2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia


The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia were held on November 8, 2022, to elect the 11 U.S. representatives from the state of Virginia, one from each of the state's 11 congressional districts. The elections coincided with 2022 [United States House of Representatives elections|other elections] to the House of Representatives. Pursuant to state law, primaries organized through the Department of Elections were held on June 21, 2022. However, some Republican firehouse primaries were held on dates as late as May 21, 2022.

Redistricting

Bipartisan Commission

Following the passage of Question 1 in the 2020 elections, a bipartisan redistricting commission was created. The commission holds 16 members: four from the House of Delegates, four from the Senate of Virginia, and eight citizens. It had 60 days following the release of the 2020 census data or until July 1, 2021, whichever was later, to approve a map, which had to be approved by the General Assembly.
As the 2020 census data was released on August 12, 2021 the deadline was set to October 11, 2021. Early in the commission meetings the Democrat and Republican sides both hired partisan map makers and legal advisers. This created worry they would cause the commission to become too partisan to create a compromise map. This was proved true after it became clear that the commission would not create a Congressional map within the deadline after it failed to create any progress on a starting draft for the General Assembly maps, which it had solely focused on. The failure of the commission was shown even more clearly when, out of growing frustration from the lack of compromise, three Democratic members of the commission walked out, breaking any chance of a deal. After the walkout no other progress was made and the deadline passed, handing the redistricting process over to the Virginia Supreme Court.
Following the rules established by Question 1, the court ordered both Democrats and Republicans to create a list of nominees to be selected as special masters for a map. However, the court threw out 1 of the 3 Republican nominees and ordered a replacement as they found past ties to Republican leadership. Once the Republican list was re-submitted, the court started reviewing both parties' lists again and picked Sean Trende as the Republican nominee and Bernard Grofman as the Democratic nominee. On December 8 the two special masters had announced the completion of the draft map for the House of Representatives. However, following the announcement it came with public backlash over the handling of incumbents, mostly around the new 7th district. Following the public comment period, the map was almost completely redrawn and a revised map was released on December 28. The new map's announcement ended the nearly six-month redistricting process.
The new court-approved map completely changed every district, with the largest changes being in the 1st congressional district|1st], 2nd congressional district|2nd], 7th, and 10th congressional district|10th] districts. The first district previously held a significant southern portion of Northern Virginia and was replaced with the western parts of Henrico and Chesterfield counties. These changes made it more Republican. The second district shifted more Republican as it previously held Williamsburg City, York County, eastern portions of Hampton City, and northern parts of Norfolk City. These regions were generally Democratic and were replaced with the southern portions of Chesapeake City, Suffolk City, Isle of Wight County, Franklin City, and eastern parts of Southampton County, which are generally Republican areas. These changes made it less Republican. Unlike the 1st and 2nd districts, the new 7th district was entirely remade. The new district now holds the eastern parts of Prince William County and the entirety of Culpeper, Madison, Greene, Orange, Stafford, King George, Spotsylvania, and Caroline counties. These areas combined are more Democratic than the former Richmond suburbs and rural central Virginia counties which made up the old 7th district. The last major change district was the 10th district, which removed Frederick County, Winchester City, Clarke County, and western parts of Fairfax County. These were replaced by the addition of western Prince William County, Fauquier County, and Rappahannock County. This made the district more Republican.

District 1

The 1st district is based in the western Chesapeake Bay and includes portions of suburban Richmond. Within the district are western Henrico and Chesterfield counties. Other localities in the district include Colonial Beach, Mechanicsville, and Williamsburg. The incumbent was Republican Rob Wittman, who was re-elected with 58.2% of the vote in 2020. On November 8, 2022, Congressman Wittman was re-elected.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic primary

Nominee

  • Herb Jones, U.S. Army veteran and Democratic nominee for SD-03 in 2019
    Withdrew
  • Stewart Navarre, U.S. Marine Corps veteran

Independents

Candidates

  • David Foster, U.S. Navy veteran

District 2

The 2nd district is based in Hampton Roads, containing the cities of Chesapeake, Franklin, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach. Virginia's Eastern Shore is also located within the district. The incumbent was Democrat Elaine Luria, who was re-elected with 51.6% of the vote in 2020. Despite her home in Norfolk no longer being in the district, Luria ran for re-election in this seat. On November 8, 2022, State Senator Jen Kiggans won the election to the district, unseating Luria.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Withdrawn

  • Neil Smith, U.S. Navy veteran

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

General election

Failed to qualify

Polling

Elaine Luria vs. Jarome Bell

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Elaine
Luria 		Jarome
Bell 		OtherUndecided
Slingshot Strategies April 10–15, 2022600 ± 4.0%38%33%4%20%

Generic Democrat vs. generic Republican

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Generic
Democrat		Generic
Republican		OtherUndecided
Slingshot Strategies April 10–15, 2022600 ± 4.0%40%42%3%13%

District 3

The 3rd district encompasses the inner Hampton Roads, including parts of Hampton and Norfolk, as well as Newport News. The incumbent was Democrat Bobby Scott, who was reelected with 68.4% of the vote in 2020. On November 8, 2022, Congressman Scott was re-elected.

