2021 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election

The 2021 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2021, to elect the next lieutenant governor of Virginia. Incumbent Democratic Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax was eligible to run for a second term, but instead unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.^[1] On November 3, Hala Ayala conceded the race,^[2] making Republican Winsome Earle-Sears the first black woman to be elected to the lieutenant governorship of Virginia or any statewide office, as well as the first woman elected lieutenant governor in Virginia's history. Earle-Sears was also the first Jamaican-American to become a lieutenant governor.

2021 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election

← 2017 November 2, 2021 2025 →

Nominee Winsome Earle-Sears Hala Ayala Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,658,332 1,608,030 Percentage 50.71% 49.17%

County and independent city results Congressional district results Precinct results Earle-Sears:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Ayala:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      40–50%      50%      No data

Lieutenant Governor before election Justin Fairfax Democratic Elected Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears Republican

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Hala Ayala, member of the Virginia House of Delegates^[3][4]

Eliminated in primary

• Mark Levine, member of the Virginia House of Delegates and former candidate for Virginia's 8th congressional district in 2014^[5]
• Andria McClellan, Norfolk city councilwoman^[6]
• Sean Perryman, president of the Fairfax County, Virginia NAACP^[7]
• Sam Rasoul, member of the Virginia House of Delegates and nominee for Virginia's 6th congressional district in 2008^[8]
• Xavier Warren, sports agent^[3][9]

Withdrawn

• Paul Goldman, former chair of the Virginia Democratic Party^[10]
• Elizabeth Guzmán, member of the Virginia House of Delegates^[11] (ran for re-election)
• Kellen Squire, nurse^[12]

Declined

• Justin Fairfax, incumbent lieutenant governor (ran for governor)^[13]

Endorsements

Hala Ayala

Governor

• Ralph Northam, incumbent Governor of Virginia^[14]

State delegates

• Joshua G. Cole (D-28), withdrawn, subsequently endorsed Rasoul^[15][16]
• Eileen Filler-Corn (D-41), Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates^[14]
• Charniele Herring (D-46), Majority Leader of the Virginia House of Delegates and former Chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia^[14]
• Clint Jenkins (D-76)^[15]
• Danica Roem (D-13)^[15]

Organizations

• EMILY's List^[17]
• Moms Demand Action (co-endorsed with McClellan, Perryman, Rasoul, and Warren)^[18]

Mark Levine

Organizations

• LGBTQ Victory Fund^[19]

Newspapers

• Falls Church News-Press^[20]

Andria McClellan

Federal officials

• Elaine Luria, U.S. Representative (VA-02)^[21]

State senators

• Lynwood Lewis (D-6)^[22]
• Dave W. Marsden (D-37)^[23]

Individuals

• Karen Jackson, former Virginia Secretary of Technology^[24]
• Glenn Nye, former U.S. Representative (VA-02)^[25]

Organizations

• Moms Demand Action (co-endorsed with Ayala, Perryman, Rasoul, and Warren)^[18]

Sean Perryman

State delegates

• Kaye Kory (D-38)^[26]

Local officials

• Walter Alcorn, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors^[27]
• Steve Descano, Fairfax County, Virginia Commonwealth's Attorney^[28]
• John Foust, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors^[28]
• Rodney Lusk, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors^[27]
• Jeff McKay, Chair, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors^[27]
• Dalia Palchik, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors^[27]
• Phyllis Randall, Chair, Loudoun County Board of Supervisors^[29]
• Kathy Smith, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors^[27]
• James Walkinshaw, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors^[27]

Individuals

• Sharon Bulova, former chair, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors^[27]

Organizations

• Moms Demand Action (co-endorsed with Ayala, McClellan, Rasoul, and Warren)^[18]
• Our Black Party^[30]

Sam Rasoul

Federal officials

• Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts^[31]

