Virginia has exercised a unique role in US politics as the birthplace not only of representative government but also of one of America's two major parties. The modern Democratic Party traces its origins to the original Republican Party (usually referred to as the Democratic-Republican Party, or the Jeffersonian Democrats), led by two native sons of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Virginians have also been remarkably influential in the political life of other states: a survey published in 1949 showed that 319 Virginia natives had represented 31 other states in the US Senate and House of Representatives.
From the end of Reconstruction through the 1960s, conservative Democrats dominated state politics, with few exceptions. Harry F. Byrd was the state's Democratic political leader for 40 years, first as a reform governor (1926–30) and then as a conservative senator (1933–95). During the 1970s, Virginians, still staunchly conservative, turned increasingly to the Republican Party, whose presidential nominees carried the state in every election from 1952 through 1984, except for 1964. Linwood Holton, the first Republican governor since Reconstruction, was elected in 1969. His Republican successor, Mills E. Godwin, Jr., the first governor since the Civil War to serve more than one term, had earlier won election as a Democrat. The election in 1977 of another Republican, John N. Dalton, finally proved that Virginia had become a two-party state. In 1981, however, the governorship was won by Democrat Charles S. Robb, who appointed a record number of blacks and women to state offices. Robb, prohibited by law from seeking a consecutive second term, was succeeded by Democrat Gerald L. Baliles in 1985 when Virginians also elected L. Douglas Wilder as lieutenant governor and Mary Sue Terry as attorney general. Wilder became the highest-ranking black state official in the US, and Terry was the first woman to win a statewide office in Virginia. Wilder was elected governor in 1989, followed by Republican George Allen in 1993. Another Republican, James S. Gilmore III, was elected to the office in the 1997 election. Democrat Mark Warner was elected governor in 2001.
Former governor Robb won election to the US Senate in 1988 and reelection in 1994 when he was opposed by Republican Oliver North, a former Marine and Reagan White House aide who gained fame for his role in the Iran-contra affair. Republican George F. Allen won the seat in 2000. Senior Senator John Warner, a Republican, was elected to a fifth term in 2002.
After the 2002 elections, Virginia's delegation to the US House of Representatives consisted of three Democrats and eight Republicans. As of mid-2003, control of the state senate and house was in the hands of the Republicans. Republicans controlled the state house, 65–33, with 2 independents; the state senate was split 23–17, Republicans to Democrats.
In 2000, Republican George W. Bush won 52% of the presidential vote; Democrat Al Gore received 45%; and Green Party candidate garnered 2%. In 2002 there were 4,217,810 registered voters; there is no party registration in the state. The state had 13 electoral votes in the 2000 presidential election.