2017 Virginia Attorney General election

2017 Virginia Attorney General election
← 2013 November 7, 2017 2021 →
	Herring: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%; Adams: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%; Tie: 40–50% 50% No votes
Attorney General before election; Mark Herring; Democratic	Elected Attorney General ; Mark Herring; Democratic

The 2017 Virginia Attorney General election was held on November 7, 2017. The incumbent attorney general, Democrat Mark Herring, was expected to run for governor, but announced he would run for re-election instead.^[1] As only Herring and Republican John Adams qualified for their respective party primaries, the two automatically became their parties' nominees. In the general election, Herring defeated Adams to win a second term as Attorney General of Virginia. As of 2026, this is the last time a Virginia attorney general was re-elected

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Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Mark Herring (D)	John Adams (R)	Other	Undecided
Change Research^[72]	November 2–5, 2017	3,648	± 1.6%	51%	45%	—	4%
The Polling Company (R)^[73]	November 2–5, 2017	800	± 3.5%	44%	45%	—	9%
Christopher Newport University^[74]	October 29 – November 4, 2017	839	± 3.5%	49%	45%	—	6%
Gravis Marketing^[75]	October 30 – November 3, 2017	1,143	± 2.9%	48%	42%	—	10%
The Polling Company (R)^[76]	October 30 – November 2, 2017	800	± 3.5%	42%	43%	—	12%
Roanoke College^[77]	October 29 – November 2, 2017	781	± 3.5%	46%	46%	—	8%
Suffolk University^[78]	October 30 – November 1, 2017	500	± 4.4%	44%	42%	—	13%
Washington Post/Schar School^[79]	October 26–29, 2017	921	± 4.0%	51%	43%	—	5%
The Polling Company (R)^[80]	October 23–26, 2017	800	± 3.5%	43%	43%	—	11%
Christopher Newport University^[81]	October 20–25, 2017	812	± 3.8%	49%	44%	—	7%
Roanoke College^[82]	October 8–13, 2017	607	± 4.0%	47%	42%	—	10%
Christopher Newport University^[83]	October 2–6, 2017	928	± 4.3%	51%	40%	—	9%
Washington Post/Schar School Poll^[84]	September 28 – October 2, 2017	720 LV	± 4.5%	52%	41%	—	5%
Washington Post/Schar School Poll^[84]	September 28 – October 2, 2017	1,000 RV	± 3.5%	50%	39%	—	6%
Public Policy Polling^[85]	September 21–23, 2017	849	± 3.8%	46%	38%	—	16%
Christopher Newport University^[86]	September 12–22, 2017	776	± 3.7%	47%	42%	—	11%
Suffolk University^[87]	September 13–17, 2017	500	± 4.4%	39%	37%	—	23%
Mason-Dixon^[88]	September 10–15, 2017	625	± 4.0%	45%	36%	—	19%
University of Mary Washington^[89]	September 5–12, 2017	562 LV	± 5.2%	47%	40%	—	10%
University of Mary Washington^[89]	September 5–12, 2017	867 RV	± 4.1%	47%	38%	—	12%
Virginia Commonwealth University^[90]	July 17–25, 2017	538 LV	± 5.1%	45%	39%	—	15%
Virginia Commonwealth University^[90]	July 17–25, 2017	707 RV	± 4.5%	43%	36%	—	17%

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Mark Herring (incumbent)	1,385,390	53.33%	+3.43%
	Republican	John Adams	1,209,540	46.56%	–3.31%
	Write-in		2,614	0.10%	–0.12%
Total votes			2,597,544	100.00%	N/A
	Democratic hold

