Virginia's 8th congressional district

Virginia's 8th congressional district is a United States congressional district in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It comprises all of Arlington County, portions of Fairfax County and all of the independent cities of Alexandria and Falls Church.

Virginia's 8th congressional district
Virginia's 8th congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Representative	Don Beyer D–Alexandria
Distribution	99.71% urban[1] 0.29% rural
Population (2019)	813,568[2]
Median household income	$111,627[3]
Ethnicity	55.69% White 18.62% Hispanic 14.1% Black 11.4% Asian 0.2% Native American
Cook PVI	D+21[4]

The residents of the 8th district are currently represented by Democratic Congressman Don Beyer, elected in November 2014. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+21, it is the most Democratic district in Virginia, and one of the most Democratic white-majority districts in the South.

Being next to Washington D.C., the district is heavily dependent upon Federal government employment – for instance it has the highest Pentagon spending of any congressional district in the United States.[5]

Election results from presidential races

Year	Office	Results
1996	President	Clinton 55%–40%
2000	President	Gore 58%–38%
2004	President	Kerry 64%–35%[6]
2008	President	Obama 69%–30%[7]
2012	President	Obama 67%–32%[8]
2016	President	Clinton 72%–21%[9]
2020	President	Biden 78%–21%

Geography

Encompassing much of Northern Virginia's suburbs of Washington, D.C., Virginia's 8th District includes Arlington County, parts of Fairfax County, and the independent cities of Alexandria and Falls Church.

Demographics

As of 2000, the district has 643,503 residents, 13.7% are African American, 9.5% are Asian, 16.4% are Hispanic and 64.5% are white.[10]

Virginia's eighth congressional district is traditionally a Democratic stronghold, most notably in the urban communities of Arlington and Alexandria.

Elections since 1960

1960s

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1960

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Howard W. Smith (inc.)	42,809	75.7
	Republican	Lawrence M. Traylor	13,410	23.7
	Write-ins		364	0.6
Total votes			56,583	100.00
	Democratic hold

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1962

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Howard W. Smith (inc.)	20,931	98.7
	Write-ins		267	1.3
Total votes			21,198	100.00
	Democratic hold

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1964

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Howard W. Smith (inc.)	49,440	69.4
	Independent	Floyd Caldwell Bagley	21,813	30.6
	Write-ins		4	<0.1
Total votes			71,257	100.00
	Democratic hold

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1966

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William L. Scott	50,782	57.2
	Democratic	George Rawlings	37,929	42.7
	Write-ins		21	<0.1
Total votes			88,732	100.00
	Republican gain from Democratic

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1968

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William L. Scott (inc.)	68,167	64.9
	Democratic	Andrew H. McCutcheon	49,731	35.1
	Write-ins		1	<0.1
Total votes			141,853	100.00
	Republican hold

1970s

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1970

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William L. Scott (inc.)	68,167	63.8
	Democratic	Darrell Stearns	38,680	36.2
	Write-ins		8	<0.1
Total votes			106,855	100.00
	Republican hold

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1972

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Stanford Parris	60,446	44.4
	Democratic	Robert F. Horan	51,444	37.8
	Independent	William Durland	18,654	13.7
	Independent	Robert E. Harris	5,553	4.1
	Write-ins		2	<0.1
Total votes			136,099	100.00
	Republican hold

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1974

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Herbert Harris	53,074	57.6
	Republican	Stanford Parris (inc.)	38,997	42.4
	Write-ins		11	<0.1
Total votes			92,082	100.00
	Democratic gain from Republican

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1976

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Herbert Harris (inc.)	83,245	51.6
	Republican	James R. Tate	68,729	42.6
	Independent	Michael D. Cannon	9,292	5.8
	Write-ins		61	<0.1
Total votes			161,327	100.00
	Democratic hold

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Herbert Harris (inc.)	56,137	50.5
	Republican	Jack Herrity	52,396	47.1
	Independent	Charles Coe	2,632	2.4
	Write-ins		5	<0.1
Total votes			111,170	100.00
	Democratic hold

1980s

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1980

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Stanford Parris	95,624	48.8
	Democratic	Herbert Harris (inc.)	94,530	48.3
	Independent	Deborah Frantz	5,729	2.9
	Write-ins		14	<0.1
Total votes			195,897	100.00
	Republican gain from Democratic

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Stanford Parris (inc.)	69,620	49.7
	Democratic	Herbert Harris	68,071	48.6
	Independent	Austin Morrill	2,373	1.7
	Write-ins		6	<0.1
Total votes			140,070	100.00
	Republican hold

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1984

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Stanford Parris (inc.)	125,015	55.8
	Democratic	Richard L. Saslaw	97,250	43.4
	Independent	Donald W. Carpenter	1,814	0.8
	Write-ins		12	<0.1
Total votes			224,091	100.00
	Republican hold

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1986

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Stanford Parris (inc.)	72,670	61.8
	Democratic	James H. Boren	44,965	38.2
	Write-ins		20	<0.1
Total votes			117,655	100.00
	Republican hold

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1988

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Stanford Parris (inc.)	154,761	62.3
	Democratic	David Brickley	93,561	37.7
	Write-ins		78	<0.1
Total votes			248,400	100.00
	Republican hold

1990s

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Moran	88,475	51.7
	Republican	Stanford Parris (inc.)	76,367	44.6
	Independent	Robert Murphy	5,958	3.5
	Write-ins		321	0.2
Total votes			171,121	100.00
	Democratic gain from Republican

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1992

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Moran (inc.)	138,542	56.1
	Republican	Kyle E. McSlarrow	102,717	41.6
	Independent	Alvin West	5,601	2.3
	Write-ins		266	0.1
Total votes			247,126	100.00
	Democratic hold

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1994

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Moran (inc.)	120,281	59.3
	Republican	Kyle E. McSlarrow	79,568	39.3
	Independent	R. Ward Edmonds	1,858	0.9
	Independent	William Jones	868	0.4
	Write-ins		98	<0.1
Total votes			202,673	100.00
	Democratic hold

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Moran (inc.)	152,334	66.4
	Republican	John Otey	64,562	28.1
	Reform	R. Ward Edmonds	6,243	2.7
	Independent	Sarina Grosswald	5,239	2.3
	Independent	Charles Severance	740	0.3
	Write-ins		303	0.1
Total votes			229,421	100.00
	Democratic hold

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Moran (inc.)	97,545	66.7
	Republican	Demaris H. Miller	48,352	33.1
	Write-ins		390	0.3
Total votes			146,287	100.00
	Democratic hold

2000s

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 2000

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Moran (inc.)	164,178	63.3
	Republican	Demaris H. Miller	88,262	34.1
	Independent	Ronald V. Crickenberger	3,483	1.3
	Independent	Rick Herron	2,805	1.1
	Write-ins		471	0.2
Total votes			259,199	100.00
	Democratic hold

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Moran (inc.)	102,759	59.8
	Republican	Scott C. Tate	64,121	37.3
	Independent	Ronald V. Crickenberger	4,558	2.7
	Write-ins		361	0.2
Total votes			171,799	100.00
	Democratic hold

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 2004

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Moran (inc.)	171,986	59.7
	Republican	Lisa Marie Cheney	106,231	36.9
	Independent	Jim Hurysz	9,004	3.1
	Write-ins		698	0.2
Total votes			287,919	100.00
	Democratic hold

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 2006

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Moran (inc.)	144,700	66.4
	Republican	Tom M. O'Donoghue	66,639	30.6
	Independent	Jim Hurysz	6,094	2.8
	Write-ins		476	0.2
Total votes			217,909	100.00
	Democratic hold

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Moran (inc.)	222,986	67.9
	Republican	Mark W. Ellmore	97,425	29.7
	Independent Greens	J. Ron Fisher	6,829	2.1
	Other	Write-in candidates	957	0.3
Total votes			328,197	100
	Democratic hold

