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| Turnout | 64.8% (voting eligible)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
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 County and independent city results Robb: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Coleman: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Virginia |
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In the 1981 Virginia gubernatorial election, Republican incumbent Governor John N. Dalton was unable to seek re-election due to term limits. Chuck Robb, the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, was nominated by the Democratic Party to run against the Republican nominee, state Attorney General J. Marshall Coleman.
Robb's victory ended 12 consecutive years of Republican control of the Governor's Mansion.