Results navigation
1702. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Powhatan County
1703. Virginia 1821 House of Delegates, Madison County
1704. Virginia 1809 U.S. House of Representatives, District 12
1705. Virginia 1792 State Senate, Class 1, District 5
1706. Virginia 1819 U.S. House of Representatives, District 13
1707. Virginia 1821 House of Delegates, Norfolk County, Special
1708. Virginia 1788 House of Delegates, Princess Anne County
1709. Virginia 1818 House of Delegates, Montgomery County
1710. Virginia 1803 State Senate, Class 2, District 2
1711. Virginia 1810 State Senate, Class 1, District 1
1712. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Surry County
1713. Virginia 1801 U.S. House of Representatives, District 16
1714. Virginia 1817 House of Delegates, Loudoun County
1715. Virginia 1796 House of Delegates, Sussex County
1716. Virginia 1788 Constitutional Convention, Norfolk County
1717. Virginia 1822 House of Delegates, Lunenburg County, Special
1718. Virginia 1792 Electoral College, District 12
1719. Virginia 1825 U.S. House of Representatives, District 16
1720. Virginia 1821 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County, Special
1721. Virginia 1817 Executive Council, Special, Ballot 2
1722. Virginia 1799 Executive Council, Dismissal, Ballot 2
1723. Virginia 1811 U.S. House of Representatives, District 12
1724. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Lancaster County
1725. Virginia 1793 U.S. House of Representatives, District 8
1726. Virginia 1799 House of Delegates, Ohio County
1727. Virginia 1806 Executive Council
1728. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Spotsylvania County
1729. Virginia 1819 House of Delegates, Orange County
1730. Virginia 1813 U.S. House of Representatives, District 17
1731. Virginia 1819 U.S. House of Representatives, District 23
1732. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Powhatan County
1733. Virginia 1823 State Senate, Class 1, District 1, Special
1734. Virginia 1803 U.S. Senate, Special
1735. Virginia 1815 U.S. House of Representatives, District 21
1736. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Elizabeth City County
1737. Virginia 1795 House of Delegates, Pendleton County
1738. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Bath County
1739. Virginia 1805 State Senate, Class 4, District 6
1740. Virginia 1791 House of Delegates, Richmond City
1741. Virginia 1822 House of Delegates, Mathews County
1742. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Norfolk County
1743. Virginia 1819 House of Delegates, Isle of Wight County
1744. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Pendleton County
1745. Virginia 1819 House of Delegates, Ohio County
1746. Virginia 1798 House of Delegates, Westmoreland County
1747. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
1748. Virginia 1820 House of Delegates, Amherst County
1749. Virginia 1790 State Senate, Class 1, District 1
1750. Virginia 1815 U.S. House of Representatives, District 14
1751. Virginia 1818 State Senate, Class 1, District 6, Special
1752. Virginia 1822 House of Delegates, Warwick County
1753. Virginia 1810 House of Delegates, Augusta County
1754. Virginia 1799 Executive Council, Ballot 5
1755. Virginia 1801 U.S. House of Representatives, District 10
1756. Virginia 1796 State Senate, Class 3, District 2
1757. Virginia 1792 Electoral College, District 17
1758. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Richmond City
1759. Virginia 1817 U.S. House of Representatives, District 4
1760. Virginia 1807 U.S. House of Representatives, District 3
1761. Virginia 1795 U.S. House of Representatives, District 18
1762. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Cumberland County
1763. Virginia 1801 U.S. House of Representatives, District 8
1764. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
1765. Virginia 1811 State Senate, Class 2, District 5
1766. Virginia 1809 U.S. House of Representatives, District 21
1767. Virginia 1825 U.S. House of Representatives, District 5
1768. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Richmond City
1769. Virginia 1794 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
1770. Virginia 1821 House of Delegates, Hampshire County
1771. Virginia 1815 State Senate, Class 2, District 2
1772. Virginia 1807 U.S. House of Representatives, District 4
1773. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
1774. Virginia 1795 U.S. House of Representatives, District 17
1775. Virginia 1819 U.S. House of Representatives, District 17
1776. Virginia 1811 Governor, Special, Ballot 2
1777. Virginia 1805 U.S. House of Representatives, District 8
1778. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Lancaster County
1779. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Bath County
1780. Virginia 1809 U.S. House of Representatives, District 3
1781. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Kanawha County
1782. Virginia 1799 U.S. House of Representatives, District 1