2010s

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Moran (inc.)	116,293	61.0
	Republican	Jay Patrick Murray	71,108	37.3
	Independent Greens	J. Ron Fisher	2,704	1.4
	Other	Write-in candidates	492	0.2
Total votes			233,368	100
Turnout			233,368 of 476,011	49.0
	Democratic hold

Virginia's 8th Congressional District election, 2012 [11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Moran (inc.)	226,847	64.6
	Republican	Jay Patrick Murray	107,370	30.6
	Independent	Jason Howell	10,180	2.9
	Independent Greens	Janet Murphy	5,985	1.7
	Write-in		805	0.2
Total votes			351,187	100
	Democratic hold

Virginia's 8th Congressional District election, 2014 [12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Don Beyer	128,102	63.1
	Republican	Micah Edmond	63,810	31.4
	Independent	Gwendolyn Beck	5,420	2.7
	Libertarian	Jeffrey Carson	4,409	2.2
	Independent Greens	Gerry Blais	963	0.5
	Write-in		372	0.2
Total votes			203,076	100
	Democratic hold

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Don Beyer (inc.)	246 653	68.4
	Republican	Charles A. Hernick	98,387	27.3
	Independent	Julio Gracia	14,664	4.0
	Write-ins		972	0.2
Total votes			360,676	100
	Democratic hold

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Don Beyer (inc.)	247,137	76.1
	Republican	Thomas Oh	76,899	23.7
	Write-ins		712	0.2
Turnout			324,748	54.6
Total votes			324,748	100
	Democratic hold

2020s

Virginia's 8th congressional district election, 2020

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Don Beyer (inc.)	301,454	76.0
	Republican	Jeff Jordan	95,365	24.0
Total votes			396,819	92
	Democratic hold

