This is the tenth of a series column that will look at the history of all 50 States,
all 5 territories, and the Capital and the influence history has on our
current political environments. The aim of this column is to capture that
our country is not just red or blue, but rather many shades in between.
Each Lower 48 state’s current political landscape can be traced back to
its early settlement and geography and its particular involvement in the
Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, and the Civil Rights Era.
Virginia – The Old Dominion
Site of the first permanent settlement in the United States, capital of the Confederacy, and major political battleground of the 20th Century, Virginia has been one of the most consequential states in our country’s history.
Early History and Revolution
The colony of Virginia was chartered in 1583 by Queen Elizabeth. Sir Walter Raleigh named the colony after her, the so-called “Virgin Queen.” A group of 104 settlers led by John Smith arrived in 1607 and founded Jamestown, named after King James I, and would become the first lasting English colony in North America. During the harsh winter of 1609-1610, known as the “Starving Time,” about 90% of the colonists died. The survival of a few is likely owed to the Powhatan tribe’s gifts of food. The colony was revived by John Rolfe, who discovered the easily arable and massively profitable tobacco crop. This would solidify Virginia’s heavy agricultural lean early in its history.
Although Massachusetts is considered the “Birthplace of the Revolution,” Virginia could likely take a close second. Patrick Henry’s famous “give me liberty or give me death” speech took place before the second Virginia Convention in March 1775. A month later, the Revolutionary War began. Thomas Jefferson, a Virginia delegate to the Second Continental Congress, wrote the Declaration of Independence, ratified by the 13 colonies on July 4, 1776. Richard Henry Lee, a delegate also from Virginia, wrote the Lee Resolution, specifically calling for independence from Britain. Virginia is also the site of General Cornwallis’ surrender in the Battle of Yorktown in October 1781. George Washington, another native Virginian, became a general in the Revolutionary War, and later as the first President.
Four of the first five Presidents all hailed from Virginia. John Adams was from Massachusetts.
Civil War
Most of the first Virginia laborers were tobacco farmhands who were white indentured servants. Their travel from England was subsidized by a plantation owner, for whom they worked for several years to pay off the debt. Virginia actually relied on whites for labor before enslaved Africans became the fulcrum of slave labor by the 1700s. By 1808, the slave trade became Virginia’s largest industry.
Emigration westward was mainly driven by a search for new soil, as close to 200 years of tobacco farming depleted the soil in the eastern and central parts of the state. Westward expansion spawned the Wilderness Road and saw three counties split from Virginia to form Kentucky. The 1803 Louisiana Purchase accelerated emigration out of Virginia; famous explorer duo Lewis and Clark were native Virginians.
The state contained violent outbreaks leading up to the Civil War, namely the Nat Turner Revolt in 1831, the bloodiest slave revolt in history when 20 slaves killed at least 55 whites. John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, now in West Virginia, was a violent attempt to start a slave revolt. In 1861, Unionist conventions gathered in Wheeling, and after a governor was elected, President Lincoln (R-IL) recognized the new state. The public vote, which led to Congressional approval, created the state of West Virginia in 1863. The lost Virginia territory allowed the Union to push Lee out of Ohio and put more pressure on Richmond.
The state seceded in 1861; the Union army immediately captured Alexandria and controlled it for the rest of the war. The capital of the Confederacy was moved from Montgomery, Alabama, to Richmond for its strategic location. The city also played host to iron plants and military hospitals, all tied together by railroads.
Virginia was a major battleground in the Civil War; 40% of all battle deaths occurred within 150 miles of Richmond. Many important battles were fought here, including the First and Second Battles of Bull Run and the Battle of Appomattox Court House, which led to General Robert E. Lee’s surrender to the Union in 1865.
Civil Rights and Industrialization
Virginia, like many Southern states, was devastated by the Civil War. Railroads, plantations and towns were burned and ruined. Although the legislature ratified the 13th Amendment, they passed the Black Codes, which did not consider Freedmen citizens. The state was subject to Radical Republican military rule to ensure enforcement of equal rights. The 1868 elections saw 24 black Republicans ascend to the legislature, which saw ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments. Reconstruction ended, which saw Southern Democrats return to power. With that, the era of Jim Crow was ushered into Virginia. The first Republican to win Virginia was Ulysses Grant (R-OH) in 1872. The state would not vote Republican again until Herbert Hoover’s (R-CA) landslide in 1928.
