 (Leesburg Pike). It is part of the Washington metropolitan are ...

, and televised statewide by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

-affiliated TV stations. The third and final debate was held on October 9 at

University of Virginia's College at Wise The University of Virginia's College at Wise (UVA Wise) is a public liberal arts college adjacent to Wise, Virginia. It is part of the University of Virginia, though separately accredited, and was established in 1954 as Clinch Valley College of t ...

Wise, Virginia Wise is a town in Wise County, Virginia. The population was 2,970 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Wise County. It was originally incorporated as the town of Gladeville in 1874. The town's name was changed to Wise in 1924, after Hen ...

Endorsements

Predictions

Polling

Polls for the general election varied significantly, ranging from a 17-point lead for Ralph Northam on one end to an 8-point lead for Ed Gillespie on the other, with most polls showing the race within or close to the

margin of error The margin of error is a statistic expressing the amount of random sampling error in the results of a Statistical survey, survey. The larger the margin of error, the less confidence one should have that a poll result would reflect the result of ...

. ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...

'' reported that the wide variation in polling numbers was likely due to differences in methodology among the polls. Polls tightened significantly in the last two weeks of the campaign with several showing the race tied or within the margin of error. Aggregate polls
with Corey Stewart
with Frank Wagner
with Denver Riggleman
with Rob Wittman
with Ken Cuccinelli
with Eric Cantor
with Mark Herring
with Ralph Northam

Fundraising

Virginia election laws allow for unlimited campaign contributions in state and local elections. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, Northam's top five donors were the

Democratic Governors Association The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) is a Washington, D.C.–based 527 organization founded in 1983, consisting of U.S. state and territorial List of current United States governors, governors affiliated with the Democratic Party (United St ...

super PAC Independent expenditure-only political action committees, better known as super PACs, are a type of political action committee (PAC) in the United States. Unlike traditional PACs, super PACs are legally allowed to fundraise unlimited amounts of m ...

DGA Action;

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...

Everytown for Gun Safety Everytown for Gun Safety is an American non-profit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence. Everytown was formed in 2013 due to a merger between ''Mayors Against Illegal Guns'' and ''Moms Demand Action for Gun Sens ...

group; the Virginia

League of Conservation Voters The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is an American environmental advocacy group. LCV says that it "builds political power for people and the planet." Through its affiliated super PAC, it is a major supporter of the Democratic Party. The org ...

; Michael D. Bills; and the

Laborers' International Union of North America The Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA, stylized as LiUNA!), often shortened to just the Laborers' Union, is an American and Canadian labor union formed in 1903. As of 2017, they had about 500,000 members, about 80,000 of whom ...

. Gillespie's top five donors were the

Republican Governors Association The Republican Governors Association (RGA) is a Washington, D.C.–based 527 organization founded in 1961, consisting of U.S. state and territorial Republican governors. Its primary objective is to help elect and support Republican governors. Th ...

; A Stronger Virginia; Let's Grow Virginia; Marlene Ricketts; and

Dwight Schar Dwight Schar is an American businessman. He is the founder of NVR, Inc., a Fortune 500 company that is the third-largest home builder (by revenue) in the United States. He currently serves as the company's Executive chairman and Chairman of Ex ...

. Hyra's top five donors were Michael Chastain; Hyra himself; the

Libertarian Party of Virginia The Libertarian Party of Virginia (LPVA) is the Virginia affiliate of the Libertarian Party. The party was founded in 1974. Ballot laws Ballot access laws Virginia has one of the most restrictive ballot access laws in the United States. Acco ...

; Paradise Indian Restaurant; and nine donors who gave the same amount.

Results

Even though polls in the weeks before the election considered Northam to be the narrow favorite, Northam won by a larger margin than expected, about nine percent, and more than 200,000 votes. Gillespie was unable to come back from the large margins in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. and Virginia Beach, and he conceded to Northam at 8:56 pm EST. Northam's wider than expected margin of victory has often been attributed to Trump's unpopularity in Virginia and claims that Gillespie was using fear-mongering which repelled more voters than it obtained.

By county and city

Counties and independent cities that flipped from Democratic to Republican * Caroline (largest town:

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 ...

) * Covington (independent city) *

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 community: Nellysford) Counties and independent cities that flipped from Republican to Democratic * Chesterfield (no municipalities) *

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 ...

(independent city) *

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)

By congressional district

Northam won 6 of the 11 congressional districts, including two that were held by Republicans.

Notes

References

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 ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

November 2017 in the United States

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Declined

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Failed to qualify

Withdrew

Declined

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Libertarian convention

Candidates

Nominee

Withdrawn

General election

Debates

Endorsements

Predictions

Polling

Fundraising

Results

By county and city

By congressional district

See also

Notes

References

External links