Virginia's 5th Senate district

Virginia's 5th Senate district is one of 40 districts in the Senate of Virginia. It has been represented by Democrat Lionell Spruill since his victory in a 2016 special election to succeed fellow Democrat Kenny Alexander, who was elected mayor of Norfolk.^[3]

Virginia's 5th State Senate district
District map before the 2023 election District map from the 2023 election
Senator	Travis Hackworth R–Tazewell
Demographics	33% White 53% Black 7% Hispanic 3% Asian 4% Other
Population (2019)	205,588[1]
Registered voters	126,971[2]

Geography

District 5 is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area in southeastern Virginia, including parts of Norfolk and Chesapeake.^[3]

The district overlaps with Virginia's 3rd and 4th congressional districts, and with the 77th, 78th, 79th, 81st, 89th, and 90th districts of the Virginia House of Delegates.^[4]

Recent election results

2019

2019 Virginia Senate election, District 5^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lionell Spruill (incumbent)	31,576	79.2
	Independent	Jeff Staples	7,812	19.6
Total votes			39,845	100

2016 special

2016 Virginia Senate special election, District 5^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lionell Spruill	66,989	96.2
Total votes			69,616	100
	Democratic hold

2015

2015 Virginia Senate election, District 5^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kenny Alexander (incumbent)	13,955	95.4
Total votes			14,623	100
	Democratic hold

2012 special

2012 Virginia Senate special election, District 5^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kenny Alexander	3,643	98.4
Total votes			3,701	100
	Democratic hold

2011

2011 Virginia Senate election, District 5^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Yvonne Miller (incumbent)	11,090	95.6
Total votes			11,606	100
	Democratic hold

Federal and statewide results

Year	Office	Results[7][8]
2020	President	Biden 73.1–25.1%
2017	Governor	Northam 75.7–23.2%
2016	President	Clinton 70.6–25.5%
2014	Senate	Warner 72.1–26.0%
2013	Governor	McAuliffe 72.6–23.4%
2012	President	Obama 74.8–24.3%
	Senate	Kaine 74.9–25.1%

Historical results

All election results below took place prior to 2011 redistricting, and thus were under different district lines.

2007

2007 Virginia Senate election, District 5^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Yvonne Miller (incumbent)	10,977	96.9
Total votes			11,327	100
	Democratic hold

2003

2003 Virginia Senate election, District 5^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Yvonne Miller (incumbent)	12,622	97.9
Total votes			12,899	100
	Democratic hold

1999

1999 Virginia Senate election, District 5^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Yvonne Miller (incumbent)	17,464	97.6
Total votes			17,901	100
	Democratic hold

1995

1995 Virginia Senate election, District 5^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Yvonne Miller (incumbent)	18,658	76.7
	Republican	Bruce Wilcox	5,673	23.3
Total votes			24,336	100
	Democratic hold

District officeholders since 1940

Years	Senator, District 5	Counties/Cities in District
1940–1941	Edward Everett Holland (D)	Isle of Wight County, Nansemond County, Southampton County, and the City of Suffolk
1941–1944	A. E. S. Stephens (D)
1944–1948
1948–1952
1952–1956	Mills Godwin (D)
1956–1960
1960–1961
1961–1964	William V. Rawlings (D)	Isle of Wight County, Virginia, Nansemond County, Southampton County, the City of Franklin and the City of Suffolk
1964–1968
1968–1972
1972–1976	Stanley C. Walker (D) Peter K. Babalas (D) Thomas R. McNamara (D)	City of Norfolk, City of Virginia Beach (part)[9]
1976–1980	Stanley C. Walker (D) Peter K. Babalas (D) Joseph T. Fitzpatrick (D)
1980–1982
1982–1984	Stanley C. Walker (D) Peter K. Babalas (D) Evelyn Momsen Hailey (D)
1984–1988	Peter K. Babalas (D)	City of Norfolk (part)
1988–1992	Yvonne Miller (D)
1992–1996		City of Chesapeake (part), City of Norfolk (part)
1996–2000
2000–2004
2004–2008
2008–2012
2012–2016	Kenny Alexander (D)
2016–present	Lionell Spruill (D)