2005 Virginia gubernatorial election

2005 Virginia gubernatorial election

← 2001 November 8, 2005 2009 →
Turnout45.0% Decrease 1.4[1]
 
Nominee Tim Kaine Jerry Kilgore
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 1,025,942 912,327
Percentage 51.7% 46.0%

Kaine:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Kilgore:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Governor before election

Mark Warner
Democratic

Elected Governor

Tim Kaine
Democratic

The 2005 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2005, to elect the Governor of Virginia. The Democratic nominee, Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine, the son-in-law to Linwood Holton, won the election. Virginia is the only state in the United States to prohibit governors from serving successive terms, meaning that the popular incumbent, Mark Warner, could not run for reelection.

While the previous Democratic Governor, Mark Warner, was credited with doing especially well for a Democrat in rural areas of the commonwealth, Kaine's win featured surprising triumphs in traditionally Republican areas such as Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and the Northern Virginia suburbs of Prince William County and Loudoun County, as well as impressive showings in Democratic strongholds such as Richmond and Norfolk.[2] This is the most recent election in which a Virginia Governor and Lieutenant Governor of opposite parties were elected.

  1. ^ Virginia Department of Elections (2016). "Registration/Turnout Statistics". The Commonwealth of Virginia. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  2. ^ Shear, Michael D. (October 18, 2005). "Kaine Sounds Slow-Growth Note in Exurbs". Washington Post.