In Va.’s primary election, voters head to polls to decide competitive races (2024)

Polls will be open until 7 p.m. More than 74,000 voters have already cast ballots in early voting, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

In the 5th District, House Freedom Caucus chair Bob Good is facing a challenge from state Sen. John J. McGuire III (R-Goochland), setting up an unusual race between two ultraconservatives in this bright red, rural district.

McGuire has gotten a boost with an endorsem*nt by former president Donald Trump, who called the former Navy SEAL a “true American hero” and blasted Good as “BAD FOR VIRGINIA, AND BAD FOR THE USA” in a post on Truth Social.

Good has been criticized for being obstructionist in Congress, while McGuire has gotten criticism for always appearing to be looking toward the next job.

Those tensions were on display among voters Tuesday in Goochland County, McGuire’s home base. Near the front doors of the Richmond church that served as a voting precinct, McGuire’s signs touted Trump’s blessing alongside a cardboard cutout of the former president holding a sign boasting his “complete and total endorsem*nt” of the state senator.

Charles Nuckols, 79, said Trump’s word influenced his vote.

“He’s a local guy,” Nuckols said of McGuire. “I like the way he speaks. He gets out there and meets people. He’s out on the road constantly asking for votes.”

Alan Fox, 67, was not impressed with McGuire’s drive — calling him an “establishment climber.” Fox said he voted for Good.

“I think Trump listens to the wrong people,” Fox said of the former president’s McGuire endorsem*nt. “He gathers the wrong people around him. He doesn’t make good choices with his advisers. I think we found that out last time around.”

However, Fox said he plans to vote for Trump in November.

Wearing a navy blue Liberty University baseball cap, Good greeted voters at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Lynchburg, just a couple miles from the college campus, making last-minute appeals to constituents who squarely told him that they were listening to the former president and voting for his opponent in Tuesday’s GOP primary.

“I’m disappointed that the president is listening to people who are absolutely lying to him,” Good said. “For people to say I don’t support President Trump, I’ve supported him for eight years. They know I’m supporting him now.”

For Pam and Mike Ross of Lynchburg, it came as no surprise last month when Trump endorsed John McGuire ahead of Tuesday’s GOP primary, potentially undermining incumbent Bob Good. “Trump said ‘[Good] stabbed me in the back.’ I mean, he has a vendetta,” Mike Ross said. “He’s gonna go after people that go against him.”

The couple, who said they voted for Good, identify as “strong Republicans” but are wary of a second Trump term and remain undecided on how they’ll vote in the general election this fall, citing their concerns about the former president’s personal morals and embrace of nationalism.

Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D) opted to run for Virginia governor next year instead of seeking reelection to the House, prompting crowded races in a sprawling district that stretches from the Piedmont region through the Interstate 95 corridor and into eastern Prince William County.

The most heated primary is occurring on the Republican side, where front-runners Derrick Anderson and Cameron Hamilton — both veterans of elite military units who went on to work under the Trump administration — have traded fiery ads and accusations of lying and fraud or defamation. The other candidates are former Trump appointee Terris Todd; author and artist Maria Martin; Marine Corps veteran Jon Myers; and businessman John Prabhudoss.

Military service figured into how some voters decided who got their vote. “I feel like we need more vets representing us,” said Nadine Brackman, a Dalmatian rescuer from Culpeper, explaining her vote for Anderson. “Especially considering the circ*mstances of Afghanistan, and Israel, and who knows, maybe Taiwan.”

Jeanne Hunt, 71, a retiree from Castleton, said she voted for Hamilton, whom she called “a phenomenal person” and praised alongside another Republican running for Senate who is also a veteran. “They love America. They believe in the Constitution, they want to see things go the right way,” she said.

The Democratic primary has since the beginning put the spotlight on one candidate: Yevgeny “Eugene” Vindman, a onetime Trump whistleblower who has parlayed that candidate celebrity to raise more than $5 million and launch a blitz of television ads.

Still, Vindman has faced criticism from some party loyalists that he has been unengaged in the district’s issues and past political battles. And in the field of seven candidates, four from Prince William — Del. Briana D. Sewell, former delegate Elizabeth Guzman, and county supervisors Andrea O. Bailey and Margaret A. Franklin — are hoping they can use their track records in office and community ties to manage an upset victory. Also running are Cliff Heinzer, a retired diplomat, and Carl Bedell, a lawyer.

Vindman’s past both as a military officer and a whistleblower won over some voters in Culpeper.

“He stood up to Trump,” Carolyn Robertson said outside the Culpeper Methodist Church. “He suffered a lot by what he did, and helped us by what he did. I think with his military career and his other public service, he’s more than qualified.”

Several voters said they picked Vindman because he was the only Democratic candidate they knew. “He’s a name I recognized,” said Felicia Palunco.

But Tyler Hartman, who will be 18 this fall, said he passed over Vindman because he heard more anti-Trump messaging than policy solutions, which he found in his preferred candidate, Guzman.

“You shouldn’t build your policy on what you’re not,” Hartman said. “You should build your policy on what you are.”

