The short version.
Virginia runs on an odd-year clock. The Governor, the House of Delegates and almost every local office are elected in odd-numbered years, deliberately out of step with the federal calendar, so the cycle that matters for a local race here is November 2027 rather than 2026. Nearly all of the work happens at your local voter registration office, run by a general registrar, rather than in Richmond.
Virginia also divides itself into two kinds of place, and it changes what is on your ballot. Ninety-five of the Commonwealth's 133 localities are counties. The other 38 are independent cities, which sit inside no county at all and run their own elections, courts and constitutional offices. The two are on different election cycles for some of the same job titles, so this page lists what is up where you live rather than a single statewide list.
This page covers that for Fauquier County and points you at your local election office for anything specific to your county. It is not legal advice; the official rules live with your election office and the Virginia Department of Elections.
Fauquier County by the numbers.
- In 2024, Fauquier County cast 44,537 votes for president: 60.2% Republican, 38.6% Democratic.
The campaigns that win the field are the ones who start building their list of supporters and volunteers before qualifying even opens, not after. Motion51 is ready to load your Fauquier County voter file the moment you send it over, so you can start finding your people now.
Virginia election calendar (2027).
The next general election for local office is Tuesday, November 2, 2027. Petitions cannot be signed before January 1 of the election year, which makes New Year's Day the real starting gun. Two of the dates below are new: the General Assembly rewrote parts of the primary filing rules in 2026, and those changes take effect on January 1, 2027, in time for this cycle.
- Fri Jan 1, 2027First day petition signatures count. Anything collected before this date is void, however willing the signer (Va. Code 24.2-506).
- Tue Mar 2, 2027Filing deadline, 7:00 p.m., for the May 2027 general election. This applies only in the towns and cities that still hold council elections in May rather than November.
- Mon Mar 15, 2027Primary filing opens at noon, the 92nd day before the June primary. Nothing can be filed earlier.
- Thu Apr 1, 2027Primary filing deadline, 5:00 p.m., the 75th day before the primary. Declaration of candidacy, petitions and the filing-fee receipt are all due together.
- Tue Apr 6, 2027New for 2027. If an incumbent did not file by April 1, or filed and then withdrew, anyone other than that incumbent gets until 5:00 p.m. on this day to file for the seat (Va. Code 24.2-522, amended 2026).
- Tue May 4, 2027May general election, in the towns and cities still on the May calendar.
- Tue Jun 15, 2027Primary election, the third Tuesday in June. Also the 7:00 p.m. deadline for independent candidates and non-primary party nominees to file for the November ballot (Va. Code 24.2-507).
- Tue Nov 2, 2027General election.
2026 is a federal year in Virginia. The June 16 primary and the November 3 general cover one US Senate seat and eleven US House districts, and that filing window closed on April 2, 2026. Special elections run on their own clock, and a party that nominates by convention rather than primary sets its own dates. Confirm any deadline with your registrar before you rely on it.
Offices on the ballot in Fauquier County.
These are the local seats on the November 2027 ballot where you live. Counties and independent cities do not match: a county elects its sheriff, commonwealth's attorney, treasurer and commissioner of the revenue in 2027, while the cities elected theirs in 2025 and are next up in 2029. Circuit court clerks run the other way, on eight-year terms, with the cities voting in 2027 and the counties not until 2031.
- Sheriff (four-year term)
- Commonwealth's Attorney (four-year term)
- Treasurer (four-year term, unless the county has abolished the office under an optional form of government)
- Commissioner of the Revenue (four-year term, same exception)
- Board of Supervisors (four-year terms; some counties elect half the board every two years instead)
- School Board, in the counties that elect one rather than appointing it
- Soil and Water Conservation District directors
- Not up in 2027: the Clerk of the Circuit Court, who serves eight years and is next elected in 2031.
