The ’60s: Civil rights delivers a serious blow to Democratic control

Civil rights, championed by national Democrats, drove Virginia and much of the South into the open arms of the Republican Party, no big surprise in a state where every congressperson signed the Southern Manifesto opposing the movement and many school systems shut down rather than integrate. Vocal civil rights opponent Barry Goldwater saw some success in Southern Virginia in his 1964 presidential campaign. Even third-party candidates such as segregationist George Wallace won some counties down south. In 1969, a Republican won the Virginia governorship for the first time in a century.