Locality^[91]	Mark Herring Democratic		John Adams Republican		Write-in Various		Margin		Total votes cast
Locality^[91]	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total votes cast
Accomack	4,521	42.94%	6,003	57.01%	5	0.05%	−1,482	−14.08%	10,529
Albemarle	26,594	63.23%	15,439	36.71%	26	0.06%	11,155	26.52%	42,059
Alexandria	40,306	77.78%	11,463	22.12%	54	0.10%	28,843	55.66%	51,823
Alleghany	1,487	33.98%	2,886	65.95%	3	0.07%	−1,399	−31.97%	4,376
Amelia	1,391	30.34%	3,190	69.59%	3	0.07%	−1,799	−39.25%	4,584
Amherst	3,232	33.29%	6,462	66.56%	14	0.14%	−3,230	−33.27%	9,708
Appomattox	1,219	23.66%	3,929	76.26%	4	0.08%	−2,710	−52.60%	5,152
Arlington	67,190	79.36%	17,383	20.53%	89	0.11%	49,807	58.83%	84,662
Augusta	5,911	25.20%	17,536	74.75%	13	0.06%	−11,625	−49.55%	23,460
Bath	449	30.75%	1,009	69.11%	2	0.14%	−560	−38.36%	1,460
Bedford	6,804	24.63%	20,800	75.28%	26	0.09%	−13,996	−50.66%	27,630
Bland	387	18.83%	1,666	81.07%	2	0.10%	−1,279	−62.24%	2,055
Botetourt	3,332	26.78%	9,095	73.10%	15	0.12%	−5,763	−46.32%	12,442
Bristol	1,191	28.13%	3,040	71.80%	3	0.07%	−1,849	−43.67%	4,234
Brunswick	2,698	57.29%	2,011	42.71%	0	0.00%	687	14.59%	4,709
Buchanan	1,106	25.00%	3,314	74.91%	4	0.09%	−2,208	−49.91%	4,424
Buckingham	1,913	41.78%	2,663	58.16%	3	0.07%	−750	−16.38%	4,579
Buena Vista	537	33.42%	1,068	66.46%	2	0.12%	−531	−33.04%	1,607
Campbell	4,364	25.29%	12,879	74.63%	14	0.08%	−8,515	−49.34%	17,257
Caroline	4,082	49.04%	4,234	50.87%	7	0.08%	−152	−1.83%	8,323
Carroll	1,867	22.71%	6,350	77.23%	5	0.06%	−4,483	−54.52%	8,222
Charles City	1,683	62.20%	1,020	37.69%	3	0.11%	663	24.50%	2,706
Charlotte	1,416	35.51%	2,565	64.32%	7	0.18%	−1,149	−28.81%	3,988
Charlottesville	13,725	84.49%	2,498	15.38%	21	0.13%	11,227	69.11%	16,244
Chesapeake	37,506	52.05%	34,486	47.86%	60	0.08%	3,020	4.19%	72,052
Chesterfield	57,559	48.67%	60,616	51.25%	96	0.08%	−3,057	−2.58%	118,271
Clarke	2,409	43.51%	3,122	56.38%	6	0.11%	−713	−12.88%	5,537
Colonial Heights	1,419	27.70%	3,700	72.24%	3	0.06%	−2,281	−44.53%	5,122
Covington	543	40.74%	788	59.11%	2	0.15%	−245	−18.38%	1,333
Craig	430	23.48%	1,401	76.52%	0	0.00%	−971	−53.03%	1,831
Culpeper	4,938	36.56%	8,553	63.32%	16	0.12%	−3,614	−26.76%	13,507
Cumberland	1,258	40.36%	1,856	59.54%	3	0.10%	−598	−19.19%	3,117
Danville	6,208	56.94%	4,685	42.97%	10	0.09%	1,523	13.97%	10,903
Dickenson	958	28.10%	2,446	71.75%	5	0.15%	−1,488	−43.65%	3,409
