Declining Rural Influence in Virginia Politics

Authors

Stephen J. Farnsworth, University of Mary WashingtonFollow
Stephen Hanna, University of Mary WashingtonFollow
Kate Seltzer

Document Type

Book Chapter

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.21061/cowell

ISBN

978-1-949373-85-1

Publication Date

2022

Abstract

This chapter traces the declining influence of rural Virginia through a comparison of statewide election results nearly two decades apart: 2001 and 2020. The authors compare Mark Warner’s 2001 election as governor, which included significant rural support, and his 2020 senate campaign, which did not. Although both contests involved victorious statewide campaigns by the same Democratic candidate, the political and cultural changes that have taken place in Virginia over this period could suggest something comparable to two different states: the Virginia of 2001 and the Virginia of 2020. As this chapter shows, the Virginia political environment of 2020 was far different from the environment of 2001—and those differences were not advantageous for the advancement of rural interests.

Comments

Dr. Farnsworth and Dr. Hanna's contribution begins on Chapter 2.  

Publisher Statement

This book is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution + Noncommercial + NoDerivatives 4.0 license. Copyright is retained by the author(s)

Recommended Citation

Farnsworth, Stephen J., Stephen Hanna, and Kate Seltzer. 2022. “Chapter 2: Declining Rural Influence in Virginia Politics.” In Vibrant Virginia: Engaging the Commonwealth to Expand Economic Vitality, edited by Margaret Cowell and Sarah Lyon-Hill, 41–58. Blacksburg: Virginia Tech Publishing. https://doi.org/10.21061/cowell.