State delegates

• Lashrecse Aird (D-63)^[32]
• Joshua G. Cole (D-28)^[16]
• Dan Helmer (D-40)^[33]
• Sally L. Hudson (D-57)^[33]
• Marcia Price (D-95)^[32]
• Ibraheem Samirah (D-86)^[32]
• Suhas Subramanyam (D-87)^[32]
• Kathy Tran (D-42)^[34]

State senators

• John Bell (D-13)^[32][35]
• Ghazala Hashmi (D-10)^[32]

Individuals

• Rick Boucher, former U.S. Representative (VA-9)^[32]
• Mary Sue Terry, former Attorney General of Virginia^[36]

Organizations

• CASA in Action^[37]
• Democracy For America^[32]
• Moms Demand Action (co-endorsed with Ayala, McClellan, Perryman, and Warren)^[18]
• Our Revolution^[32]
• Sunrise Movement^[38][39]

Newspapers

• The Washington Post^[40]

Xavier Warren

Organizations

• Moms Demand Action (co-endorsed with Ayala, McClellan, Perryman, and Rasoul)^[18]

Elizabeth Guzman (withdrawn)

State delegates

• Paul Krizek (D-44)^[41]
• Alfonso Lopez (D-49),^[41] subsequently endorsed Hala Ayala
• Ibraheem Samirah (D-86),^[41] subsequently endorsed Sam Rasoul^[32]

Organizations

• CASA in Action,^[42] subsequently endorsed Sam Rasoul^[37]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Hala Ayala	Elizabeth Guzman	Mark Levine	Andria McClellan	Sean Perryman	Sam Rasoul	Xavier Warren	Other	Undecided
Roanoke College[43]	May 24 – June 1, 2021	637 (LV)	± 3.9%	16%	3%	7%	7%	3%	11%	2%	–	45%
Christopher Newport University[44]	April 11–20, 2021	806 (LV)	± 3.9%	2%	4%	2%	2%	1%	12%	2%	1%	64%

Results

Results by county and independent city:

  Ayala

•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%

  Rasoul

•   20–30%
•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

  Levine

•   30–40%

  Warren

•   30–40%
•   40–50%

Democratic primary results^[45]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Hala Ayala	181,168	37.64%
	Democratic	Sam Rasoul	116,816	24.27%
	Democratic	Mark Levine	53,735	11.16%
	Democratic	Andria McClellan	51,015	10.60%
	Democratic	Sean Perryman	38,925	8.09%
	Democratic	Xavier Warren	19,909	4.13%
	Democratic	Elizabeth Guzmán (withdrawn)	19,803	4.11%
Total votes			481,365	100.00%

Republican convention

After months of uncertainty, the Republican Party of Virginia State Central Committee decided to hold an "unassembled convention" to select their nominees for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, as opposed to holding a state run primary. The convention was held May 8 using ranked choice voting.^[46]

Candidates

Nominated at convention

• Winsome Earle-Sears, former member of the Virginia House of Delegates (2002–2004), nominee for Virginia's 3rd congressional district in 2004 and write-in candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2018^[47]

Defeated at convention

• Puneet Ahluwalia, business consultant^[48]
• Lance Allen, security company executive^[3]
• Glenn Davis, member of the Virginia House of Delegates and candidate for lieutenant governor in 2017^[3]
• Tim Hugo, former member of the Virginia House of Delegates (2003–2020)^[3]
• Maeve Rigler, business executive^[49]

Endorsements

Tim Hugo

State delegates

• Rob Bell (R-58)^[50]

Results

Round-by-round result visualization of the ranked choice voting election

Virginia GOP Convention, Lieutenant Governor nominee[51]
Candidate	Round 1		Round 2		Round 3		Round 4		Round 5
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Winsome Earle-Sears	4,075.68	32.5%	4,300.11	34.3%	4,626.70	36.9%	5,425.91	43.2%	6,827.89	54.4%
Tim Hugo	2,824.17	22.5%	2,987.20	23.8%	3,184.76	25.4%	3,816.11	30.4%	5,726.11	45.6%
Glenn Davis	2,536.77	20.2%	2,675.44	21.3%	2,838.05	22.6%	3,311.97	26.4%	Eliminated
Lance Allen	1,538.80	12.3%	1701.82	13.6%	1,904.50	15.2%	Eliminated
Puneet Ahluwalia	818.95	6.5%	889.43	7.1%	Eliminated
Maeve Rigler	759.62	6.1%	Eliminated

