Virginians pick their Democratic ticket, setting up consequential November election
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Polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Virginia on a primary election that saw Republicans with no choices to make in statewide races, while Democrats picked from a crowded field to decide their nominee for lieutenant governor.
The top of both parties’ tickets are already decided, as Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Democratic U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger ran unopposed as nominations for governor.
One of six Democratic hopefuls will be Spanberger’s running mate. Democrats across Virginia chose Tuesday from the following candidates for the lieutenant governor nomination:
- State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi of Richmond
- State Sen. Aaron Rouse of Virginia Beach
- Prince William County School Board Chairman Babur Lateef
- Former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney
- Former federal government attorney Alexander J. Bastani
- Former federal government attorney Victor Salgado
On the Republican side, talk-radio host John Reid ran uncontested for the lieutenant governor nomination. Virginia Attorney General and incumbent Jason Miyares also faced no opposition within his party in seeking reelection.
In picking their nominees for attorney general, Democrats had two choices: Former state Del. Jay Jones and Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor.
House of Delegates majority hangs in the balance
All 100 seats in the state House of Delegates are up for election this year, although only 15 districts held contested primaries. Democrats hold slender majorities in both the state House (51-49) and the state Senate (21-19). Members of the upper chamber will not face voters until 2027.
In the D.C. region, the only contested primaries for House seats were in Arlington County’s District 1, Prince William County’s District 21 and Culpeper County’s District 62.
In District 1, incumbent Democratic Del. Patrick Hope faced challenges from Sean Epstein and Arjoon Srikanth.
Republicans in District 21 chose from Gregory Gorham, Xanthe Larsen and Sahar Smith. The winner will face off against incumbent Democratic Del. Joshua Thomas.
District 62’s Republican Del. Nick Freitas did not run for reelection, opening the door for two new Republican candidates, Clay Jackson and Karen Hamilton. The winner will face off against Democratic candidate Sara Ratcliffe in November.
Virginia does not conduct automatic recounts. Candidates may request and pay for recounts if the margin between the top two candidates is 1% or less. The Associated Press 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.
Low turnout reported
As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, Fairfax County reported 2.9% of registered voters had shown up to the polls to vote — that’s on top of the 3.9% of registered voters who voted early in-person or through a mail-in ballot.
The last primary for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general in 2021 saw 11.3% turnout among registered Democrats. Four years ago, five Democrats were vying for the nomination for governor, while this year, Spanberger is running unopposed, which may explain the lower turnout. Republicans opted to hold a convention instead of a primary in 2021.
Arlington County reported that, as of 5 p.m., about 7% of registered voters had voted Tuesday. On top of early voting and mail ballots, total turnout sat at about 12%, according to the county’s elections board. In 2021’s primary, 16% turnout was reported.
In Loudoun County, as of 4 p.m., total turnout sat at 4.81%, including mail ballots, early voting and Election Day voting. That compares to 13.81% turnout in 2017’s primary. Loudoun County didn’t have turnout data for 2021’s primary on its website.
Prince William County reported 5.7% total turnout, including all forms of voting, as of 3 p.m. Tuesday. Turnout data for past gubernatorial primaries in Prince William was not immediately available.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.