The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virginia. Prior to the American War of Independence,the upper house of the General Assembly was represented by the Virginia Governor's Council,consisting of up to 12 executive counselors appointed by the colonial royal governor as advisers and jurists.
John Marshall Coleman is an American lawyer and Republican politician who served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly during the 1970s. He was the first Republican elected as Attorney General of Virginia since Reconstruction and served 1978–1982,although his later campaigns for Governor of Virginia and U.S. Senate proved unsuccessful. In 1994,he mounted an unsuccessful independent campaign for the United States Senate,finishing third with 11% of the vote.
Brian Joseph Moran 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 2008,representing Northern Virginia's 46th district.
Mark Rankin Herring 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,representing the 33rd district,made up of parts of Fairfax and Loudoun counties. In 2021,Herring lost re-election for a third term to Republican challenger Jason Miyares.
Frank W. Wagner is an American politician. A Republican,he served in the Virginia House of Delegates 1992–2001,and was elected to the Senate of Virginia in a special election on December 19,2000. He represented the 7th district in Virginia Beach and Norfolk from 2001 until 2019. He was a member of the Commerce and Labor,General Laws and Technology,Rehabilitation and Social Services,and Transportation committees.
Richard Lawrence Saslaw is an American politician who served as Majority Leader of the Senate of Virginia between 2020 –2024,when he declined to run for reelection. A member of the Democratic Party,he served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1976–80,then was elected to the Senate of Virginia. He represented the 35th district,made up of the city of Falls Church and portions of Fairfax County and the city of Alexandria.
Ralph Shearer Northam is an American physician and politician who was the 73rd governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022. A pediatric neurologist by occupation,he was an officer in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1984 to 1992. Northam,a member of the Democratic Party,was the 40th lieutenant governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018 before winning the governorship against the Republican nominee Ed Gillespie in the 2017 election. Prohibited by the Virginia Constitution from running for a consecutive term,Northam left office in January 2022 and was succeeded by the Republican Glenn Youngkin.
Joseph Dee Morrissey is an American politician,businessman,and former lawyer who won election to both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly from districts including Richmond or surrounding Henrico County,Virginia under various political affiliations. He represented Virginia's 16th Senate district from 2020 to 2024,having been elected during the 2019 election. He represented much of southern Richmond,as well as all of the cities of Petersburg and Hopewell and portions of Chesterfield,Dinwiddie and Prince George counties. He lost the 2023 Democratic primary for his district.
Paula Jean Miller is an American politician. She was a Democratic member of the Virginia House of Delegates 2005–2012,representing the 87th district in the city of Norfolk. She ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for the special election to fill the seat being vacated by Ralph Northam,who was elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia,in the Virginia Senate,District 6,representing portions of Norfolk,the Eastern Shore,and Virginia Beach. She lost to fellow delegate Lynwood Lewis.
Lynwood Wayne Lewis Jr. is an American politician and lawyer. A Democrat,he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in November 2003,representing the 100th district,which consists of the Eastern Shore counties of Accomack and Northampton,and parts of the cities of Norfolk and Hampton.
Frank Miller Ruff Jr. was an American politician who served in the Virginia General Assembly. A Republican,he served in the Virginia House of Delegates for the 61st district from 1994 to 2000 and in the Senate of Virginia for the 15th district from 2000 to 2024 representing parts of Southside Virginia.
Emmett Wilson Hanger Jr. is an American politician of the Republican Party. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1983 to 1991,when he was unseated by Creigh Deeds. He then served as member of the Senate of Virginia,representing the 24th district from 1996 to 2024. This district,located in the central Shenandoah Valley and nearby sections of the Blue Ridge Mountains,included the independent cities of Staunton,and Waynesboro,as well as Augusta County,Greene County,Madison County,and parts of Rockingham County and Culpeper County.
The 2013 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election took place on November 5,2013,to elect the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. The incumbent Lieutenant Governor,Republican Bill Bolling,had originally planned to run for Governor of Virginia in the 2013 gubernatorial election,but withdrew upon the entry of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.
The 2017 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 7,2017. Incumbent Democratic governor Terry McAuliffe was unable to run for re-election,as the Constitution of Virginia prohibits the officeholder from serving consecutive terms;he later ran unsuccessfully for a second term in 2021.
The 2017 United States elections were held,in large part,on Tuesday,November 7,2017. This off-year election featured gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey,as well as state legislative elections in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature and in the Virginia House of Delegates. Numerous citizen initiatives,mayoral races,and a variety of other local elections also occurred. Special elections were also held for one seat of the U.S. Senate,representing Alabama,and six seats of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Democrats picked up the governorship in New Jersey and the Alabama Senate seat that was up for a special election. The governorship in Virginia and the six House seats that were up for special elections did not change party hands.
Cannabis in Virginia is legal for medical use and recreational use. The first medical marijuana dispensary opened in August 2020,and adult recreational use became legalized in July 2021.
The 2019 Virginia Senate election was held on November 5,2019,concurrently with the House election,to elect members to all 40 seats in the Senate of Virginia for the 161st Virginia General Assembly and the 162nd Virginia General Assembly. Primaries were held on June 11. The elections resulted in Democrats gaining 2 seats in the senate,and gaining control of both chambers of the General Assembly,marking the first time that Democrats held control of both legislative and executive branches in Virginia since 1993.
The 160th Virginia General Assembly,consisting of members who were elected in both the 2017 House election and 2015 Senate election,convened on January 9,2018. Republicans held one-seat majorities in both chambers,losing 17 seats in the House.
The 2022 elections for the Pennsylvania State Senate were held on November 8,with 25 of 50 districts being contested. The term of office for those elected in 2022 would begin when the Senate convenes in January 2023. Pennsylvania State Senators are elected for four-year terms,with half of the seats up for election every two years. The election coincided with the 2022 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania,United States House of Representatives elections,and the election of the entirety of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
The 2023 Virginia Senate election was held on Tuesday,November 7,2023,concurrently with elections for the Virginia House of Delegates,to elect senators to all 40 seats in the Senate of Virginia for the 163rd and 164th Virginia Assembly. Nomination primaries held through the Department of Elections were held June 20,2023. These were the first elections held following redistricting as a result of the 2020 census. The Democrats retained control of the Senate.
