United States presidential elections in Virginia

Presidential elections in Virginia

Number of elections	57
Voted Democratic	30
Voted Republican	16
Voted Democratic-Republican	8
Voted other	3 [lower-alpha 1]
Voted for winning candidate	40
Voted for losing candidate	17

Following is a table of United States presidential elections in Virginia, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1788, Virginia has participated in every U.S. presidential election except the election of 1864 during the American Civil War, when the state had seceded to join the Confederacy, and the election of 1868, when the state was undergoing Reconstruction. As of 2022, it is the only state of the former Confederacy to vote reliably Democratic.

Winners of the state are in bold. The shading refers to the state winner, and not the national winner.

Elections from 1864 to present

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Other national candidates [lower-alpha 2]	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes	Notes
2020 [1]	Joe Biden	2,413,568	54.11	Donald Trump	1,962,430	44.00	—			13
2016 [2]	Donald Trump [lower-alpha 3]	1,769,443	44.43	Hillary Clinton	1,981,473	49.75	—			13
2012 [3]	Barack Obama	1,971,820	51.16	Mitt Romney	1,822,522	47.28	—			13
2008 [4]	Barack Obama	1,959,532	52.63	John McCain	1,725,005	46.33	—			13
2004 [5]	George W. Bush	1,716,959	53.68	John Kerry	1,454,742	45.48	—			13
2000 [6]	George W. Bush [lower-alpha 3]	1,437,490	52.47	Al Gore	1,217,290	44.44	—			13
1996 [7]	Bill Clinton	1,091,060	45.15	Bob Dole	1,138,350	47.1	Ross Perot	159,861	6.62	13
1992	Bill Clinton	1,038,650	40.59	George H. W. Bush	1,150,517	44.97	Ross Perot	348,639	13.63	13
1988	George H. W. Bush	1,309,162	59.74	Michael Dukakis	859,799	39.23	—			12
1984	Ronald Reagan	1,337,078	62.29	Walter Mondale	796,250	37.09	—			12
1980	Ronald Reagan	989,609	53.03	Jimmy Carter	752,174	40.31	John B. Anderson	95,418	5.11	12
1976	Jimmy Carter	813,896	47.96	Gerald Ford	836,554	49.29	—			12
1972	Richard Nixon	988,493	67.84	George McGovern	438,887	30.12	—			12	electoral vote split: 11 to Nixon, 1 to John Hospers (faithless elector)
1968	Richard Nixon	590,319	43.36	Hubert Humphrey	442,387	32.49	George Wallace	321,833	23.64	12
1964	Lyndon B. Johnson	558,038	53.54	Barry Goldwater	481,334	46.18	—			12
1960	John F. Kennedy	362,327	46.97	Richard Nixon	404,521	52.44	—			12
1956	Dwight D. Eisenhower	386,459	55.37	Adlai Stevenson II	267,760	38.36	T. Coleman Andrews/ Unpledged Electors [lower-alpha 4]	42,964	6.16	12
1952	Dwight D. Eisenhower	349,037	56.32	Adlai Stevenson II	268,677	43.36	—			12
1948	Harry S. Truman	200,786	47.89	Thomas E. Dewey	172,070	41.04	Strom Thurmond	43,393	10.35	11
1944	Franklin D. Roosevelt	242,276	62.36	Thomas E. Dewey	145,243	37.39	—			11
1940	Franklin D. Roosevelt	235,961	68.08	Wendell Willkie	109,363	31.55	—			11
1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	234,980	70.23	Alf Landon	98,336	29.39	—			11
1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	203,979	68.46	Herbert Hoover	89,637	30.09	—			11
1928	Herbert Hoover	164,609	53.91	Al Smith	140,146	45.90	—			12
1924	Calvin Coolidge	73,312	32.79	John W. Davis	139,716	62.48	Robert M. La Follette	10,377	4.64	12
1920	Warren G. Harding	87,456	37.85	James M. Cox	141,670	61.32	Parley P. Christensen	243	0.11	12
1916	Woodrow Wilson	101,840	66.99	Charles E. Hughes	48,384	31.83	—			12
1912	Woodrow Wilson	90,332	65.95	Theodore Roosevelt	21,776	15.90	William H. Taft	23,288	17.00	12
1908	William H. Taft	52,572	38.36	William Jennings Bryan	82,946	60.52	—			12
1904	Theodore Roosevelt	48,180	36.95	Alton B. Parker	80,649	61.84	—			12
1900	William McKinley	115,769	43.82	William Jennings Bryan	146,079	55.29	—			12
1896	William McKinley	135,379	45.94	William Jennings Bryan	154,708	52.50	—			12
1892	Grover Cleveland	164,136	56.17	Benjamin Harrison	113,098	38.70	James B. Weaver	12,275	4.20	12
1888	Benjamin Harrison [lower-alpha 3]	150,399	49.46	Grover Cleveland	152,004	49.99	—			12
1884	Grover Cleveland	145,491	51.05	James G. Blaine	139,356	48.90	—			12
1880	James A. Garfield	83,533	39.47	Winfield S. Hancock	128,083	60.53	James B. Weaver	—	—	11
1876	Rutherford B. Hayes	95,518	40.42	Samuel J. Tilden	140,770	59.58	—			11
1872	Ulysses S. Grant	93,463	50.47	Horace Greeley	91,647	49.49	—			11
1868	Ulysses S. Grant			Horatio Seymour			—				No vote due to status of Reconstruction.
1864	Abraham Lincoln			George B. McClellan			—				No vote due to secession.

