The 1989 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1989. Incumbent Democratic Governor Jerry Baliles was unable to seek a second term due to term limits. Democratic nominee and Lieutenant Governor L. Douglas Wilder went against former Attorney General of Virginia J. Marshall Coleman in one of the closest elections in Virginia history. Upon taking the oath of office in January 1990, Governor Wilder became the first African-American governor of Virginia, and the first African-American governor of any state since Reconstruction more than one hundred years earlier.
1989 Virginia gubernatorial election Turnout 66.5% (voting eligible)[ 1]
County and independent city results Congressional district results Wilder: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%Coleman: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
This remains the last election in which a party won the governorship for a third consecutive term.
Results by county and city
edit
County
Wilder
Votes
Coleman
Votes
Others
Votes
Accomack
44.9%
4,767
55.0%
5,838
0.0%
3
Albemarle
51.7%
10,743
48.1%
9,998
0.2%
35
Alexandria
68.0%
22,451
31.8%
10,493
0.2%
77
Alleghany
49.7%
2,313
50.3%
2,342
0.0%
0
Amelia
43.8%
1,509
56.2%
1,937
0.1%
2
Amherst
44.6%
4,000
55.4%
4,965
0.0%
4
Appomattox
47.9%
2,321
52.1%
2,528
0.0%
0
Arlington
67.1%
35,716
32.8%
17,452
0.1%
44
Augusta
30.7%
4,502
69.2%
10,146
0.1%
16
Bath
46.1%
770
53.8%
900
0.1%
2
Bedford
42.0%
5,871
57.9%
8,094
0.1%
7
Bedford County
48.1%
961
51.8%
1,035
0.1%
2
Bland
33.9%
661
66.1%
1,287
0.0%
0
Botetourt
46.8%
3,998
53.1%
4,539
0.1%
5
Bristol
41.9%
2,109
58.0%
2,920
0.1%
4
Brunswick
56.1%
3,181
43.9%
2,493
0.0%
0
Buchanan
59.4%
5,678
40.6%
3,875
0.0%
0
Buckingham
44.4%
2,014
55.5%
2,515
0.0%
2
Buena Vista
51.2%
869
48.5%
823
0.4%
6
Campbell
38.6%
6,043
61.4%
9,611
0.0%
4
Caroline
54.9%
3,232
45.1%
2,658
0.0%
1
Carroll
32.5%
2,375
67.5%
4,926
0.0%
0
Charles City
78.7%
2,050
21.3%
554
0.0%
1
Charlotte
44.8%
2,072
55.2%
2,552
0.0%
2
Charlottesville
63.7%
6,892
36.1%
3,902
0.2%
24
Chesapeake
50.3%
21,384
49.6%
21,076
0.1%
24
Chesterfield
35.2%
23,799
64.6%
43,656
0.2%
151
Clarke
47.4%
1,394
52.6%
1,546
0.0%
0
Clifton Forge
57.4%
912
42.6%
676
0.0%
0
Colonial Heights
24.0%
1,568
75.9%
4,954
0.0%
1
Covington
57.3%
1,570
42.7%
1,169
0.0%
1
Craig
45.8%
766
53.9%
902
0.4%
6
Culpeper
38.7%
2,670
61.3%
4,230
0.0%
2
Cumberland
46.7%
1,418
53.3%
1,617
0.0%
0
Danville
40.4%
6,944
59.5%
10,223
0.0%
2
Dickenson
62.3%
3,536
37.6%
2,131
0.1%
6
Dinwiddie
47.5%
3,321
52.5%
3,676
0.0%
0
Emporia
46.7%
1,094
53.3%
1,249
0.0%
1
Essex
44.7%
1,373
55.2%
1,694
0.1%
2
Fairfax County
55.9%
127,236
43.9%
99,957
0.2%
518
Fairfax
52.8%
3,398
47.1%
3,027
0.1%
6
Falls Church
63.1%
2,617
36.9%
1,530
0.0%
2
Fauquier
45.3%
5,545
54.7%
6,700
0.0%
4
Floyd
39.6%
1,566
60.4%
2,387
0.0%
1
Fluvanna
42.9%
1,554
57.0%
2,063
0.1%
4
Franklin
46.0%
5,158
53.9%
6,037
0.1%
6
Franklin County
61.9%
1,865
38.1%
1,146
0.0%
0
Frederick
36.3%
3,746
63.7%
6,581
0.0%
3
Fredericksburg
52.0%
2,515
48.0%
2,321
0.1%
3
Galax
36.7%
625
63.3%
1,077
0.0%
0
Giles
51.0%
2,568
49.0%
2,468
0.0%
2
Gloucester
42.4%
4,258
57.4%
5,765
0.1%
13
Goochland
44.4%
2,473
55.5%
3,092
0.0%
2
Grayson
34.5%
1,761
65.5%
3,337
0.0%
0
Greene
33.3%
863
66.7%
1,726
0.0%
0
Greensville
57.6%
1,952
42.4%
1,435
