The Virginia Rules

Two candidates from Virginia seriously considered running in the 2008 presidential race: former Democratic governor Mark Warner, who pulled the plug on his exploratory bid in October 2006, and former Republican senator George Allen, whose defeat for reelection a month later terminated a budding presidential candidacy.

The central question now is whether the Virginia primary will be relevant at all in 2008. In 2000, it definitely was; the Old Dominion's Republican primary in late February that year was an important event in the month-long battle between George W. Bush and John McCain. But so many states have moved their primaries forward that Virginia—even on Feb. 12—is no longer voting early in the nominating process, but comparatively late.

Virginia does not have party registration, so any of the state's 4,535,655 registered voters (as of October 2007) can participate in either the Democratic or Republican primary.