Dinwiddie	3,680	44.41%	4,602	55.53%	5	0.06%	−922	−11.13%	8,287
Emporia	913	56.29%	708	43.65%	1	0.06%	205	12.64%	1,622
Essex	1,700	45.96%	1,997	53.99%	2	0.05%	−297	−8.03%	3,699
Fairfax City	5,303	64.50%	2,911	35.41%	8	0.10%	2,392	29.09%	8,222
Fairfax County	251,486	67.21%	122,291	32.68%	402	0.11%	129,195	34.53%	374,179
Falls Church	4,653	77.97%	1,307	21.90%	8	0.13%	3,346	56.07%	5,968
Fauquier	9,329	38.90%	14,615	60.94%	38	0.16%	−5,286	−22.04%	23,982
Floyd	1,922	35.22%	3,531	64.71%	4	0.07%	−1,609	−29.49%	5,457
Fluvanna	4,243	46.21%	4,935	53.75%	4	0.04%	−692	−7.54%	9,182
Franklin City	1,533	60.14%	1,015	39.82%	1	0.04%	518	20.32%	2,549
Franklin County	5,230	30.01%	12,179	69.89%	18	0.10%	−6,949	−39.87%	17,427
Frederick	8,374	34.57%	15,830	65.35%	19	0.08%	−7,456	−30.78%	24,223
Fredericksburg	4,584	64.19%	2,549	35.70%	8	0.11%	2,035	28.50%	7,141
Galax	401	29.90%	933	69.57%	7	0.52%	−532	−39.67%	1,341
Giles	1,648	28.68%	4,097	71.29%	2	0.03%	−2,449	−42.61%	5,747
Gloucester	4,134	32.92%	8,418	67.03%	6	0.05%	−4,284	−34.11%	12,558
Goochland	3,788	36.05%	6,712	63.88%	8	0.08%	−2,924	−27.83%	10,508
Grayson	1,052	23.39%	3,440	76.50%	5	0.11%	−2,388	−53.10%	4,497
Greene	2,283	36.46%	3,977	63.51%	2	0.03%	−1,694	−27.05%	6,262
Greensville	1,651	57.51%	1,219	42.46%	1	0.03%	432	15.05%	2,871
Halifax	4,023	39.07%	6,270	60.89%	5	0.05%	−2,247	−21.82%	10,298
Hampton	28,499	71.01%	11,583	28.86%	50	0.12%	16,916	42.15%	40,132
Hanover	14,365	33.39%	28,590	66.46%	65	0.15%	−14,225	−33.07%	43,020
Harrisonburg	6,430	62.95%	3,769	36.90%	15	0.15%	2,661	26.05%	10,214
Henrico	68,787	59.99%	45,756	39.91%	114	0.10%	23,031	20.09%	114,657
Henry	4,870	34.92%	9,073	65.05%	5	0.04%	−4,203	−30.13%	13,948
Highland	334	32.30%	699	67.60%	1	0.10%	−365	−35.30%	1,034
Hopewell	2,682	49.49%	2,721	50.21%	16	0.30%	−39	−0.72%	5,419
Isle of Wight	5,758	40.95%	8,289	58.95%	14	0.10%	−2,531	−18.00%	14,061
James City	14,944	47.26%	16,648	52.65%	29	0.09%	−1,704	−5.39%	31,621
King and Queen	1,024	41.56%	1,438	58.36%	2	0.08%	−414	−16.80%	2,464
King George	2,611	36.69%	4,499	63.21%	7	0.10%	−1,888	−26.53%	7,117
King William	1,991	33.50%	3,945	66.38%	7	0.12%	−1,954	−32.88%	5,943
Lancaster	2,010	42.13%	2,757	57.79%	4	0.08%	−747	−15.66%	4,771
Lee	1,336	20.31%	5,235	79.58%	7	0.11%	−3,899	−59.27%	6,578
Lexington	1,129	65.00%	606	34.89%	2	0.12%	523	30.11%	1,737
Loudoun	69,514	59.50%	47,220	40.42%	90	0.08%	22,294	19.08%	116,824
