The wait of two years is over. The big date of Nov 5 is coming up where Virginia Senate, House and School Board representatives will run for election.

Nov. 5 is the General Election, where vast amounts of candidates on both sides of the political spectrum run to become their parties number one representative.

As of now, the GOP holds a 21-19 majority, with all 40 seats up for election on Nov. 5, 2019.

The elections are occurring against the backdrop of the 2017 state House elections when Democrats gained 15 seats.

The outcome of the elections will determine control of Virginia’s government when congressional and state legislative district lines are redrawn after the 2020 Census.

If Republicans retain control of the Senate or the state House, they will have a seat at the redistricting table.

If Democrats win both chambers of the legislature, they will have a trifecta and full control of the government during redistricting.

Our current Senators are Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both representing the Democratic party.

As for the House of Delegates, Virginia Democrats flipped 15 Republican-held House of Delegates seats in 2017. This was their largest gain in the chamber since 1899.

Republicans maintained a slim majority, 51-49, but the parties are again battling for control in the Nov. 5 elections.

In addition to the 49 seats Democrats won in the 2017 elections, there are an additional 11 districts that Gov. Ralph Northam (D) won the gubernatorial election that have a Republican incumbent heading into the 2019 elections.

Multiple national groups are spending money to impact these elections. Following a shooting in Virginia Beach that killed 12 people on May 31, guns became a prominent issue in this election.

All 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates are up in 2019. Representing the 38th district of Fairfax county, a district that includes Annandale is Democratic Delegate Kaye Kory. Kory has been a member of the Virginia House of
Delegates since 2010 and is running without contest, as are many of the delegates.

Government students at Annandale have been following the race closely and have worked to form their own stance on the upcoming race.

“Unfortunately, both of the candidates that represent our district, Kaye Kory and Dick Saslaw are running unchallenged, and as someone with a conservative stance, I don’t support either of them,” sophomore Sophia Marigliano said.

Marigliano continued talking about the significance of the upcoming election to the national political stage.

“The stark contrast between Democrats and Republicans in Virginia make this election very important in terms of state legislation. Virginia has always been pretty divided between Democrats and Republicans so I think the General
Election this year will be indicative of how Virginia voters will vote in the upcoming Presidential Election,” Marigliano said.