Democratic primary

Nominee

Failed to qualify

  • Luis Rivera, entrepreneur

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Terry Namkung, U.S. Air Force veteran
    Eliminated in primary
  • Theodore "Ted" Engquist, minister

Failed to qualify

District 4

The 4th district takes in the city of Richmond and portions of Southside Virginia following Interstate 95. Within the district are the cities of Colonial Heights, Emporia, Hopewell, and Petersburg. The incumbent was Donald McEachin, who was re-elected with 61.6% of the vote in 2020.
On November 8, 2022, McEachin was re-elected; however, he died on November 28. A special election was held on February 21, 2023, with fellow Democrat Jennifer McClellan elected to succeed him.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Leon Benjamin, pastor, U.S. Navy veteran, and nominee for this seat in 2020 [United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia#District 4|2020]

Failed to qualify

District 5

The 5th district includes the majority of Southside Virginia. Within the district are the cities of Charlottesville, Danville, and Lynchburg. The incumbent representative is Bob Good, who was elected with 52.4% of the vote in 2020, after ousting then Representative Denver Riggleman in the Republican convention. On November 8, 2022, Congressman Bob Good was re-elected.

Republican convention

Nominee

Withdrawn

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Josh Throneburg, business owner

Failed to qualify

Withdrawn

  • Shadi Ayyas, physician
  • Lewis Combs, prosecutor

District 6

The 6th district is located in western Virginia taking in the Shenandoah Valley along Interstate 81. The district is anchored at the southern end by the cities of Roanoke and Salem. The incumbent was Republican Ben Cline, who was re-elected with 64.6% of the vote in 2020. On November 8, 2022, Congressman Cline was re-elected.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic convention

Candidates

Nominee
  • Jennifer Lewis, nominee for this district in 2018

District 7

The 7th district is based in Northern and Central Virginia. The district contains Stafford, Spotsylvania, Greene, Orange, Madison, Culpeper, Caroline, and King George counties, the city of Fredericksburg, parts of eastern Prince William County, along with a small sliver of Albemarle County. The incumbent was Democrat Abigail Spanberger, who was re-elected with 50.8% of the vote in 2020. The district was radically redrawn and no longer includes her residence in Henrico County. Despite this, Spanberger ran for re-election in this seat.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Did not qualify

District 8

The 8th district is based in northern Virginia and encompasses the inner Washington, D.C. suburbs, including Arlington, Alexandria, and Falls Church. The incumbent was Democrat Don Beyer, who was re-elected with 75.8% of the vote in 2020. On November 8, 2022, Congressman Beyer was re-elected.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Don Beyer, incumbent U.S. representative, former ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein and lieutenant governor
    Eliminated in primary
  • Victoria Virasingh, IT worker

Republican Convention

Candidates

Nominee

Other candidates

Declared

  • Teddy Fikre, business consultant
  • Heerak Christian Kim, educator and former Republican candidate for this seat

District 9

The 9th district takes in rural southwest Virginia, including Abingdon, Blacksburg, Bristol and Norton. The incumbent was Republican Morgan Griffith, who was re-elected with 94% of the vote in 2020 without opposition from any party. Despite his home in Salem no longer being in the district. Griffith was running for re-election in this seat. On November 8, 2022, Congressman Morgan Griffith was re-elected.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Failed to qualify

  • Kimberly Lowe, farmer and activist

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

District 10

The 10th district is based in northern Virginia and the D.C. metro area, encompassing Fauquier, Loudoun, and Rappahannock counties, the independent cities of Mansassas and Manassas Park, and portions of Fairfax and Prince William counties. Democratic incumbent Jennifer Wexton was re-elected with 56.5% of the vote in 2020.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Withdrawn

  • Shadi Ayyas, physician

Republican primary

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

General election

Debates and forums

Both candidates agreed to four joint events.
The first forum was hosted by The Arc of Northern Virginia, an advocacy center for disabled children and seniors. They have been hosting these forums since 2020. It was the only online event in which both Wexton and Cao participated. It also included the Democratic and Republican candidates for the 7th and 10th congressional districts. The Arc of NoVA asked their own questions, questions sent to them ahead of time, and questions taken from a Facebook chat. As mentioned at the start of the forum, all candidates were sent the questions they were planning to ask as well as questions that were sent in.

District 11

The 11th district encompasses portions of suburban Washington, D.C., including the city of Fairfax and portions of Fairfax County. The incumbent was Democrat Gerry Connolly, who was re-elected with 71.4% of the vote in 2020. On November 8, 2022, Congressman Connolly was re-elected.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Did not qualify

  • Ally Dalsimer, DoD Natural Resources Program manager, Obama Climate Task Force
  • Dereje Gerawork, community activist, talk show host

Republican firehouse convention

Nominee

  • Jim Myles, retired federal judge
    Eliminated in convention
  • Manga Anantatmula, businesswoman and Republican nominee for VA-11 in 2020
  • Joe Babb, former U.S. diplomat
  • Barbara Banks
  • Matthew Chappell, U.S. Army veteran