General election

Endorsements

Hala Ayala (D)

Federal officials

• Joe Biden, President of the United States (2021–2025)^[52]
• Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States (2021–2025)^[53]
• Barack Obama, former President of the United States (2009–2017)^[54]

State officials

• Ralph Northam, Governor of Virginia (2018–2022)^[14]

U.S. Senators

• Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Senator from Minnesota (2007–present)^[55]
• Mark Warner, U.S. Senator from Virginia (2009–present)^[56]

U.S. Representatives

• Don Beyer, U.S. Representative for Virginia's 8th congressional district (2015–present) and 36th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia (1990–1998)^[55]
• Elaine Luria, U.S. Representative for Virginia's 2nd congressional district (2019–2023)^[56]
• Lauren Underwood, U.S. Representative for Illinois's 14th congressional district (2019–present)^[56]

State legislators

• Joshua G. Cole, state delegate from the 28th district (2020–2022)^[15][16]
• Eileen Filler-Corn, state delegate from the 41st district (2010–present) and Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates (2020–present)^[14]
• Charniele Herring, state delegate from the 46th district (2009–present), Majority Leader of the Virginia House of Delegates (2020–2022), and former Chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia (2012–2014)^[14]
• Clint Jenkins, state delegate from the 76th district (2020–present)^[15]
• Danica Roem, state delegate from the 13th district (2018–present)^[15]

Individuals

• Blake Cooper Griffin, actor^[57]
• Jaime Harrison, Chair of the Democratic National Committee (2021–present)^[58]

Organizations

• Democracy for America^[59]
• EMILY's List^[17]
• Human Rights Campaign^[60]
• Moms Demand Action^[18]
• Working Families Party^[61]

Winsome Earle-Sears (R)

Federal officials

• Ben Carson, United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (2017–2021)^[62]
• Ken Cuccinelli, Principal Deputy Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (2019–2021), Attorney General of Virginia (2010–2014), and nominee for Governor of Virginia in 2013^[63]

State officials

• Mark Earley, former Attorney General of Virginia (1998–2001) and former state senator from the 14th district (1988–1997)^[64]

U.S. Senators

• Tim Scott, U.S. Senator from South Carolina (2013–present)^[65]

U.S. Representatives

• Ben Cline, U.S. Representative for Virginia's 6th congressional district (2019–present)^[66]
• Dan Crenshaw, U.S. Representative for Texas's 2nd congressional district (2019–present)^[67]
• Bob Good, U.S. Representative for Virginia's 5th congressional district (2021–2025) ^[68]

State legislators

• Amanda Chase, state senator from the 11th district (2016–present)^[69]
• Dave LaRock, state delegate from the 33rd district (2014–present)^[64]
• Tommy Norment, state senator from the 3rd district (1992–present) and Minority Leader of the Virginia Senate (2020–present)^[70]

Individuals

• E. W. Jackson, bishop, attorney, and nominee for lieutenant governor in 2013^[71]

Organizations

• American Veterans Vote ^[72]
• Maggie's List^[73][74]
• NRA Political Victory Fund^[75][76][77]
• Republican State Leadership Committee^[78]
• Republican Party of Virginia^[79]