Louisa	4,424	37.69%	7,305	62.23%	10	0.09%	−2,881	−24.54%	11,739
Lunenburg	1,467	40.42%	2,159	59.49%	3	0.08%	−692	−19.07%	3,629
Lynchburg	9,822	46.56%	11,248	53.32%	24	0.11%	−1,426	−6.76%	21,094
Madison	1,756	35.92%	3,126	63.95%	6	0.12%	−1,370	−28.03%	4,888
Manassas	5,255	56.75%	3,999	43.19%	6	0.06%	1,256	13.56%	9,260
Manassas Park	1,947	63.61%	1,112	36.33%	2	0.07%	835	27.28%	3,061
Martinsville	2,179	59.07%	1,505	40.80%	5	0.14%	674	18.27%	3,689
Mathews	1,330	33.95%	2,583	65.93%	5	0.13%	−1,253	−31.98%	3,918
Mecklenburg	3,348	39.30%	5,172	60.70%	0	0.00%	−1,824	−21.41%	8,520
Middlesex	1,567	36.48%	2,725	63.43%	4	0.09%	−1,158	−26.96%	4,296
Montgomery	14,870	53.21%	13,057	46.72%	19	0.07%	1,813	6.49%	27,946
Nelson	3,023	49.47%	3,081	50.42%	7	0.11%	−58	−0.95%	6,111
New Kent	2,637	30.96%	5,868	68.89%	13	0.15%	−3,231	−37.93%	8,518
Newport News	29,760	63.87%	16,779	36.01%	58	0.12%	12,981	27.86%	46,597
Norfolk	38,430	72.15%	14,763	27.72%	68	0.13%	23,667	44.44%	53,261
Northampton	2,297	53.28%	2,011	46.65%	3	0.07%	286	6.63%	4,311
Northumberland	1,983	37.33%	3,326	62.61%	3	0.06%	−1,343	−25.28%	5,312
Norton	281	33.10%	567	66.78%	1	0.12%	−286	−33.69%	849
Nottoway	1,774	41.95%	2,452	57.98%	3	0.07%	−678	−16.03%	4,229
Orange	4,095	37.72%	6,754	62.21%	8	0.07%	−2,659	−24.49%	10,857
Page	1,806	27.19%	4,829	72.71%	6	0.09%	−3,023	−45.52%	6,641
Patrick	1,283	23.05%	4,277	76.83%	7	0.13%	−2,994	−53.78%	5,567
Petersburg	7,097	87.60%	995	12.28%	10	0.12%	6,102	75.31%	8,102
Pittsylvania	5,727	29.45%	13,708	70.50%	10	0.05%	−7,981	−41.04%	19,445
Poquoson	1,261	26.27%	3,531	73.56%	8	0.17%	−2,270	−47.29%	4,800
Portsmouth	19,884	69.84%	8,550	30.03%	38	0.13%	11,334	39.81%	28,472
Powhatan	3,017	26.31%	8,443	73.64%	6	0.05%	−5,426	−47.32%	11,466
Prince Edward	2,831	50.47%	2,767	49.33%	11	0.20%	64	1.14%	5,609
Prince George	4,099	40.04%	6,128	59.86%	10	0.10%	−2,029	−19.82%	10,237
Prince William	73,909	60.46%	48,172	39.41%	166	0.14%	25,737	21.05%	122,247
Pulaski	3,590	30.82%	8,042	69.05%	15	0.13%	−4,452	−38.22%	11,647
Radford	2,142	54.97%	1,747	44.83%	8	0.21%	395	10.14%	3,897
Rappahannock	1,498	45.89%	1,762	53.98%	4	0.12%	−264	−8.09%	3,264
Richmond City	57,170	80.79%	13,518	19.10%	76	0.11%	43,652	61.69%	70,764
Richmond County	856	36.29%	1,503	63.71%	0	0.00%	−647	−27.43%	2,359
Roanoke City	14,934	61.91%	9,169	38.01%	18	0.07%	5,765	23.90%	24,121
Roanoke County	12,182	36.76%	20,904	63.08%	53	0.16%	−8,722	−26.32%	33,139
