Archives - How Does Charlottesville Compare to the Rest of 5th Congressional District?
July 2004
Virginia 5th District Congressional Race: How Does Charlottesville Compare to the Rest of 5th Congressional District?
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"Charlottesville and Albemarle County fall into Virginia's 5th Congressional District, a giant territory occupying the central core of the Commonwealth that includes Danville, Bedford, lots of rural land and at least part of 18 counties. All of Virginia's 11 congressional districts contain about the same number of people, meaning that the relatively sprawling 5th District is far less densely populated than districts in Northern Virginia and Tidewater.

Getting a fix on party-line voting in the 5th District is difficult, mostly because its longtime representative in Congress, Virgil Goode Jr., changed political affiliations twice. A conservative Democrat when first elected in 1996, Goode, a UVA Law School alum, became an independent in 2000, shortly after becoming one of only five Democrats to vote for the impeachment of Bill Clinton.

Goode joined the Republican Party in 2002. In an election later that year, Goode trounced Democrat Meredith Richards with 64 percent of the vote. He is up for reelection again this November, and is challenged by Democrat Al Weed of Nelson." (Paul Fain, C-VILLE Weekly, June 29 - July 5, 2004)

 

  5th District
 Charlottesville
Total population

643,497 

43,833
White persons

72.4 percent

68.4 percent
Black persons

24.1 percent

22.2 percent 
Hispanic/Latino persons

1.6 percent

2.4 percent
Speak language other than English at home

4.5 percent

10.7 percent
High school graduate or highter (people 25 or older)

72.4 percent

80.8 percent
Bachelor's degree or higher (people 25 or older)

19 percent 

40.8 percent
Median household income

$35,739

$31,007
Persons below poverty level

13.2 percent

25.9 percent

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000; nationalatlas.gov

Editor's Note: Income and poverty level statistics for Charlottesville are often misleading due to the inclusion in the database of UVA students, who often have no local source of income.


Comments? Questions? Write me at george@loper.org.