Statewide and legislative seats covering Fauquier County are on the same ballot:
- Governor (four-year term; a Virginia governor cannot serve two terms in a row)
- Lieutenant Governor (four-year term)
- Attorney General (four-year term)
- House of Delegates, all 100 seats (two-year terms)
Charters, optional forms of government and local ordinances all change this list. A county under an optional form may not elect a treasurer or a commissioner of the revenue at all, some counties elect half their board every two years rather than the whole board every four, and a town that has not moved its council elections to November still votes in May. Your registrar holds the official seat-by-seat list.
How to get on the ballot.
There are two ways onto the November ballot in Virginia, and the one you pick decides your deadline, who you hand your paperwork to, and whether you pay anything at all.
Route 1: Run in a party primary.
File your declaration of candidacy, your petitions and a receipt for the filing fee between noon on Monday, March 15 and 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, 2027. For a local office these go to the chairman of your party's local committee, not to the registrar, which surprises a lot of first-time candidates.
- The fee is two percent of one year's minimum salary for the office you want. It is a percentage, not a flat number, so it is different for every office and different from one locality to the next. Ask your registrar or your party committee for the figure attached to your seat rather than guessing from another county's.
- If the office carries no salary the fee is $5. If it is paid by fees rather than a salary, the party committee sets the amount.
- There is no primary unless the party calls one. Virginia parties may also nominate by convention, mass meeting or party canvass, each with its own rules and its own calendar.
- New for this cycle: if the incumbent has not filed by 5:00 p.m. on April 1, or files and then withdraws, everyone except that incumbent gets an extra five days, to 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 6.
Winning the primary is not the end of the paperwork. You also file a candidate qualification certificate, made under oath, and, for a constitutional office or most school boards, a statement of economic interests.
Route 2: File as an independent.
Skip the primary and go straight onto the November ballot. Your declaration of candidacy, petition, candidate qualification certificate and, where required, statement of economic interests go to the general registrar of the county or city where the office is sought, by 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15, 2027.
- There is no filing fee on this route at all. Independents in Virginia pay nothing.
- The signature requirement is the same as it is for a party candidate. The saving is money and a primary, not petitioning.
- One deadline, no extensions. The third Tuesday in June is the whole window.
Write-in candidates file nothing in advance for state and local offices, and write-in votes are counted in every election except a primary. It is a real route in a small race, though a hard one.
How many signatures you need.
Virginia sets flat numbers by office rather than a percentage of anything, which makes the target easy to know in advance. These are the counts in effect for the 2027 cycle:
- Constitutional office (sheriff, commonwealth's attorney, treasurer, commissioner of the revenue, clerk of the circuit court): 125.
- County board of supervisors, city council, or an elected school board: 125; or 50 if you are running from a district that is not at-large and has 1,000 or fewer registered voters.
- Town council or elected town school board: 125 where the town has more than 3,500 registered voters, 50 where it has 1,500 to 3,500, and no petition at all where it has fewer than 1,500. From a ward rather than at-large, 25.
- Soil and water conservation district director: 25.
- House of Delegates 125, Senate of Virginia 250, US House 1,000, and statewide office or US Senate 10,000 including at least 400 from each congressional district.
- Anything not on this list: 50.
Every signature has to be witnessed, and each page carries the circulator's affidavit. Signatures gathered before January 1 of the election year do not count, and neither do those collected by a non-resident circulator who did not sign the consent-to-jurisdiction statement. Collect well past the minimum. If your petition is rejected for too few valid signatures you have five calendar days to appeal, and for a county, city or town office that appeal is heard by your local electoral board.
Statutory references: Va. Code 24.2-506 (signature counts; amended effective January 1, 2027) · Va. Code 24.2-507 (independent filing deadlines) · Va. Code 24.2-515 (primary is the third Tuesday in June) · Va. Code 24.2-522 (primary filing window; 70-day incumbent rule effective January 1, 2027) · Va. Code 24.2-523 (primary fee: two percent of one year's minimum salary) · Va. Code 24.2-217 and 24.2-218 (constitutional officer and supervisor terms). Fees and signature counts change; confirm before you file.
The County of Fauquier.
This is where an independent candidate files, where your candidate qualification certificate goes, and the office that answers what this page cannot: exactly which seats are on your ballot, which district you live in, and what the petition form looks like.
- Office
- 528 Waterloo Rd Ste 200, Warrenton, VA 20186-3011
- Phone
- (540) 422-8290
- [email protected]
Contact details verified 2026-08-11. Official statewide sources: Virginia Department of Elections · Find your local voter registration office · Code of Virginia, Title 24.2 Chapter 5 (Candidates for Office).
Common questions.
When is the filing deadline for local office in Fauquier County?
There are two, and which one is yours depends on how you get nominated. To run in a party primary, everything is due by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, 2027, filed with your party's local committee chairman. To run as an independent, everything is due by 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15, 2027, filed with the general registrar in Fauquier County. New for this cycle: if the incumbent has not filed by April 1, other candidates get until 5:00 p.m. on April 6.
How much does it cost to run for office in Fauquier County?
Nothing at all if you file as an independent. Virginia charges independents no filing fee. If you run in a party primary the fee is two percent of one year's minimum salary for the office, so it is a different number for every seat and for every locality; $5 where the office carries no salary. Because it is a percentage rather than a flat charge, the figure for a seat in Fauquier County is one to get from your registrar or your party committee rather than from a table.
How many signatures do I need to get on the ballot in Fauquier County?
For a constitutional office, or a seat on the governing body or an elected school board, 125. That drops to 50 if you are running from a district that is not at-large and has 1,000 or fewer registered voters, and to 25 for a soil and water conservation district director. Towns are lower still, and the smallest towns need no petition at all. The counts are the same whether you run in a primary or as an independent, and no signature counts if it was collected before January 1 of the election year.
Where is the Fauquier County election office?
The general registrar's office listed on this page handles candidate filing, voter registration and elections for Fauquier County. The address, phone number, email and website come from the Virginia Department of Elections' own directory of local offices.
Which local offices are on the ballot in Fauquier County in 2027?
The list higher up this page is the one for Fauquier County. The short version: Virginia's counties elect sheriff, commonwealth's attorney, treasurer and commissioner of the revenue in 2027, along with their boards of supervisors, while the independent cities elected those offices in 2025 and are next up in 2029. Circuit court clerks serve eight years and run the other way, with the cities voting in 2027 and the counties in 2031. Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General and all 100 House of Delegates seats are on every 2027 ballot.
How many registered voters are in Fauquier County?
Motion51 does not hold the Virginia voter file, so we do not publish a registration count for Fauquier County. Virginia's file is one of the very few that comes with a restriction on passing it on to anyone else, so unlike most states we do not ask campaigns to bring us their own copy either. Your general registrar publishes registration figures for Fauquier County, and the Virginia Department of Elections publishes them for the whole Commonwealth.
Why is Virginia's big election year 2027 and not 2026?
Virginia is one of a handful of states that hold their state and local elections in odd-numbered years, on purpose, so they are not swamped by the federal calendar. 2026 in Virginia is a federal year only: one US Senate seat and eleven US House districts, with a June 16 primary and a November 3 general. If you are thinking about a local race in Fauquier County, 2027 is your cycle, and the useful work starts on January 1.
After you qualify: the field operation.
Filing in Virginia is quick, and it is the easy part. What decides a local race here is the ten months on either side of it. Odd-year turnout is often close to half what the same neighbourhood produced the November before, so the voters who show up in 2027 are a smaller and more particular group than the ones on a presidential roll, and finding them is most of the job.
That is the part Motion51 was built for. You scope your district, cut turf, and send volunteers out with a phone instead of a clipboard. It works offline, so canvassing does not stop where the cell signal does, and every door is logged with a timestamp for your records. Our For Candidates page walks through what that looks like.
Counties and Cities next to Fauquier.
Running in a district that crosses a county line? Each of these has its own guide.