Scrutinel— 2026 midterms

UpdatedOct 10, 2026, 11:27 AM EDT
To election day24 days
Simulations200,000

Virginia 3rd District

Currently held by a Democrat · incumbent running

Democrat
Bobby Scott
>99.9%
Republican
Edwin Rivera
<0.1%
ForecastSafe D
Projected margin
D+48.9
80% range
D+37.4 to D+60.5
Partisan lean
D+36.4
Uncertainty multiplier
1.80×

The 80% range comes from 200,000 simulations in which this race’s error is correlated with every other race through the national, state and demographic layers.

How the estimate is built
Fundamentals >99.9%
Polling average
no polls
Fundamentals
D+49.0
Blended
D+49.0
Similar-race shift
−0.6
Polling

No public polling of this matchup. The forecast rests on fundamentals plus the polling residuals of demographically and politically similar races — which is the normal case: most of the 435 House seats are never polled.

Fundamentals
Partisan lean
D+36.4
Elasticity
0.96
Incumbency
+3.4
Candidate experience
0.0
Fundraising
+4.1
National environment
D+7.1
Expected margin
D+49.6
How it voted for presidenttwo-party
2024 margin
D+35.2
2020 margin
D+38.9
Shift 2020 → 2024
R+3.7
Votes cast, 2024
320,985

Presidential results reaggregated onto the 2026 district lines. This is where the seat’s partisan lean comes from, and it carries most of the forecast in a race nobody has polled.

Who lives hereCensus ACS
Population
613,711
Median age
44.4
Median household income
$63,300
Bachelor’s degree or higher
28%
White
42%
Black
45%
Hispanic
7%
Asian
4%

Used to find demographically similar districts, so a race with no polling can borrow the polling error of races that look like it.

Campaign fundraisingFEC filings to Invalid Date
CandidatePartyRaisedCash on hand
Robert C ScottDEM$688k$146k
Edwin RiveraREP$7k$2k

Receipts across the cycle, from FEC bulk filings. The model uses the ratio between the two sides rather than either total, and weights it lightly — money follows a competitive race at least as much as it causes one.

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