Virginia’s fifth congressional district is a United States congressional district in the commonwealth of Virginia. It is Virginia's largest district with an area of and is larger in area than six US states. The 5th District contains counties located in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge Region stretching vertically across the state from the Virginia-North Carolina Border going 250 miles up to Fauquier County in Northern Virginia, West of Washington DC. The district’s first representative in Congress was James Madison, who defeated James Monroe in the district's first congressional election. Madison and Monroe would go on to serve as the 4th and 5th Presidents of the United States. The current Congressman is RepublicanDenver Riggleman. Historically, the 5th was one of the first districts of Virginia to turn Republican in Presidential elections – though unlike the 6th where the decisive factor was ticket-splitting by Byrd Organization Democrats, here the decisive factor was the growth of middle-class Republicanism in the Charlottesville metropolitan area. In the decade preceding the Voting Rights Act, these were joined by a significant proportion of Virginia’s limited and almost entirely white electorate who preferred conservative positions on black civil rights. The district was to be one of two in Virginia giving a plurality to segregationist George Wallace in 1968, and has never supported a Democrat for President since Harry S. Truman. However, the district was continuously represented in Congress by fairly conservative Democrats until Virgil H. Goode, Jr. switched parties, first to independent and then to Republican. In 2008, Democrat Tom Perriello defeated Goode with significant Democratic down-ballot coattails from the Obama campaign. Republican Robert Hurt defeated Periello in 2010, going on to serve three terms. Republican Tom Garrett was elected in 2016 and served one term. Currently, the district is represented by Republican Denver Riggleman, elected 2018.
Area covered
It covers all or part of the following political subdivisions:
Virginia's 5th Congressional District House Election, November 2016
Candidate
Party
Votes
Percentage
Tom Garrett
Republican
207,758
58.2%
Jane Dittmar
Democratic
148,339
41.6%
All others
668
0.2%
Total votes cast
356,765
2018
Virginia's 5th Congressional District House Election, November 2018 Took place on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, with Republican Denver Riggleman winning the election. The incumbent, Tom Garrett, did not run for re-election.
Candidate
Party
Votes
Percentage
Denver Riggleman
Republican
165,339
53.18
Leslie Cockburn
Democratic
145,040
46.65
All others
Write In
547
0.18
Total votes cast
310,926
100
2020
Virginia's 5th Congressional District House Election, November 2020 Election will take place on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Republican candidate Bob Good defeated current Congressman Denver Riggleman in the June 2020 Republican primary and will face Democratic candidate Dr. Cameron Webb in the November general election.
