How to Run for the Virginia House of Delegates or State Senate

All 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates and all 40 seats in the Senate of Virginia are on the ballot on Tuesday, November 2, 2027. Delegates serve two-year terms and senators four-year terms, both beginning on the second Wednesday in January after the election, which is January 12, 2028 (based on state law; Va. Code §§ 24.2-214, 24.2-215). To run, you must be at least 21 years old at the time of the election, live in the district, be qualified to vote for members of the General Assembly, and have lived in Virginia for the year before the election.

Unless a party nominates you by a method it runs itself, you need a petition signed by at least 125 qualified voters of the district for the House, or 250 for the Senate. A candidate in a party primary files with the party chair between noon on Monday, March 15 and 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, 2027, for a primary on Tuesday, June 15. An independent files with the general registrar by 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15, 2027. These filing dates are computed from state law, because the Virginia Department of Elections (ELECT) had not posted its 2027 candidate bulletins when we checked. This guide is not legal advice.

For the full picture of a 2027 Virginia race, including local offices, see our guide to running for local office in Virginia.

Step 1: Check that you qualify

The Constitution of Virginia sets the qualifications for both chambers (Article IV, Section 4). At the time of the election, you must be:

• at least 21 years old;
• a resident of the district you seek to represent; and
• qualified to vote for members of the General Assembly.

State law adds one year of residence in Virginia before the election (§ 24.2-500). A member who moves out of the district vacates the seat.

Offices you cannot hold at the same time. The same section bars anyone holding a salaried state office, and judges, attorneys for the Commonwealth, sheriffs, treasurers, commissioners of the revenue and court clerks, among others, from serving in the General Assembly while in that office. If you hold one, ask an attorney how the rule applies before you file.

One office per ballot. No one may appear on the ballot for more than one office at the same election (§ 24.2-504).

Step 2: Learn how your party will nominate

Each party's committee for the legislative district decides how the party chooses its nominee, but state law limits that choice for General Assembly seats (§ 24.2-509):

• One incumbent of the party in the district: the party uses the method that incumbent designates, or the party's own choice if the incumbent designates none.
• More than one incumbent of the party in the district: the party holds a primary unless all of those incumbents agree to a different method.
• No incumbent seeking reelection: the party decides.

An officeholder seeking reelection counts as an incumbent even if the district's lines have changed in part. Parties report a primary to ELECT by Tuesday, March 2, 2027 (based on state law; § 24.2-516). If you want a party's nomination, Democratic or Republican, ask the party's district chair which method it will use.

If the party holds a primary

A primary candidate files a Declaration of Candidacy, a petition and a filing fee receipt with the party chair between noon on Monday, March 15 and 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, 2027 (based on state law; § 24.2-522). ELECT's 2025 bulletin for the House of Delegates sent candidates to the party chair of their own district. Senate candidates should ask ELECT or their party which chair receives their papers.

The filing fee is 2 percent of one year's minimum salary for the office, paid to the treasurer or director of finance of the county or city where you live (§§ 24.2-523, 24.2-524). As an example from ELECT's 2025 House bulletin, the House fee was $352.80, based on a salary of $17,640. Ask the treasurer for the 2027 amount for your office.

Any qualified voter may vote in a primary, but only in one party's primary (§ 24.2-530), and the plurality winner is the nominee (§ 24.2-535). The Declaration of Candidacy states that if you lose, your name will not be printed on the November ballot for that office (§ 24.2-520).

If the party runs its own process

A party may instead nominate by a method it runs itself, such as a convention, between Thursday, April 29 and 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15, 2027 (based on state law; § 24.2-510). The method may not have the practical effect of shutting out eligible participants who cannot attend meetings, such as active-duty service members and students (§ 24.2-509). The candidate files no declaration or petition, and the party chair certifies the nominee to ELECT (§ 24.2-511).

Step 3: Running as an independent

A candidate who is not a party nominee files a Declaration of Candidacy and a petition with the general registrar of the county or city where they live, by 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15, 2027 (based on state law; §§ 24.2-505, 24.2-507). If the district covers more than one county or city, that registrar sends copies to the others in the district.

On the ballot, General Assembly candidates are identified by party, and independent candidates by the word "Independent" (§ 24.2-613). An independent nominated by a "recognized political party," as that section defines it, may have the party's name printed instead; ELECT's bulletins explain the letters required.

