Is Virginia a must-win state for both parties?

[madelka]

This assumes that Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee. I'd say yes. Even though there are certain somewhat plausible ways Democrats and Republicans could get to 270 EV without Virginia, it's unlikely to happen in 2016 (especially with Hillary's weak poll numbers in Colorado and Iowa).

[°Leprechaun]

If the Democrat carries PA, WI, NV, NM and NH s/he would only need OH, VA or FL.

The Republican would be in trouble without winning all three: OH, VA and FL.

VA could be the deciding state, although OH is about as likely a win for either party.

It is a plausible scenario that the Republican could win all three states and become POTUS.

[Xing]

Either party could win without it, but it's much harder for Republicans to do so than Democrats. If Democrats win OH or FL, they don't need VA. They could also win with just the Obama states minus OH, VA, and FL. If Republicans lose VA, they'll either have to win PA, or win OH, FL, CO, IA, and NH, or pull off a win in a Democratic leaning state like NV or WI, which they probably won't do if they lose VA.

[Kingpoleon]

272 - 266 Dem

However, if it's a national swing to flip VA, the Democrats lose the popular vote.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

It is a must win state for GOP, dems dont need it, they only need CO, NH, NV, Pa & Iowa.

Biden will have won Va.

[Figueira]

With the way Virginia is trending, it's probably slightly more of a must-win for Democrats, but either party could plausibly win without Virginia.

[Clark Kent]

Nope, and without requiring Pennsylvania for the GOP:

[Mehmentum]

Its not a must win for either party at this point, though its closer to must win for the Democrats than the Republicans because of its slight Democratic tilt.

Without Virginia, the Democrat's best path is Obama's 2012 victory without FL, VA, and OH.  Its a very narrow path, however.  Maybe they could manage a win with Ohio.

Without Virginia, Republicans would need something like IA, CO + NH/NV, IA + WI (which is a 269 tie that the GOP wins in the house), or just PA.  Of course, the challenge is actually winning PA or WI.  So far the GOP hasn't had luck with that, so they'll need to bet that 2016's the year these states finally flip.

[Mr. Reactionary]

I wish I could have voted.

[Suburbia]

It's just for Republicans. They have to win VA, CO.

[Asian Nazi]

It's definitely a must-win for the Republicans, unless they can win PA (not plausible in anything other than a landslide) or IA+NH (slightly more likely, particularly the latter, but still probably not happening).

The Democrats, on the other hand, could easily win without it if they took CO, OH, of FL.

[Nyvin]

The Democrats obviously start with a much larger "base" in the electoral college,  so it's much easier for them to sacrifice those 13 votes and win elsewhere.

The GOP would struggle a lot more to make up the 13 votes with their "red fortress" states though.

I don't know if it's quite "must win" for either side honestly though.