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statewide election for governor or U.S. senator since 1966, elected its entire ticket of Charles S. Robb as governor, Richard J. Davis as lieutenant governor and Gerald L. Baliles as attorney general.
The candidates have changed dramatically. Virginians twice recently have elected so-called “celebrity candidates” in statewide elections. Neither had much political experience when they took office.
John Warner, a former secretary of the Navy, without traditional Virginia political ties, campaigned for the U.S. Senate for only two months after the death of party nominee Richard Obenshain. He drew large audiences and big headlines on the trail due, at least in part, to the appearance of his wife, actress Elizabeth Taylor. Warner won in his first try at public office, . gaining 51 percent of that 1978 vote.
Charles “Chuck” Robb won the governor’s seat in 1981. Robb, who served as lieutenant governor, married a daughter of former President Lyndon B. Johnson, thereby realizing a “celebrity” status.
But Virginians appear to be more tolerant of change today than when the Byrd Machine kept a tight grasp on the state’s voters.
97.6%