Democrats hold House of Delegates, claim trifecta

Democrats are set to retain control of the Virginia House of Delegates, locking in a trifecta in Virginia government for at least the next two years.

As of 10:45 p.m., Democrats have flipped eight seats, winning 64 of the 100 House of Delegates seats up for grabs in Tuesday’s elections. Republicans have claimed 35 seats so far. Democrats will be just three seats shy of a supermajority in the chamber. 

The win is a boon for Democrats, who have held razor-thin margins in both the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates. Democrats are on track to expand their majority alongside newly-elected Democrat Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger. 

Republicans now face an uphill battle blocking Democratic priorities in the next General Assembly session, and will enter the chamber with the fewest number of seats since the 1987 House elections.

Democrats are likely to use the wins as a chance to push to redraw Virginia congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Across the country, Democrat and Republican party leaders have begun efforts to redraw congressional maps to counteract each others’ redistricting efforts.

Democrats are also poised to push forth constitutional amendments to protect access to abortion, enshrine same-sex marriage rights into the Virginia Constitution and restore voting rights to people who have completed sentences for a felony conviction. The amendments passed the first time with some, but limited Republican support. The party needs to pass each of these amendments through another vote in the Virginia General Assembly before they can be passed to voters. 

The results are a particular blow to the Republican Party, which is set to hold the smallest number of seats it’s had in the chamber since 1987. 

Contact editor-in-chief Nick Mossman at nick.mossman@richmond.edu