Polling

Graphical summary

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Hala Ayala (D)	Winsome Earle-Sears (R)	Other	Undecided
The Trafalgar Group (R)[80]	October 29–31, 2021	1,081 (LV)	± 3.0%	47%	50%	1%	2%
Echelon Insights (R)[81]	October 27–29, 2021	611 (LV)	± 4.0%	46%	48%	–	6%
Roanoke College[82]	October 14–28, 2021	571 (LV)	± 4.7%	46%	44%	0%	10%
The Washington Post/Schar School[83]	October 20–26, 2021	1,107 (RV)	± 3.5%	48%	44%	3%[b]	3%
		918 (LV)	± 4.0%	50%	46%	1%[c]	3%
Christopher Newport University[84]	October 17–25, 2021	944 (LV)	± 3.5%	49%	48%	–	3%
Suffolk University[85]	October 21–24, 2021	500 (LV)	± 4.4%	46%	44%	–	10%
co/efficient (R)[86][A]	October 20–21, 2021	785 (LV)	± 3.5%	46%	47%	–	7%
Cygnal (R)[87]	October 19–21, 2021	816 (LV)	± 3.4%	47%	47%	–	6%
Virginia Commonwealth University[88]	October 9–21, 2021	722 (LV)	± 6.4%	36%	35%	16%	13%
Data for Progress (D)[89]	October 4–15, 2021	1,589 (LV)	± 2.0%	47%	42%	3%	8%
Christopher Newport University[90]	September 27 – October 6, 2021	802 (LV)	± 4.2%	48%	44%	–	8%
Roanoke College[91]	September 12–26, 2021	603 (LV)	± 4.6%	45%	40%	1%	14%
KAConsulting LLC (R)[92][B]	September 17–19, 2021	700 (LV)	± 3.7%	34%	24%	3%	40%
Virginia Commonwealth University[93]	September 7–15, 2021	731 (LV)	± 6.9%	33%	30%	20%	16%
University of Mary Washington[94]	September 7–13, 2021	1,000 (A)	± 3.1%	38%	38%	6%[d]	18%
		528 (LV)	± 4.1%	41%	47%	2%[e]	10%
Monmouth University[95]	August 24–29, 2021	802 (RV)	± 3.5%	43%	42%	2%	14%
Christopher Newport University[96]	August 15–23, 2021	800 (LV)	± 3.6%	52%	42%	1%	6%
Roanoke College[97]	August 3–17, 2021	558 (LV)	± 4.2%	42%	36%	2%	20%
Virginia Commonwealth University[98]	August 4–15, 2021	770 (RV)	± 5.4%	38%	31%	19%	12%
		~747 (LV)	± 5.5%	39%	31%	17%	12%
JMC Analytics and Polling (R)[99]	June 9–12, 2021	550 (LV)	± 4.2%	42%	36%	–	22%

Results

Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2021^[100]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Winsome Earle-Sears	1,658,332	50.71%	+3.53%
	Democratic	Hala Ayala	1,608,030	49.17%	−3.54%
	Write-in		3,807	0.12%	+0.03%
Total votes			3,270,169	100.00%	N/A
Turnout
Registered electors			5,951,368
	Republican gain from Democratic

By congressional district

Earle-Sears won six of 11 congressional districts, including two that were represented by Democrats.^[101]

District	Ayala	Earle-Sears	Representative
1st	41%	59%	Rob Wittman
2nd	46%	54%	Elaine Luria
3rd	62%	38%	Bobby Scott
4th	57%	43%	Donald McEachin
5th	40%	60%	Bob Good
6th	34%	66%	Ben Cline
7th	45%	55%	Abigail Spanberger
8th	73%	27%	Don Beyer
9th	26%	74%	Morgan Griffith
10th	52%	47%	Jennifer Wexton
11th	67%	33%	Gerry Connolly

See also

• 2021 United States gubernatorial elections
• 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election
• 2021 Virginia Attorney General election
• 2021 Virginia House of Delegates election

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear
2. Neither with 2%, Would not vote with 1%, Other with 0%
3. Neither with 1%, Other and Would not vote with 0%
4. None/Would not vote with 4%, other candidate with 2%
5. None/Would not vote and other candidate with 1%

Partisan clients

1. This poll was sponsored by Sears's campaign.
2. This poll was sponsored by the Presidential Coalition.