The 2017 Virginia House of Delegates election was held on Tuesday, November 7. All 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates were contested. The Republican Party held a 66–34 majority in the House of Delegates before the election but lost 15 seats to the Democratic Party, resulting in the Republicans holding a 50–49 advantage.

The election was notable for having a perfectly tied vote in the 94th district, which left control of the legislature undecided. The winner of the race was determined by a random drawing on January 4, 2018, which resulted in the Republicans holding a 51–49 majority.

Background The election took place during the first term of President Donald Trump, a Republican who won the 2016 presidential election. Democrats fielded a larger number of candidates than usual in hopes of defying Trump. While there were 17 Republican delegates in districts that had voted Clinton, there were no Democrats from districts that had backed Trump. For this reason, Democrats focused more on picking up seats than on defending seats. Early on, it was expected that Republicans would hold the majority, but Democrats became more optimistic following the unexpectedly close result in Kansas's 4th congressional district special election. Likewise, after Jacqueline Smith won the election for Prince William County Clerk of Circuit Court, Republicans expressed concern that Democratic momentum and Republican internal bickering could cause them to lose five to ten seats in the House of Delegates. Democratic state senator Jeremy McPike argued that Smith's victory boded well for Democratic turnout in the state election.

The filing deadline for Republicans and Democrats to participate in the June 13 primary was March 30. There were seven open House seats, as Republicans Dave Albo, Mark Dudenhefer, Peter Farrell, Bill Howell, Jimmie Massie, and Rick Morris, and Democrat Daun Hester all declined to run again. A total of 55 House of Delegates races were contested. 77 Democrats lined up to challenge 49 Republican incumbents. 35 races were uncontested in the general election, with 13 having only a Republican candidate and 22 having only a Democrat.

In the 2017 election, Democrats reported 153,442 donations of $100 or less, whereas Republicans reported 7,332 such donations.

Delegates not running for re-election Delegate Seat First elected Party Date announced Ref. Dave Albo 42nd district 1993 Republican Mark Dudenhefer 2nd district 2015 Republican Peter Farrell 56th district 2013 Republican Daun Hester 89th district 2012 Democratic William J. Howell 28th district 1987 Republican Jimmie Massie 72nd district 2007 Republican Rick Morris 64th district 2011 Republican

Results By November 8, the Associated Press called the elections in 96 districts, giving the Democrats a 49–47 advantage but not yet the majority of seats. Upon certification of the election results on November 27, the Republicans held a 51–49 majority. A recount in the 94th district resulted in the Democrats gaining one more seat, causing a 50–50 split. But a three-judge panel declined to certify the result and counted another vote that tied the election, which led to the panel declaring that there was no winner. So the balance of the House of Delegates was at 50–49 in the Republicans' favor until the race was resolved through drawing lots, as per state law. On January 4, 2018, the drawing was held and Republican David Yancey was declared the winner. His opponent, Shelly Simonds, conceded on January 10.

There were several notable candidates who won elections. Democratic candidate Chris Hurst, whose girlfriend was murdered on live television in 2015, defeated Republican incumbent and National Rifle Association-supported Joseph Yost in the 12th district. In the 13th district, Democratic candidate Danica Roem defeated Republican incumbent Bob Marshall to become the first openly transgender candidate to be elected and serve in a state legislative body in the United States. In the 21st and 42nd districts, respectively, Democratic candidates Kelly Fowler and Kathy Tran became the first Asian American women elected to the House of Delegates after defeating Republican incumbent Ron Villanueva and candidate Lolita Mancheno-Smoak. Democratic candidates Elizabeth Guzmán and Hala Ayala defeated Republican incumbents Scott Lingamfelter and Richard Anderson in the 31st and 51st districts, respectively, to also become the first two Hispanic women elected to the House of Delegates. In the 50th district, Lee Carter, the Democratic candidate and a self-described democratic socialist, defeated Republican incumbent and House Majority Whip Jackson Miller. Democratic candidate Dawn M. Adams became the first openly lesbian candidate to be elected to the House of Delegates after defeating Republican incumbent G. Manoli Loupassi in the 68th district.

In the 2017 election, 25 women were elected to the House of Delegates, breaking the previous record of 19 that was set in 2013.

Close races Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

Overall

Party Leader Delegates Votes Of total ± Of total ± Republican Party William J. Howell 51 51.00% 15 1,076,081 43.81% 15.79 Democratic Party David Toscano 49 49.00% 15 1,304,241 53.10% 17.35Other parties Write-in N/A 0 0.00% 36,640 1.49% Independent N/A 0 0.00% 26,603 1.08% Green Party N/A 0 0.00% 6,409 0.26% 0.08 Libertarian Party N/A 0 0% 6,295 0.25% 0.13

By House of Delegates district