Step 4: Collect your signatures

These minimums apply to primary and independent candidates alike (§§ 24.2-506, 24.2-521). ELECT recommends collecting at least one and a half times the number required: at least 188 for the House and 375 for the Senate.

• Signers must be registered voters of the district. Each prints their name, signs, and writes their full residence address and the date, on or after Friday, January 1, 2027.
• The circulator, the person who collects the signatures, witnesses every one, may not be a minor or a felon whose voting rights have not been restored, and signs an affidavit on each page in front of a notary.
• The form is ELECT's Petition of Qualified Voters (ELECT-506/521), one sheet printed front and back. Where a district includes more than one county or city, ELECT suggests a separate form for the voters of each.

For a full walkthrough of the form, see the Virginia candidate petition guide on Beacon, our canvassing app's site.

Step 5: File your papers

1. Certificate of Candidate Qualification (form ELECT-501(6), for General Assembly). File it with ELECT, not the local registrar (§ 24.2-501).
2. Statement of Economic Interests. Filed electronically with the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council, with ELECT coordinating the electronic filing for General Assembly candidates (§ 24.2-502).
3. Declaration of Candidacy (ELECT-505/520), petitions and, for primary candidates, the fee receipt, filed with the party chair (primary) or the general registrar (independent). Sign the declaration before a notary or before two witnesses who are registered voters of the district.

Primary candidates file everything by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, 2027. Independent and party-run candidates file their certificate and statement, and independents their declaration and petitions, by 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15, 2027 (all based on state law; § 24.2-503). ELECT says declarations and petition pages must be received by the deadline, and a postmark does not count. Check with the Department of Elections for any other filings that apply to your campaign.

Two dates to watch after filing. If the incumbent in your district has not filed for the primary by April 1, or withdraws by then, other candidates may file until 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 6, 2027 (based on state law; § 24.2-522). Court challenges to a candidate's eligibility must be filed and served by Sunday, April 11, 2027 for the primary and Wednesday, August 4, 2027 for November (based on state law; § 24.2-546).

Step 6: Plan the campaign

Plan around your election date, and use doors, events and texts to reach the supporters you meet.

• Primary candidates campaign to Tuesday, June 15. The last day to register is Friday, June 4 (based on state law).
• General election candidates campaign to Tuesday, November 2. The last day to register is Friday, October 22, and early in-person voting ends at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 30 (based on state law).

Your petition drive is the first round of voter contact. Our Virginia 2027 election calendar lists every date in order.

Step 7: Text the supporters who asked to hear from you

Set up texting correctly from the start. In CampaignCNX+:

1. Settle your committee and confirm its filing is online. Campaign Verify, the check that confirms to the carriers (the mobile phone companies) that a political sender is a real campaign, needs a 527 committee (the federal tax status of a political committee), an EIN (the committee's federal tax ID number) and a filing with an election authority that is published online. Check with the Department of Elections for the filings that apply to your campaign and whether they can be viewed online, and ask Campaign Verify Support if yours cannot. It costs $95 per two-year cycle, a request made on or after Sunday, November 15, 2026 lasts until January 31, 2029, and Campaign Verify decides eligibility.
2. Let CampaignCNX+ file the registration. CampaignCNX+ files your carrier registration, as 10DLC (the registration for texting from a standard local-style number) or toll-free, and files your Campaign Verify token with it. For a toll-free number, the carrier review usually takes about three business days.
3. Text only people who agreed in writing. Use dated sign-up sheets and forms that plainly ask for consent to campaign texts. A petition signature or a voter file is not consent.
4. Organize and schedule. Sort supporters with tags and groups, and schedule texts between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone. Replies can come into a shared inbox (an add-on at $12.49 a month, included on Enterprise), so your team can answer them (staffers see the inbox once you allow it).

Hi [First name], it's [Name], candidate for House of Delegates. Early voting is open now at your registrar's office. Reply STOP to opt out.

100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month. Our post on Campaign Verify for local candidates explains verification step by step, and our political texting page covers campaign texting in general.

Before January 1

Confirm your district and your age and residency, ask your party's district chair how it will nominate or decide to run as an independent, and recruit circulators and a notary. When you are ready to reach supporters by text, start a CampaignCNX+ trial.