0.0%
1
Halifax
46.7%
4,562
53.3%
5,205
0.0%
2
Hampton
59.8%
23,097
40.1%
15,489
0.1%
22
Hanover
30.8%
7,391
69.0%
16,552
0.1%
32
Harrisonburg
42.5%
2,647
57.3%
3,562
0.2%
12
Henrico
41.2%
32,939
58.7%
46,947
0.2%
156
Henry
41.5%
6,674
58.5%
9,414
0.0%
1
Highland
41.0%
437
58.8%
626
0.2%
2
Hopewell
40.3%
2,781
59.7%
4,119
0.0%
0
Isle of Wight
49.5%
4,353
50.5%
4,442
0.0%
4
James City
49.8%
5,827
50.0%
5,850
0.1%
15
King and Queen
53.3%
1,278
46.6%
1,119
0.1%
3
King George
46.2%
1,563
53.8%
1,819
0.0%
1
King William
44.2%
1,794
55.8%
2,265
0.0%
2
Lancaster
39.3%
1,834
60.7%
2,838
0.0%
0
Lee
54.8%
3,431
45.2%
2,830
0.0%
1
Lexington
58.5%
1,043
41.5%
740
0.1%
1
Loudoun
51.1%
11,065
48.8%
10,555
0.1%
25
Louisa
46.2%
2,931
53.8%
3,416
0.0%
3
Lunenburg
45.8%
1,896
54.2%
2,248
0.0%
0
Lynchburg
47.9%
10,060
52.1%
10,927
0.0%
4
Madison
40.5%
1,448
59.4%
2,121
0.1%
4
Manassas
47.4%
2,663
52.5%
2,947
0.1%
6
Manassas Park
45.5%
385
54.4%
460
0.1%
1
Martinsville
49.9%
2,763
50.1%
2,777
0.0%
1
Mathews
41.1%
1,534
58.8%
2,193
0.0%
1
Mecklenburg
38.0%
3,287
62.0%
5,373
0.0%
1
Middlesex
41.5%
1,520
58.4%
2,142
0.1%
3
Montgomery
51.7%
9,121
48.3%
8,513
0.0%
5
Nelson
54.4%
2,341
45.6%
1,961
0.0%
0
New Kent
42.6%
1,797
57.2%
2,416
0.2%
9
Newport News
54.3%
25,284
45.6%
21,261
0.1%
36
Norfolk
66.1%
37,844
33.8%
19,385
0.1%
62
Northampton
55.4%
2,482
44.4%
1,989
0.2%
9
Northumberland
40.0%
1,669
60.0%
2,506
0.0%
2
Norton
65.5%
808
34.3%
423
0.2%
3
Nottoway
45.7%
2,331
54.3%
2,768
0.0%
0
Orange
41.5%
2,465
58.4%
3,468
0.0%
1
Page
33.8%
1,925
66.1%
3,760
0.0%
2
Patrick
35.2%
1,761
64.8%
3,246
0.0%
0
Petersburg
70.8%
8,394
29.1%
3,454
0.0%
2
Pittsylvania
37.4%
6,349
62.6%
10,616
0.0%
3
Poquoson
34.0%
1,353
66.0%
2,626
0.1%
2
Portsmouth
61.9%
19,998
38.0%
12,281
0.0%
5
Powhatan
34.5%
1,741
65.4%
3,298
0.0%
2
Prince Edward
50.8%
2,822
49.2%
2,732
0.0%
2
Prince George
39.0%
2,693
61.0%
4,219
0.0%
1
Prince William
49.0%
20,329
50.9%
21,104
0.1%
34
Pulaski
44.1%
4,550
55.9%
5,771
0.0%
4
Radford
51.3%
2,092
48.6%
1,980
0.1%
3
Rappahannock
45.0%
971
55.0%
1,188
0.0%
1
Richmond County
36.3%
887
63.7%
1,558
0.0%
1
Richmond
68.0%
49,513
31.9%
23,239
0.1%
67
Roanoke
47.1%
14,074
52.9%
15,807
0.0%
8
Roanoke County
59.0%
16,590
40.9%
11,483
0.1%
22
Rockbridge
46.0%
2,314
54.0%
2,713
0.0%
0
Rockingham
30.7%
4,452
69.1%
10,019
0.2%
24
Russell
56.9%
4,955
43.1%
3,750
0.0%
2
South Boston
48.1%
3,854
51.8%
4,143
0.1%
8
Salem
43.3%
2,825
56.7%
3,704
0.0%
0
Scott
35.4%
3,390
64.6%
6,186
0.0%
3
Shenandoah
39.5%
3,557
60.4%
5,438
0.0%
4
Smyth
40.6%
987
59.3%
1,441
0.1%
2
Southampton
52.0%
3,074
48.0%
2,836
0.0%
0
Spotsylvania
41.9%
5,524
58.0%
7,646
0.0%
5
Stafford
40.3%
5,775
59.7%
8,565
0.0%
7
Staunton
37.8%
2,748
62.1%
4,512
0.0%
3
Suffolk
52.5%
8,743
47.4%
7,893
0.0%
3
Surry
63.1%
1,740
36.9%
1,018
0.0%
0
Sussex
59.1%
2,251
40.9%
1,561
0.0%
0
Tazewell
47.8%
5,338
52.2%
5,831
0.0%
3
Virginia Beach
48.2%
41,570
51.4%
44,332
0.3%
265
Warren
42.9%
2,681
57.1%
3,564
0.0%
1
Washington
40.4%
5,572
59.6%
8,219
0.0%
0
Waynesboro
36.6%
2,102
63.3%
3,637
0.1%
5
Westmoreland
48.6%
2,197
51.3%
2,322
0.1%
3
Williamsburg
61.5%
1,641
38.5%
1,026
0.0%
0
Winchester
41.1%
2,253
58.9%
3,232
0.0%
2
Wise
59.6%
6,641
40.4%
4,495
0.0%
3
Wythe
36.2%
2,817
63.8%
4,970
0.0%
0
York
45.1%
6,001
54.8%
7,283
0.1%
13