Population (2000) 643,504 Cook PVI R+12 | Median income 37,773 | |
 | ||
Current Representative Bob Goodlatte (R–Roanoke) Ethnicity 85.9% White
11.0% Black
1.0% Asian
2.0% Hispanic
0.2% Native American
0.0% other | ||
Virginia's sixth congressional district is a United States congressional district in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It covers much of the west-central portion of the state, including Roanoke, Lynchburg and most of the Shenandoah Valley. Due to recent redistricting, the district now covers all or part of Warren, Shenandoah, Page, Rockingham, Highland, Augusta, Bath, Bedford, Rockbridge, Botetourt, Roanoke, and Amherst Counties as well as the cities of Harrisonburg, Staunton, Waynesboro, Lexington, Buena Vista, Lynchburg, and Roanoke. The current representative is Bob Goodlatte (R), who has held the seat since 1993, when incumbent Democrat James R. Olin declined to run.
In 2008, businessman Sam Rasoul received the Democratic Party's nomination, unsuccessfully challenging Goodlatte. Businesswoman Janice Lee Allen Ph.D. ran as an Independent
In 2010, Jeffrey Vanke ran for the seat, also as an Independent, with endorsement from the Modern Whig Party as did Libertarian candidate Stuart Bain.
Bob Goodlatte won the Republican nomination in the June 12, 2012 GOP primary, fending off a challenge from Karen Kwiatkowski. Democratic candidate Andy Schmookler challenged Bob Goodlatte in the November 6, 2012 general election.
In the November 8, 2016 general election, Goodlatte defeated Democratic challenger Kai Degner.
Historically, the district was one of the first areas of Virginia to turn Republican. Many of the old Byrd Democrats in the area began splitting their tickets and voting Republican at the national level as early as the 1930s, and some counties in the district haven't supported a Democrat for president since Franklin D. Roosevelt.