The Industrial Revolution restored Virginia’s railroads, which reinvigorated agriculture and spawned a vibrant coal industry in the western part of the state. The cigarette rolling machine saw a great increase in the tobacco industry, giving Richmond and Petersburg much-needed booster shots. Progressive reformers helped modernize the farming industry. WWII also stimulated Virginia’s economy. By the 1960s, Washington, D.C., political and bureaucratic clout had grown enough to warrant presence in Northern Virginia. The cities of Arlington and Alexandria still contain many federal government-affiliated offices.
Racial segregation in schools was partly anchored by Senator Harry Byrd’s (D) actions against federal integration after the 1954 Brown Vs. Board decision. The state was reliably Democratic from 1932-1948. Unlike what the “party switch of 1964” dictates of Southern politics, it’s much more complicated than that. Early changes were observed in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida as industrialization and rebuilding of the South attracted Northern Republicans, who brought their politics with them. Wherever the heart of industry was located in a state is where the Republican party took root. 1930s opposition to FDR’s support for organized labor and Virginia’s increasing military presence also helped push the state towards the right during the mid-1900s.
Geography
- Northern Virginia: areas outside Washington, D.C., includes Arlington and Alexandria; once the GOP’s bread and butter, now largely Democratic
- Central Virginia: pure swing territory containing Charlottesville and Richmond; blue-trending suburbs battle with solidly-red exurbs
- Hampton Roads: southeastern Virginia, home to Newport News, Norfolk, Virginia Beach; some red-leaning military areas, but overall very blue
- Western Virginia: Shenandoah Valley, farms and coal mining; solidly red
Current Political Leanings
Virginia’s complicated history cast it in the throes of turmoil for most of its history. After solidly backing the Democratic machine from 1876-1924, Virginia voted for Hoover in 1928. It would not vote Republican again until 1952 for Dwight Eisenhower (R-KS). Lyndon Johnson (D-TX) would score a single-digit win here against Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) in 1964. Southern loyalists voted for Goldwater out of opposition to Johnson’s support for integration and Civil Rights, despite Goldwater having been a frequent donor of the NAACP.
The state would then solidify itself with the GOP and would not vote Democratic again until Barack Obama’s (D-IL) win in 2008, its longest GOP-voting streak. In 1972, Richard Nixon (R-CA) became the last Republican to win the cities of Norfolk, Richmond and Charlottesville, among others. Gerald Ford’s (R-MI) narrow Virginia win against Jimmy Carter (D-GA) in 1976 is credited to the solid GOP suburban counties of Henrico (Richmond) and Fairfax (NoVA).
In 1996, Bill Clinton (D-AR) became the only Democratic President to be re-elected without carrying Virginia, despite carrying almost all other former Confederate states. 2000 would begin to see the slips in margin for the GOP, with George Bush (R-TX) being the last Republican to win D.C.-based Fairfax County.
The financial crash in 2008, combined with heavy suburban swing to the left, and heavy immigration to the D.C. suburbs pushed Virginia into the Democratic column. Obama would score two marginal wins in 2008 and 2012, with Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Joe Biden (D-DE) doubling margins in 2016 and 2020, respectively. Additionally,Virginia’s white-working class population has been declining steadily over the last decade.
Like most Confederate states, Virginians would not elect a Republican governor for nearly 100 years. Only since 1970 have both parties enjoyed statewide power. Since Virginia’s gubernatorial elections are held the year after Presidential elections, the results are often seen as a temperature check on the current administration. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) scored a semi-upset in 2021 that now leaves strategists questioning if the Virginia GOP is as unpopular as previously considered.
Only one Republican was elected as a U.S. Senator from Virginia in the 1800s. The GOP would not win a Senate race here until 1972. The GOP has not won a Senate race since 2002 and have not controlled both seats since 2007.
Virginia’s status as a swing state is questioned. Biden’s 2020 showing is the best for a Democrat since 1944. The rapid diversification, technology and financial sectors and blue-trending suburbs consistently outweigh the rural, agricultural and mining presence in the state. While not overwhelmingly blue, the transition to the left is sharp and may require a DeSantis-Youngkin-Zeldin-like playbook to bring back to the center.