Election of 1860

The election of 1860 was a complex realigning election in which the breakdown of the previous two-party alignment culminated in four parties each competing for influence in different parts of the country. The result of the election, with the victory of an ardent opponent of slavery, spurred the secession of eleven states, including Virginia, and brought about the American Civil War.

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes
1860	Abraham Lincoln	1,887	1.1	Stephen A. Douglas	16,198	9.7	John C. Breckinridge	74,325	44.5	John Bell	74,481	44.6	15

Elections from 1828 to 1856

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Other national candidates [lower-alpha 2]	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes	Notes
1856	James Buchanan	90,083	59.96	John C. Frémont	no ballots		Millard Fillmore	60,150	40.04	15
1852	Franklin Pierce	73,872	55.71	Winfield Scott	58,732	44.29	John P. Hale	no ballots		15
1848	Zachary Taylor	45,265	49.20	Lewis Cass	46,739	50.80	Martin Van Buren	no ballots		17
1844	James K. Polk	50,679	53.05	Henry Clay	44,860	46.95	—			17
1840	William Henry Harrison	42,637	49.35	Martin Van Buren	43,757	50.65	—			23
1836	Martin Van Buren	30,556	56.64	Hugh Lawson White	23,384	43.35	various [lower-alpha 5]			23
1832	Andrew Jackson	34,243	74.96	Henry Clay	11,436	25.03	William Wirt	3	0.01	23
1828	Andrew Jackson	26,854	68.99	John Quincy Adams	12,070	31.01	—			24

Election of 1824

The election of 1824 was a complex realigning election following the collapse of the prevailing Democratic-Republican Party, resulting in four different candidates each claiming to carry the banner of the party, and competing for influence in different parts of the country. The election was the only one in history to be decided by the House of Representatives under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution after no candidate secured a majority of the electoral vote. It was also the only presidential election in which the candidate who received a plurality of electoral votes (Andrew Jackson) did not become President, a source of great bitterness for Jackson and his supporters, who proclaimed the election of Adams a corrupt bargain.

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes
1824	Andrew Jackson	2,975	19.35	John Quincy Adams	3,419	22.24	Henry Clay	419	2.73	William H. Crawford	8,558	55.68	24

Elections from 1788-89 to 1820

In the election of 1820, incumbent President James Monroe ran effectively unopposed, winning all 25 of Virginia's electoral votes, and all electoral votes nationwide except one vote in New Hampshire. To the extent that a popular vote was held, it was primarily directed to filling the office of Vice President.

Year	Winner (nationally)	Runner-up (nationally)	Electoral Votes	Notes
1820	James Monroe	—	25	Monroe effectively ran unopposed.
1816	James Monroe	Rufus King	25
1812	James Madison	DeWitt Clinton	25
1808	James Madison	Charles C. Pinckney	24
1804	Thomas Jefferson	Charles C. Pinckney	24
1800	Thomas Jefferson	John Adams	21
1796	John Adams	Thomas Jefferson	21	Electoral vote split, twenty for Jefferson, one for Adams.
1792	George Washington	—	21	Washington effectively ran unopposed.
1788-89	George Washington	—	10	Washington effectively ran unopposed.

See also

• Elections in Virginia

Notes

1. John Bell, 1860; George Washington, 1788-89, 1792.
2. For purposes of these lists, other national candidates are defined as those who won at least one electoral vote, or won at least ten percent of the vote in multiple states.
3. Won the electoral college while losing the popular vote
4. Was allied with a slate of unpledged electors in Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina
5. Three other candidates ran and received electoral votes nationally as part of the unsuccessful Whig strategy to defeat Martin Van Buren by running four candidates with local appeal in different regions of the country. The others were William Henry Harrison, Daniel Webster, and Willie Person Mangum. None of these candidates appeared on the ballot in Virginia.

References

1. "Presidential Election Results: Biden Wins". The New York Times . 3 November 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
2. 2016 official Federal Election Commission report.
3. 2012 official Federal Election Commission report.
4. 2008 official Federal Election Commission report.
5. "Federal Elections 2004: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives" (PDF). Federal Elections Commission. May 2005.
6. "2000 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
7. "1996 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.