All 100 seats in the House of Delegates will be on the ballot this year, although not all of them have competitive primaries.
Democrats have nine House primaries and Republicans have eight. Two of the most significant are in the Richmond suburbs and exurbs where Democrats will be selecting candidates to take on incumbent Republican Delegates David Owen of Goochland and Carrie Coyner of Chesterfield.
"David Owen has two Democrats that are competing for the candidacy. In Carrie Coyner's district, there are three Democrats competing for the candidacy," says former Republican Delegate David Ramadan, who's now at the Schar School at George Mason University. "And their capability of raising money in the general will be a big factor if those are seats that can be picked up or not by Democrats in November."
One thing that both of those races have in common with other swing seats across Virginia – they’re deep in the suburbs. Stephen Farnsworth at the University of Mary Washington says this is where elections are won or lost.
"The most important places where elections are won and lost for majorities in the Virginia House are suburban districts, particularly outer ring suburban districts," Farnsworth says. "If you’re looking at districts 30 miles or more from major cities, that's where the blue and the red kind of become the purple part of Virginia."
Democrats currently have a one-vote majority in the House, which means whichever party gains momentum after the primaries is likely to gain control.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