List of members representing the district

Representative	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history
Josiah Parker	Anti-Administration	March 4, 1789 – March 3, 1793	1st 2nd	Elected in 1789. Re-elected in 1790. Elected to Virginia 11th District
Thomas Claiborne	Anti-Administration	March 4, 1793 – March 3, 1795	3rd 4th 5th	Elected in 1793. Re-elected in 1795. Re-elected in 1797. Lost re-election.
	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1795 – March 3, 1799
Samuel Goode	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1799 – March 3, 1801	6th	Elected in 1799. [data unknown/missing]
Thomas Claiborne	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1801 – March 3, 1803	7th	Elected in 1801. Redistricted to the 17th district.
Walter Jones	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1803 – March 3, 1811	8th 9th 10th 11th	Elected in 1803. Re-elected in 1805. Re-elected in 1807. Re-elected in 1809. Retired.
John Hungerford	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1811 – November 29, 1811	12th	Elected in 1811. Lost election contest.
John Taliaferro	Democratic-Republican	November 29, 1811 – March 3, 1813	12th	Won election contest. Redistricted to the 9th district and lost re-election.
Joseph Lewis Jr.	Federalist	March 4, 1813 – March 3, 1817	13th 14th	Redistricted from the 7th district and re-elected in 1813. Re-elected in 1815. Retired.
Charles F. Mercer	Federalist	March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1823	15th 16th 17th	Elected in 1817. Re-elected in 1819. Re-elected in 1821. Redistricted to the 14th district.
Burwell Bassett	Democratic-Republican (Crawford)	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825	18th 19th 20th	Redistricted from the 13th district and re-elected in 1823. Re-elected in 1825. Re-elected in 1827. Lost re-election.
	Jackson	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1829
Richard Coke Jr.	Jackson	March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1833	21st 22nd	Elected in 1829. [data unknown/missing] Retired.
Henry A. Wise	Jackson	March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1837	23rd 24th 25th 26th 27th	[data unknown/missing]
	Whig	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1843		[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 7th district.
Willoughby Newton	Whig	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845	28th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Robert M. T. Hunter	Whig	March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1847	29th	Elected to U.S. Senate
Richard L. T. Beale	Democratic	March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1849	30th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
Alexander R. Holladay	Democratic	March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1853	31st 32nd	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
Charles J. Faulkner, Sr.	Democratic	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1859	33rd 34th 35th	Appointed Minister to France
Alexander R. Boteler	Opposition	March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1861	36th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
Inactive		March 4, 1861 – January 28, 1870	36th 37th 38th 39th 40th 41st	Civil War/Reconstruction
James K. Gibson	Conservative	January 28, 1870 – March 3, 1871	41st	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
William Terry	Democratic	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873	42nd	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Eppa Hunton	Democratic	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1881	43rd 44th 45th 46th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
John S. Barbour Jr.	Democratic	March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1887	47th 48th 49th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
William H. F. Lee	Democratic	March 4, 1887 – October 15, 1891	50th 51st 52nd	[data unknown/missing] Died.
Vacant		October 16, 1891 – December 8, 1891	52nd
Elisha E. Meredith	Democratic	December 9, 1891 – March 3, 1897	52nd 53rd 54th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
John F. Rixey	Democratic	March 4, 1897 – February 8, 1907	55th 56th 57th 58th 59th	[data unknown/missing] Died.
Vacant		February 9, 1907 – November 4, 1907	59th 60th
Charles C. Carlin	Democratic	November 5, 1907 – March 3, 1919	60th 61st 62nd 63rd 64th 65th	Elected to finish Rixley's term. Resigned.
Vacant		March 4, 1919 – April 26, 1919	66th
R. Walton Moore	Democratic	April 27, 1919 – March 3, 1931	66th 67th 68th 69th 70th 71st	Elected to finish Carlin's term. Re-elected in 1920. Re-elected in 1922. Re-elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928. Retired.
Howard W. Smith	Democratic	March 4, 1931 – March 3, 1933	72nd	Elected in 1930. Redistricted to the at-large seat.
District eliminated March 4, 1933
District recreated: January 3, 1935
Howard W. Smith	Democratic	January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1967	74th 75th 76th 77th 78th 79th 80th 81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th 88th 89th	Redistricted from the at-large seat. and re-elected in 1934. Lost re-election.
William L. Scott	Republican	January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1973	90th 91st 92nd	Elected to U.S. Senate
Stanford Parris	Republican	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1975	93rd	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Herbert E. Harris	Democratic	January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1981	94th 95th 96th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Stanford Parris	Republican	January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1991	97th 98th 99th 100th 101st	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Jim Moran	Democratic	January 3, 1991 – January 3, 2015	102nd 103rd 104th 105th 106th 107th 108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
Don Beyer	Democratic	January 3, 2015 – present	114th 115th 116th 117th	Elected in 2014.

Historical district boundaries

2003–2013

See also

• Virginia's congressional districts
• List of United States congressional districts

References

1. Geography, US Census Bureau. "Congressional Districts Relationship Files (state-based)". www.census.gov. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
2. Bureau, Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP), US Census. "My Congressional District". www.census.gov. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
3. https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=51&cd=08
4. "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
5. Bloomberg Government Study; ‘Defense Contract Spending: A State-by-State Analysis’
6. "Official Results/President". Commonwealth of Virginia/November 2nd – General Election. Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on December 28, 2012.
7. "President>President And Vice President>Votes By District". November 2008 Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
8. "President>President And Vice President>Votes By District". November 6, 2012 General Election Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on August 9, 2016.
9. "2016 November General President". Retrieved October 1, 2020.
10. http://fastfacts.census.gov/servlet/CWSFacts?_event=ChangeGeoContext&geo_id=50000US5108&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US51%7C50000US5107&_street=&_county=&_cd=50000US5108&_cityTown=&_state=04000US51&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=500&_content=&_keyword=&_industry= Retrieved 2007-09-20.
11. "November 6, 2012 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-11-07. Retrieved 2014-11-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Further reading

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present