Rockbridge	2,907	36.99%	4,946	62.93%	6	0.08%	−2,039	−25.94%	7,859
Rockingham	6,943	27.66%	18,138	72.27%	17	0.07%	−11,195	−44.61%	25,098
Russell	1,483	22.30%	5,160	77.59%	7	0.11%	−3,677	−55.29%	6,650
Salem	3,061	37.67%	5,058	62.25%	6	0.07%	−1,997	−24.58%	8,125
Scott	1,096	18.04%	4,972	81.82%	9	0.15%	−3,876	−63.78%	6,077
Shenandoah	3,914	29.69%	9,258	70.22%	12	0.09%	−5,344	−40.53%	13,184
Smyth	1,718	21.83%	6,149	78.14%	2	0.03%	−4,431	−56.31%	7,869
Southampton	2,517	41.10%	3,603	58.83%	4	0.07%	−1,086	−17.73%	6,124
Spotsylvania	15,713	42.91%	20,869	56.99%	37	0.10%	−5,156	−14.08%	36,619
Stafford	18,705	46.27%	21,684	53.64%	38	0.09%	−2,979	−7.37%	40,427
Staunton	3,990	53.04%	3,522	46.82%	11	0.15%	468	6.22%	7,523
Suffolk	16,344	57.65%	11,988	42.29%	16	0.06%	4,356	15.37%	28,348
Surry	1,637	55.55%	1,307	44.35%	3	0.10%	330	11.20%	2,947
Sussex	1,797	55.57%	1,437	44.43%	0	0.00%	360	11.13%	3,234
Tazewell	1,890	18.91%	8,087	80.92%	17	0.17%	−6,197	−62.01%	9,994
Virginia Beach	63,787	50.13%	63,334	49.77%	126	0.10%	453	0.36%	127,247
Warren	3,567	34.61%	6,726	65.27%	12	0.12%	−3,159	−30.66%	10,305
Washington	3,937	24.18%	12,334	75.74%	14	0.09%	−8,397	−51.56%	16,285
Waynesboro	2,615	44.85%	3,211	55.08%	4	0.07%	−596	−10.22%	5,830
Westmoreland	2,427	45.71%	2,879	54.22%	4	0.08%	−452	−8.51%	5,310
Williamsburg	3,689	70.37%	1,549	29.55%	4	0.08%	2,140	40.82%	5,242
Winchester	3,543	53.78%	3,039	46.13%	6	0.09%	504	7.65%	6,588
Wise	1,886	22.18%	6,607	77.71%	9	0.11%	−4,721	−55.53%	8,502
Wythe	2,146	25.44%	6,280	74.43%	11	0.13%	−4,134	−49.00%	8,437
York	9,700	42.21%	13,246	57.63%	37	0.16%	−3,546	−15.43%	22,983
Totals	1,385,390	53.33%	1,209,540	46.56%	2,614	0.10%	175,850	6.77%	2,597,544

District	Herring	Adams	Representative
1st	44%	56%	Rob Wittman
2nd	49.8%	50.1%	Scott Taylor
3rd	67%	33%	Bobby Scott
4th	61%	39%	Donald McEachin
5th	45%	55%	Tom Garrett
6th	38%	62%	Bob Goodlatte
7th	47%	53%	Dave Brat
8th	75%	25%	Don Beyer
9th	31%	69%	Morgan Griffith
10th	55%	45%	Barbara Comstock
11th	69%	30%	Gerry Connolly

2017 Virginia Attorney General election

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Failed to qualify

Withdrawn

Declined

Polling

General election

Predictions

Candidates

Endorsements

Polling

Polls

Results

By county and independent city

By congressional district

See also

References

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