1981Flipped from RepublicanFinal results
1981 election for Virginia Governor
Governor · Virginia
Charles Robb (D) won with 53.6% of the vote, defeating J. Marshall Coleman (R) by 7.1 points, a seat Republicans won last time.
Charles RobbDemocrat · winner
53.6%760,384
J. Marshall ColemanRepublican
46.4%659,398
1,419,782 votes
Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1981
Races before and after
Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET