Virginia's 6th congressional district

Virginia's sixth congressional district is a United States congressional district in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It covers much of the west-central portion of the state, including Roanoke, Lynchburg and most of the Shenandoah Valley. The current representative is Ben Cline (R), who has held the seat since the 2019 retirement of incumbent Republican Bob Goodlatte.

Virginia's 6th congressional district
Virginia’s 6th congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Representative	Ben Cline R–Fincastle
Distribution	64.34% urban[1] 35.66% rural
Population (2019)	755,012[2]
Median household income	$59,939
Ethnicity	83.25% White 11.44% Black 5.19% Hispanic 1.63% Asian 0.16% Native American
Cook PVI	R+13[3]

The district was an open seat in 2018. In November 2017, Goodlatte announced that he would retire from Congress at the end of his current term, and would not seek re-election.[4]

Historically, the 6th district was one of the first areas of Virginia to turn Republican. Many of the old Byrd Democrats in the area began splitting their tickets and voting Republican at the national level as early as the 1930s. It was also one of the first areas of Virginia where Republicans were able to break the long Democratic dominance at the state and local level. The district itself was in Republican hands from 1953 to 1983. Democrat Jim Olin then won the seat in 1982, and held it for a decade before Goodlatte won it.

Some counties in the district have not supported a Democrat for president since Franklin D. Roosevelt. For instance, Highland and Shenandoah counties last voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 1932, and Augusta and Roanoke counties have not supported a Democrat since 1944.[5] The district as a whole has not supported a Democrat for president since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

Area covered

It covers all or part of the following political subdivisions:

Counties

The entirety of:

• Amherst County
• Augusta County
• Bath County
• Botetourt County
• Highland County
• Page County
• Rockbridge County
• Rockingham County
• Shenandoah County
• Warren County

Portions of:

• Bedford County
• Roanoke County

Cities

• Buena Vista
• Harrisonburg
• Lexington
• Lynchburg
• Roanoke
• Staunton
• Waynesboro

Recent election results

2000s

2000 Virginia's 6th congressional district election[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Goodlatte	153,338	99.3
	Write-ins		1,145	0.7
Total votes			154,483	100.00

2002 Virginia's 6th congressional district election[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Goodlatte	105,530	97.1
	Write-ins		3,202	2.9
Total votes			108,732	100.00

2004 Virginia's 6th congressional district election[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Goodlatte	206,560	96.7
	Write-ins		7,008	3.3
Total votes			213,648	100.00

2006 Virginia's 6th congressional district election[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Randy Forbes	153,187	75.1
	Independent	Barbara Jean Pryor	25,129	12.3
	Independent	Andre Peery	24,731	12.1
	Write-ins		948	0.5
Total votes			203,995	100.00

2008 Virginia's 6th congressional district election[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Goodlatte	192,350	61.6
	Democratic	Sam Rasoul	114,367	36.6
	Write-ins		262	0.1
Total votes			312,392	100.00

2010s

2010 Virginia's 6th congressional district election[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Goodlatte	127,487	76.3
	Independent	Jeffrey Vanke	21,649	13.0
	Libertarian	Stuart Bain	15,309	9.2
	Write-ins		2,709	1.6
Total votes			167,154	100.00

2012 Virginia's 6th congressional district election[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Goodlatte	211,278	65.2
	Democratic	Andy Schmookler	111,949	34.6
	Write-ins		666	0.2
Total votes			323,893	100.00

2014 Virginia's 6th congressional district election[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Goodlatte	133,898	74.3
	Libertarian	Will Hammer	22,161	12.3
	Green	Bo Brown	21,447	11.9
	Write-ins		2,202	1.2
Total votes			179,708	100.00

2016 Virginia's 6th congressional district election[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Goodlatte	225,471	66.6
	Democratic	Kai Degner	112,170	33.1
	Write-ins		768	0.2
Total votes			338,409	100.00

