AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Virginia’s primaries
WASHINGTON (AP) — Virginia Democrats will settle a crowded six-way primary for lieutenant governor on Tuesday as well as a contested nomination fight for state attorney general. Meanwhile, voters across the commonwealth will choose nominees for the state House of Delegates.
The winners will advance to the general election in November, when Republicans will defend their seats for the three top statewide offices, including governor, while Democrats will try to cling to their narrow majority in the state House. In Virginia in the year following a presidential election, candidates from the president’s party historically have faced strong headwinds at the ballot box.
At the top of the ticket, Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Democratic U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger are unopposed for their parties’ nominations for governor and will not appear on Tuesday’s ballot.
The candidates running for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor include state Sens. Ghazala Hashmi of Richmond and Aaron Rouse of Virginia Beach, Prince William County School Board Chairman Babur Lateef and former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney. Former federal government attorneys Alex Bastani and Victor Salgado round out the field. Talk-radio host John Reid is unopposed for the Republican nomination.
Stoney has endorsements from former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe and former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. He has led the field in fundraising, bringing in $2.1 million since launching his campaign in April 2024. Rouse’s endorsements include U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott and state Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas. He has raised more than $1.8 million, just ahead of Hashmi. Lateef raised about $1.3 million.
Hashmi entered the campaign’s final 12-day stretch with the most money in the bank at nearly $462,000. Rouse was close behind with $452,000. Lateef and Stoney each had roughly $260,000 in the bank as of June 5.
In the race for state attorney general, former state Del. Jay Jones and Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor seek the Democratic nomination to face Republican incumbent Jason Miyares in November. Jones’ key supporters include McAuliffe and former Gov. Ralph Northam. Taylor has endorsements from former Virginia Attorneys General Mark Herring and Mary Sue Terry.
Jones has outraised Taylor $2.7 million to $2.1 million for the campaign overall, although Taylor outraised Jones from April through early June. As of June 5, Jones had $493,000 in the bank, compared with $470,000 for Taylor.
All 100 seats in the state House of Delegates are up for election this year, although only 15 districts will hold contested primaries. Democrats hold slender majorities in both the state House and the state Senate. Members of the upper chamber will not face voters until 2027.
Northern Virginia and the Richmond area tend to play key roles in statewide Democratic primaries. Counties and cities from those areas made up eight of the top 10 jurisdictions that contributed the most votes in the Democratic primaries for governor and lieutenant governor in 2017 and 2021.
Fairfax County tends to post the highest total votes of any jurisdiction in the state in both parties’ primaries. The neighboring northern Virginia counties of Loudoun and Prince William are also influential in both Democratic and Republican primaries, while nearby Arlington and Alexandria play a lesser role in Republican primaries, given their political leanings.
The Associated Press does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
Virginia does not conduct automatic recounts. Candidates may request and pay for recounts if the margin between the top two candidates is 1 percentage point or less. The government will pay for the recount if the margin is less than 0.5 percentage points or the final outcome has changed. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is eligible for a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.
Here’s a look at what to expect Tuesday:
Primary day
Virginia’s state primaries will be held Tuesday. Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.
What’s on the ballot?
The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in the Democratic primaries for lieutenant governor and attorney general, as well as for Democratic and Republican primaries across the state for the House of Delegates.
Who gets to vote?
Any registered voter in Virginia may participate in either the Democratic or the Republican primary but not both.
What do turnout and advance vote look like?
As of early May, there were about 6.3 million registered voters in Virginia. Voters do not register by party.
Turnout in the 2021 Democratic primary for governor was 8% of registered voters. About a quarter of primary voters cast their ballots before Election Day. Virginia Republicans did not hold a primary for governor that year.
As of Thursday, more than 158,000 Democratic primary ballots had been cast before Election Day. With no statewide GOP primaries on the ballot to drive turnout and only eight contested GOP state House primaries, there were fewer than 9,000 pre-Election Day ballots cast by Republican primary voters in the same time frame.
How long does vote-counting usually take?
In the 2024 presidential election, the AP first reported results at 7:11 p.m. ET, or 11 minutes after polls closed. The election night tabulation ended at 3:56 a.m. ET with about 95% of total votes counted.
Are we there yet?
As of Tuesday, there will be 140 days until Virginia’s general election.
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Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2025 election at https://apnews.com/projects/election-results-2025/.