There’s a crowded field in Virginia’s 10th District, with 12 Democrats and four Republicans running to replace Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D), who is not running for reelection for health reasons. Political analysts say the 10th District is likely to remain blue in November, adding tension to a Democratic primary where most of the candidates were aligned on core party issues such as women’s reproductive rights, gun safety and calls to end the war in Gaza.

Del. Dan Helmer (Fairfax) raised the most among his Democratic opponents, with $1.5 million; state Sen. Suhas Subramanyam (Loudoun), former House speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (Fairfax) and defense strategy consultancy owner Krystle Kaul rounded out the list of highest fundraising in the race.

Also running are: Atif Qarni, a former education secretary in Virginia; state Sen. Jennifer B. Boysko (Fairfax); Dels. David A. Reid (Loudoun) and Michelle Lopes Maldonado (Prince William); ex-CIA officer Adrian Pokharel; Travis Nembhard, who oversees D.C.’s Department of For-Hire Vehicles; Marion Devoe Sr., Northern Virginia Community College’s director of campus operations; and Mark Leighton, a head librarian at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School.

Among Republicans, tech company executive Mike Clancy and Aliscia Andrews, the party’s nominee against Wexton in 2020 and a former deputy secretary of homeland security for Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), have raised the most, followed by defense contractor Alexander Isaac and Trump acolyte Manga Anantatmula.

Although Tom and Lorraine Zaug will celebrate their 22nd wedding anniversary on Saturday, they made different selections in the crowded 10th District Democratic primary when they voted at Potomac Baptist Church.

Tom Zaug offered a laundry list of reasons for backing Subramanyam: “He worked with the legislator, as a senator, and he was an EMT and firefighter — he was more of a man of the people in my book,” he said. And it didn’t hurt that Wexton endorsed him.

Lorraine Zaug reached a different conclusion, selecting Helmer largely because of his proposed bill to bar anyone who participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection from holding public office in the state. She also liked that he was a military veteran and said he had a record in advocating for women’s issues.

“I don’t want anyone who stormed the Capitol. It’s against my beliefs,” she said. “I don’t think they should be representing Americans at all.”

Jill Klaskin, a 74-year-old voter in Ashburn, said she picked Filler-Corn in the Democratic primary in part because of her "reputation when she was in Richmond in the state government.” But Klaskin said she thought Filler-Corn thought she had the best chance of keeping the seat in Democratic hands in November.

“We want it to remain a blue seat,” she said.

Five Republicans are vying for the GOP nomination for Senate — each hoping to take on Sen. Tim Kaine, who is not opposed in the Democratic primary, in the fall.

Retired Navy Capt. Hung Cao has a wide lead over the rest of the field in money and name recognition, having attempted to unseat Wexton in the 10th District in 2022. Two other candidates — Scott Parkinson, a former adviser to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), and Clifton attorney and author Jonathan Emord — are nearly tied for second place in fundraising. Also running are Virginia Beach attorney Chuck Smith, who also ran for Virginia attorney general in 2017 and 2021; and small-business owner and Army veteran Eddie Garcia.

In Ashburn, Cao’s name recognition and position on border issues helped win the vote of Steve Bohlander, 57. He said he felt Cao would best tackle the most important issues on his mind: “Slow down the illegal immigration and manage the economy better.”

Susan Premo, 55, said she voted for Garcia because he was “not taking huge amounts from large corporations” and he didn’t support abortion.

She came to the polls with her daughters, who decided to cast Democratic ballots and said reproductive rights were the issue that concerned them the most in this cycle.

“We’re so different in our household,” Premo said.

In Northern Virginia’s innermost suburbs, voters are casting their ballots in local Democratic primaries that have centered on fierce debates about zoning, urban development and housing density.

The marquee local race is in Alexandria, where three candidates are looking to succeed Mayor Justin M. Wilson (D), who is not seeking reelection after two terms. Vice Mayor Amy Jackson, city council member Alyia Gaskins and Steven Peterson, a retired real estate developer, have all vowed to listen closely to residents — albeit in different ways — after tense discussions over a vote to eliminate single-family-only zoning and a now-failed proposal for a new sports arena in Potomac Yard.

Alexandria voters will also select nominees for six other seats on city council from a pool of 11 candidates.

At Alexandria City Hall, Carole Sebenick, 61, said she voted for Jackson because of her on-the-job experience, which includes decades of leadership.

“She has a lot of experience in the city from a lot of different perspectives,” Sebenick said.

Other voters felt a change was needed. James Whitmire, 71, has lived in Alexandria’s Old Town neighborhood for 20 years and voted for Peterson because “he seems like an outsider and we need an outside voice.”

When asked what else he liked about Peterson, Whitmire replied: “Only that. I don’t know much of anything about him, just that he’s not a part of the establishment in Alexandria and that’s a good thing.”

In nearby Arlington County, five candidates for one open seat on the county board have also been battling over a similar zoning vote. Because the race is being decided via ranked-choice voting, it is unlikely that a winner will be clear Tuesday night

Erin Cox, Chris Suarez, Tom Jackman, Hau Chu, Michael Brice-Saddler, Emma Uber and Jordan D. Brown contributed to this report.