2018 Virginia's 6th congressional district election[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Benjamin Lee Cline	167,957	59.7
	Democratic	Jennifer Lewis	113,133	40.2
	Write-ins		287	0.1
Total votes			281,377	100.00

2020s

2020 Virginia's 6th congressional district election[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ben Cline	246,606	64.7
	Democratic	Nicholas Betts	134,729	35.4
Total votes			381,335	100.00

Recent results in statewide elections

Year	Office	Results
1996	President	Dole 50%–40%
	Senator	Warner 54%–46%
1997	Governor	Gilmore 60%–38%
	Lieutenant Governor	Hager 53%–43%
	Attorney General	Earley 62%–38%
2000	President	Bush 60%–37%
	Senator	Allen 58%–42%
2001	Governor	Earley 51%–49%
	Lieutenant Governor	Katzen 54%–45%
	Attorney General	Kilgore 67%–33%
2004	President	Bush 63%–36%[17]
2008	President	McCain 57%–42%[18]
2012	President	Romney 59%–39%[19]
2013	Governor	Cuccinelli 57%–35%–7%[20]
	Lieutenant Governor	Jackson 58%–42%[21]
	Attorney General	Obenshain 64%–35%[22]
2014	Senator	Gillespie 60%–37%[23]
2016	President	Trump 59%–35%[24]
2018	Senator	Stewart 57%–41%[25]
2020	President	Trump 60%–39%