1783. Virginia 1799 Executive Council, Ballot 3
1784. Virginia 1793 House of Delegates, Louisa County
1785. Virginia 1823 House of Delegates, Fairfax County
1786. Virginia 1821 House of Delegates, Patrick County
1787. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Norfolk Borough
1788. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Jefferson County
1789. Virginia 1821 House of Delegates, Rockingham County
1790. Virginia 1817 House of Delegates, Amelia County
1791. Virginia 1809 State Senate, Class 4, District 6
1792. Virginia 1822 House of Delegates, Surry County
1793. Virginia 1793 U.S. House of Representatives, District 9
1794. Virginia 1814 State Senate, Class 1, District 1
1795. Virginia 1801 Clerk of the House of Delegates
1796. Virginia 1789 U.S. House of Representatives, District 6
1797. Virginia 1820 U.S. House of Representatives, District 20, Special
1798. Virginia 1819 House of Delegates, Frederick County
1799. Virginia 1799 Speaker of the House
1800. Virginia 1816 U.S. Senate, Special, Ballot 2
Results navigation
The Commonwealth of Virginia rebelled from England and created its own constitution in 1776 as an independent state. This document was written primarily by James Mason and was basically a bill of rights rather than a detailed framework of government. When Virginia joined first other colonies, under the Articles of Confederation, and then the United States, under our present Constitution, its government functioned much as it had as a colony. It had a legislature, but that body and the county courts were dominated by an elite of what one historian has called "Gentlemen Freeholders." This colonial gentry was made up of men who had a good deal of land and twenty or more slaves. Yet the right to vote was much more widely enjoyed than in England. Although governors were appointed by the imperial government before the Revolution, there were popular elections for the House of Burgesses.
Thus colonial Virginians (at least, many of the white landholding men) were used to elections, and these were several-day events that were quite public and rather intensely social. From 1776 until 1850, the government of Virginia continued to function on its original principles, and the Virginia constitution was not significantly changed. Thomas Jefferson early had called for a revision of the constitution of the commonwealth. His most extensive analysis was in “Notes on the State of Virginia,” published in the 1780s. Most historians are also familiar with a well-known letter written just a year before his death when constitutional reform was being debated.
The Old Dominion (as Virginia was often called) during the period of the elections being presented here had a governor and his counsel elected by the legislature. The legislature was bicameral, and both houses were popularly elected by the freeholders—essentially white men who held a respectable amount of land or, after the legislature changed the law in 1785, lived in town and owned a house.
In the 1820s the movement for reform grew. There were a number of demands to democratize the government, by electing the governor popularly, for example, or by building a hierarchy of republics from the local level up (Jefferson’s favorite idea). Even so, the famous collection of prominent Virginian statesmen, including ex-presidents, senators, congressmen and even the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, made very little change in the suffrage, admitting only "householders." The governor's council was eliminated, but the number of elective offices was not expanded. The unequal system of representation in the legislature was addressed by a compromise giving more seats to the west—mostly the Shenandoah Valley—without creating a rational plan for the future.
During this period, Virginians could vote for their legislators, congressmen, and electors in the presidential elections. They voted yearly in the spring for legislators, every two years for their members of Congress, and every four years for presidential electors. At first they voted for the electors themselves, because they were not willing to say whom they might vote for. The freeholders voted at the polling place closest to their home—a polling place that was often a court house but sometimes a local store. These Virginians voted viva voce, so we have poll books in some counties for some elections to supplement the statistics taken mostly from newspapers.
Bibliography
- Dabney, Virginius.
Virginia: The New Dominion (1971) - Heinemann, Ronald L., John G. Kolp, Anthony S. Parent Jr., and William G. Shade,
Old Dominion, New Commonwealth: A History of Virginia, 1607-2007 (2007). - Salmon, Emily J., and Edward D.C. Campbell, Jr., eds.
The Hornbook of Virginia history: A Ready-Reference Guide to the Old Dominion's People, Places, and Past 4th edition. (1994) - Official State of Virginia Site
- Library of Virginia
- Virginia Historical Society