1997 Virginia gubernatorial election

The 1997 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1997. The incumbent Governor, George Allen, was barred from seeking a second term due to Virginia's unique term limits law. The Republican candidate was Jim Gilmore, the Attorney General of Virginia. The Democratic nominee was Don Beyer, the incumbent Lieutenant Governor.

1997 Virginia gubernatorial election

November 4, 1997
Turnout	49.5% (voting eligible)[1]
Nominee Jim Gilmore Don Beyer Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 969,062 738,971 Percentage 55.8% 42.6%
County and independent city results Gilmore:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Beyer:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Governor before election George Allen Republican Elected Governor Jim Gilmore Republican

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Don Beyer (D)	Jim Gilmore (R)	Other	Undecided
Washington Post	October 19–21, 1997	1,005	± 3.0%	41%	48%	4%	11%
Washington Post	September 12–16, 1997	808	± 3.5%	44%	43%	4%	9%

Results

Virginia gubernatorial election, 1997[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jim Gilmore	969,062	55.81%	-2.46%
	Democratic	Don Beyer	738,971	42.56%	+1.67%
	Reform	Sue Harris DeBauche	25,955	1.49%
	Write-ins		2,326	0.13%
Majority			230,091	13.25%	-4.13%
Turnout			1,736,314
	Republican hold		Swing