List of members representing the district

Representative	Party	Term	Cong ress	Electoral history
Isaac Coles	Anti-Administration	March 4, 1789 – March 3, 1791	1st	Elected in 1789. Re-elected in 1790. Retired.
Abraham B. Venable	Anti-Administration	March 4, 1791 – March 3, 1793	2nd	Elected in 1790. Redistricted to the 7th district.
Isaac Coles	Anti-Administration	March 4, 1793 – March 3, 1795	3rd 4th	Elected in 1793. Re-elected in 1795. Retired.
	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1795 – March 3, 1797
Matthew Clay	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1797 – March 3, 1803	5th 6th 7th	Elected in 1797. Re-elected in 1799. Re-elected in 1801. Redistricted to the 14th district.
Abram Trigg	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1803 – March 3, 1809	8th 9th 10th	Redistricted from the 4th district and re-elected in 1803. Re-elected in 1805. Re-elected in 1807. Retired.
Daniel Sheffey	Federalist	March 4, 1809 – March 3, 1817	11th 12th 13th 14th	Elected in 1809. Re-elected in 1811. Re-elected in 1813. Re-elected in 1815. Retired.
Alexander Smyth	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1823	15th 16th 17th	Elected in 1817. Redistricted to the 22nd district.
George Tucker	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825	18th	Redistricted from the 15th district and re-elected in 1823. Lost re-election.
Thomas Davenport	Jackson	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1833	19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd	Elected in 1825. Re-elected in 1827. Re-elected in 1829. [data unknown/missing]
	Anti-Jackson	March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1835		[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Walter Coles	Jackson	March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837	24th 25th 26th 27th	[data unknown/missing]
	Democratic	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1843		[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 3rd district.
John W. Jones	Democratic	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845	28th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
James A. Seddon	Democratic	March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1847	29th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
John M. Botts	Whig	March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1849	30th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
James A. Seddon	Democratic	March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1851	31st	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
John S. Caskie	Democratic	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853	32nd	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 3rd district.
Paulus Powell	Democratic	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1859	33rd 34th 35th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Shelton F. Leake	Independent Democratic	March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1861	36th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
Inactive		March 4, 1861 – January 26, 1870	37th 38th 39th 40th 41st	Civil War/Reconstruction
William Milnes Jr.	Conservative	January 27, 1870 – March 3, 1871	41st	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
John T. Harris	Democratic	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873	42nd	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 7th district.
Thomas Whitehead	Democratic	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	43rd	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
John R. Tucker	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1885	44th 45th 46th 47th 48th	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 10th district.
John W. Daniel	Democratic	March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1887	49th	[data unknown/missing] Elected to the U.S. Senate
Samuel I. Hopkins	Labor Party	March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1889	50th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
Paul C. Edmunds	Democratic	March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1895	51st 52nd 53rd	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
Peter J. Otey	Democratic	March 4, 1895 – May 4, 1902	54th 55th 56th 57th	[data unknown/missing] Died.
Vacant		May 5, 1902 – November 3, 1902	57th
E. Carter Glass	Democratic	November 4, 1902 – December 16, 1918	57th 58th 59th 60th 61st 62nd 63rd 64th 65th	Elected to finish Otey's term. Elected the same day to the next term. Re-elected in 1904. Re-elected in 1906. Re-elected in 1908. Re-elected in 1910. Re-elected in 1912. Re-elected in 1914. Re-elected in 1916. Re-elected in 1918. Resigned to become U.S. Secretary of Treasury.
Vacant		December 17, 1918 – February 24, 1919	65th
James P. Woods	Democratic	February 25, 1919 – March 3, 1923	65th 66th 67th	Elected to finish Glass's term. Elected the same day to the next term. Lost re-election.
Clifton A. Woodrum	Democratic	March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1933	68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the at-large seat.
District eliminated March 4, 1933
District recreated January 3, 1935
Clifton A. Woodrum	Democratic	January 3, 1935 – December 31, 1945	74th 75th 76th 77th 78th 79th	[data unknown/missing] Resigned.
Vacant		December 31, 1945 – January 22, 1946	79th
J. Lindsay Almond Jr.	Democratic	January 22, 1946 – April 17, 1948	79th 80th	Elected January 22, 1946 to finish Woodrum's term. Elected Attorney General of Virginia.
Vacant		April 17, 1948 – November 2, 1948	80th
Clarence G. Burton	Democratic	November 2, 1948 – January 3, 1953	80th 81st 82nd	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Richard H. Poff	Republican	January 3, 1953 – August 29, 1972	83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd	[data unknown/missing] Resigned when appointed Virginia Supreme Court justice.
Vacant		August 29, 1972 – November 7, 1972	92nd
M. Caldwell Butler	Republican	November 7, 1972 – January 3, 1983	92nd 93rd 94th 95th 96th 97th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
Jim Olin	Democratic	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1993	98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
Bob Goodlatte	Republican	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2019	103rd 104th 105th 106th 107th 108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
Ben Cline	Republican	January 3, 2019 – Present	116th 117th	Elected in 2018.

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. "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
4. Forman, Carmen (November 9, 2017). "After nearly a quarter century in D.C., Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Roanoke County will not seek re-election". The Roanoke Times. Roanoke, VA. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
5. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004; pp. 326-330 ISBN 0786422173
6. https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia%27s_6th_Congressional_District
7. https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia%27s_6th_Congressional_District
8. https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia%27s_6th_Congressional_District
9. https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia%27s_6th_Congressional_District
10. https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia%27s_6th_Congressional_District
11. https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia%27s_6th_Congressional_District
12. https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia%27s_6th_Congressional_District
13. https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia%27s_6th_Congressional_District
14. https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia%27s_6th_Congressional_District
15. https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia%27s_6th_Congressional_District
16. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/results-virginia-house-district-6.html
17. "Official Results/President". Commonwealth of Virginia/November 2nd – General Election. Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on December 28, 2012.
18. "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.
19. "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.
20. "Governor>Votes by District". November 2013 General Election Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
21. "Lieutenant Governor>Votes by District". November 2013 General Election Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
22. "Attorney General>Votes by District". November 2013 General Election Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
23. "Turnout by Congressional District". The Virginia Public Access Project. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
24. "2016 November General President". Retrieved October 1, 2020.
25. "2018 U.S. Senate Results by Congressional District". The Virginia Public Access Project. Retrieved 2018-06-16.

• 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