County	Gilmore	Votes	Beyer	Votes	DeBauche	Votes	Others	Votes
Accomack	62.3%	4,529	34.5%	2,511	3.2%	234	0.0%	0
Albemarle	54.4%	13,287	44.2%	10,784	1.3%	319	0.1%	26
Alexandria	37.6%	11,115	61.4%	18,144	0.8%	251	0.1%	31
Alleghany	56.8%	2,337	41.5%	1,708	1.7%	72	0.0%	0
Amelia	62.3%	1,947	35.3%	1,101	2.4%	75	0.0%	0
Amherst	56.4%	4,571	42.0%	3,400	1.6%	131	0.0%	0
Appomattox	55.0%	2,177	43.1%	1,707	1.9%	76	0.0%	0
Arlington	36.8%	18,252	62.0%	30,736	1.1%	568	0.0%	24
Augusta	71.8%	11,789	26.9%	4,416	1.3%	214	0.0%	0
Bath	54.6%	807	42.8%	632	2.6%	38	0.1%	1
Bedford County	66.2%	10,989	31.9%	5,300	1.8%	304	0.0%	0
Bedford	50.2%	833	47.2%	784	2.6%	44	0.0%	0
Bland	66.3%	1,180	31.7%	564	2.0%	35	0.0%	0
Botetourt	66.0%	6,378	32.5%	3,136	1.5%	148	0.0%	0
Bristol	58.8%	2,172	40.6%	1,499	0.6%	21	0.1%	3
Brunswick	45.5%	1,946	51.9%	2,220	2.6%	113	0.0%	0
Buchanan	47.5%	2,941	50.4%	3,120	2.1%	129	0.0%	1
Buckingham	52.4%	1,799	45.1%	1,548	2.6%	89	0.0%	0
Buena Vista	57.0%	846	42.0%	623	1.0%	15	0.0%	0
Campbell	65.0%	9,230	33.4%	4,744	1.5%	216	0.0%	2
Caroline	47.7%	2,600	50.1%	2,731	2.1%	115	0.0%	0
Carroll	66.4%	4,549	31.2%	2,136	2.4%	164	0.0%	1
Charles City	35.5%	743	62.6%	1,311	1.9%	40	0.0%	0
Charlotte	61.4%	2,184	36.1%	1,285	2.5%	88	0.0%	0
Charlottesville	37.7%	3,354	60.2%	5,352	1.6%	142	0.5%	44
Chesapeake	57.0%	25,636	41.2%	18,509	1.3%	571	0.5%	221
Chesterfield	67.2%	46,779	31.1%	21,621	1.1%	779	0.6%	394
Clarke	56.3%	1,800	42.1%	1,347	1.6%	50	0.0%	0
Clifton Forge	43.5%	589	54.9%	744	1.6%	21	0.0%	0
Colonial Heights	75.1%	4,622	23.5%	1,446	1.3%	83	0.1%	7
Covington	47.0%	857	51.3%	935	1.6%	30	0.1%	1
Craig	59.8%	1,180	37.3%	736	2.8%	56	0.0%	0
Culpeper	64.5%	5,095	34.3%	2,708	1.2%	97	0.0%	1
Cumberland	62.1%	1,549	35.9%	896	2.0%	50	0.0%	0
Danville	59.1%	7,165	39.8%	4,828	1.1%	134	0.0%	0
Dickenson	48.5%	2,326	49.6%	2,379	2.0%	94	0.0%	0
Dinwiddie	58.6%	3,554	38.3%	2,321	3.1%	190	0.0%	0
Emporia	57.5%	855	38.5%	573	4.0%	60	0.0%	0
Essex	56.8%	1,499	40.9%	1,079	2.3%	62	0.0%	0
Fairfax County	52.5%	129,038	46.7%	114,697	0.8%	1,922	0.0%	121
Fairfax	52.5%	3,451	46.4%	3,047	1.0%	66	0.1%	4
Falls Church	34.2%	1,396	65.1%	2,655	0.6%	26	0.0%	2
Fauquier	65.2%	9,293	33.6%	4,792	1.1%	160	0.1%	14
Floyd	61.0%	2,288	36.0%	1,350	3.0%	111	0.0%	0
Fluvanna	64.0%	3,337	34.3%	1,790	1.6%	84	0.0%	1
Franklin County	58.5%	7,134	39.0%	4,760	2.5%	299	0.0%	0
Franklin	47.3%	1,134	50.3%	1,207	2.5%	59	0.0%	0
Frederick	68.8%	9,672	30.2%	4,246	1.0%	146	0.0%	0
Fredericksburg	44.1%	1,952	54.0%	2,394	1.5%	66	0.4%	19
Galax	58.4%	853	40.2%	588	1.4%	20	0.0%	0
Giles	55.9%	2,582	42.3%	1,951	1.8%	83	0.0%	1
Gloucester	62.3%	5,513	34.8%	3,074	2.9%	255	0.0%	1
Goochland	60.8%	3,929	37.1%	2,395	2.1%	136	0.0%	0
Grayson	60.6%	2,803	36.7%	1,696	2.7%	125	0.0%	0
Greene	68.9%	2,233	28.7%	930	2.3%	75	0.1%	2
Greensville	44.0%	1,201	54.4%	1,483	1.6%	43	0.0%	0
Halifax	62.0%	5,756	35.8%	3,328	2.2%	206	0.0%	0
Hampton	47.1%	15,432	51.5%	16,850	1.3%	435	0.1%	28
Hanover	70.5%	19,187	28.2%	7,679	1.3%	354	0.0%	7
Harrisonburg	60.3%	3,793	38.6%	2,429	1.0%	66	0.0%	1
Henrico	59.2%	46,367	39.1%	30,661	1.2%	912	0.5%	424
Henry	54.4%	8,014	42.3%	6,233	3.2%	477	0.0%	0
Highland	64.9%	630	33.4%	324	1.6%	16	0.0%	0
Hopewell	63.0%	3,100	35.0%	1,723	2.0%	97	0.0%	1
Isle of Wight	56.9%	4,647	41.8%	3,411	1.2%	100	0.1%	9
James City	58.3%	8,984	40.4%	6,218	1.2%	180	0.1%	16
King and Queen	49.8%	1,032	47.7%	988	2.5%	51	0.0%	0
King George	56.9%	2,063	41.4%	1,502	1.5%	55	0.1%	5
King William	60.4%	2,277	38.0%	1,430	1.6%	59	0.1%	2
Lancaster	62.0%	2,523	36.0%	1,464	1.8%	74	0.1%	6
Lee	60.1%	4,460	36.1%	2,676	3.8%	282	0.0%	0
Lexington	46.0%	703	52.8%	808	1.1%	17	0.1%	1
Loudoun	59.7%	20,997	39.0%	13,697	1.2%	407	0.1%	44
Louisa	56.0%	3,832	41.0%	2,806	2.9%	200	0.0%	0
Lunenburg	58.8%	2,230	39.6%	1,502	1.5%	58	0.0%	0
Lynchburg	55.5%	9,724	43.6%	7,634	0.8%	144	0.1%	15
Madison	63.1%	2,386	34.7%	1,312	2.2%	84	0.0%	0
Manassas	61.3%	4,277	37.4%	2,611	1.2%	87	0.0%	1
Manassas Park	70.1%	754	28.1%	302	1.8%	19	0.0%	0
Martinsville	46.7%	2,206	50.4%	2,377	2.8%	133	0.1%	3
Mathews	61.9%	2,184	35.0%	1,236	3.1%	110	0.0%	1
Mecklenburg	61.7%	4,226	35.1%	2,408	3.2%	217	0.0%	0
Middlesex	59.9%	2,279	36.8%	1,401	3.2%	122	0.0%	0
Montgomery	53.5%	9,445	44.7%	7,882	1.7%	308	0.0%	3
Nelson	47.5%	2,014	49.9%	2,113	2.6%	110	0.0%	1
New Kent	62.7%	2,856	35.1%	1,599	1.7%	78	0.5%	21
Newport News	52.7%	20,033	45.4%	17,237	1.9%	732	0.0%	4
Norfolk	40.1%	17,101	57.9%	24,679	1.7%	736	0.3%	126
Northampton	48.9%	1,755	48.7%	1,747	2.3%	84	0.1%	4
Northumberland	63.1%	2,409	35.0%	1,337	1.6%	62	0.2%	7
Norton	44.3%	647	53.2%	777	2.5%	36	0.0%	0
Nottoway	54.8%	2,201	43.7%	1,754	1.5%	60	0.0%	0
Orange	61.8%	4,124	36.6%	2,443	1.7%	111	0.0%	0
Page	62.3%	3,220	36.6%	1,890	0.7%	38	0.4%	19
Patrick	60.2%	2,726	37.1%	1,679	2.7%	123	0.0%	0
Petersburg	30.3%	2,460	67.4%	5,475	2.4%	192	0.0%	1
Pittsylvania	67.8%	10,445	30.6%	4,720	1.6%	243	0.0%	2
Poquoson	70.5%	2,592	28.6%	1,053	0.8%	31	0.1%	3
Portsmouth	41.5%	10,641	57.0%	14,613	1.4%	363	0.1%	32
Powhatan	71.4%	4,186	26.7%	1,567	1.9%	109	0.0%	0
Prince Edward	52.1%	2,476	46.0%	2,186	1.8%	86	0.0%	0
Prince George	65.1%	4,461	33.6%	2,305	1.2%	79	0.1%	7
Prince William	63.1%	32,049	35.6%	18,110	1.3%	651	0.0%	10
Pulaski	58.4%	5,162	39.8%	3,522	1.8%	159	0.0%	3
Radford	49.0%	1,466	49.2%	1,471	1.7%	52	0.1%	2
Rappahannock	56.2%	1,301	42.4%	982	1.3%	30	0.1%	2
Richmond County	63.3%	1,211	34.0%	651	2.6%	50	0.0%	0
Richmond	35.7%	17,544	62.3%	30,643	2.0%	967	0.0%	17
Roanoke County	62.5%	18,384	36.0%	10,576	1.5%	439	0.0%	4
Roanoke	48.3%	11,628	49.2%	11,857	2.5%	598	0.0%	5
Rockbridge	62.4%	3,339	36.2%	1,937	1.5%	78	0.0%	1
Rockingham	73.1%	12,074	25.6%	4,224	1.3%	214	0.0%	3
Russell	49.1%	3,675	49.2%	3,687	1.7%	125	0.0%	0
Salem	59.1%	4,445	39.0%	2,934	1.8%	139	0.0%	0
Scott	64.7%	4,050	33.3%	2,087	2.0%	125	0.0%	0
Shenandoah	71.2%	7,069	27.4%	2,718	1.2%	122	0.1%	14
Smyth	59.3%	5,366	38.8%	3,510	1.9%	175	0.0%	0
Southampton	51.0%	2,345	45.8%	2,105	3.3%	151	0.0%	0
Spotsylvania	60.1%	10,747	38.4%	6,872	1.5%	276	0.0%	1
Stafford	60.2%	11,416	38.1%	7,224	1.6%	295	0.1%	18
Staunton	60.3%	3,707	38.3%	2,352	1.4%	85	0.0%	0
Suffolk	53.8%	8,398	44.6%	6,959	1.6%	257	0.0%	3
Surry	42.5%	944	55.3%	1,229	2.2%	50	0.0%	0
Sussex	46.3%	1,371	51.1%	1,512	2.6%	77	0.0%	0
Tazewell	55.4%	5,515	42.6%	4,235	2.0%	194	0.0%	3
Virginia Beach	59.1%	51,945	38.7%	34,036	1.7%	1,511	0.5%	475
Warren	60.5%	4,139	38.4%	2,628	1.0%	70	0.1%	4
Washington	60.3%	7,528	38.1%	4,761	1.6%	198	0.1%	7
Waynesboro	63.6%	3,188	35.1%	1,758	1.3%	67	0.0%	2
Westmoreland	53.4%	2,148	44.8%	1,801	1.8%	74	0.0%	0
Williamsburg	44.7%	1,206	53.8%	1,451	1.4%	39	0.0%	0
Winchester	58.7%	3,114	40.2%	2,131	1.1%	59	0.0%	0
Wise	52.2%	4,834	46.3%	4,292	1.5%	142	0.0%	0
Wythe	62.1%	4,401	35.5%	2,512	2.1%	149	0.3%	22
York	62.9%	9,628	35.7%	5,469	1.3%	200	0.1%	14

References

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. "Virginia Elections Database - 1997 Governor General Election". Virginia Department of Elections. Retrieved October 31, 2019.