It’s Primary Election Day across Virginia. Democrats have a slate of candidates for Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General in the statewide races.
Polls are open today until 7 p.m. Find your polling place.
In the Democratic contest for Governor, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe holds a commanding lead over the large field of Democrats also vying for the position, including Jennifer Carrol Foy, of Woodbridge. Carroll Foy resigned her seat in the House of Delegates in December to focus full-time on her run for governor.
Locally, Delegate Lee Carter (D-50, Bristow, Manassas) is also making big for governor while also trying to hold on to his seat in the House of Delegates. In the House race, he’s being challenged by two Democrats — Michelle Maldonado, and Helen Zurita.
According to the same poll that puts McAuliffe in the lead, the race for Lt. Governor is anyone’s to win. Locally, Delegate Hyla Ayala (D-51, Prince William County) is a candidate but is facing strong backlash for taking a $100,000 campaign donation from Dominion Energy after swearing she wouldn’t take the utility’s money.
Ayala did not seek re-election to the 51st District seat. Democrat Briana Sewell, who currently works as the chief of staff to Prince Willam County Chair At-large Ann Wheeler, is the de facto nominee for the seat.
Refusing cash from Dominion is a growing trend among some politicians in the state, especially those who hope to win support from Clean Virginia, a Charlottesville-based firm that invests in candidates who swear to oppose the state’s largest utility.
Here are full lists of Democrats and Republicans on the ballot today for state-level office. You can also use this link to find out where to vote and the district you live in.
Republicans nominated their slate of candidates during a statewide unassembled convention last month, choosing businessman Glenn Youngkin as their candidate for governor.
We’re watching many local races for House of Delegates today on both the Democratic and Republican tickets.
The race in House District 2 (Woodbridge, Stafford) heated up in recent weeks after challenger Pamela Montgomery raked in more than a half-million dollars in campaign donations, eclipsing incumbent Candi King, who won a Special Election for the seat in January, replacing Jennifer Carroll Foy.
Montgomery gained statewide attention after she received a major donation from Clean Virginia. Afterward, the Democratic House Caucus sent a mailer accusing Montgomery of not being Democratic enough.
In House District 31 in Prince William County, three Democrats are challenging incumbent Elizabeth Guzman, who had been running to be Lt. Governor until she dropped out of the race in April to focus on her re-election campaign in her House of Delegates race.
During three and half years in the House of Delegates, Guzman has leaned hard to the left, pushing a bill into law that illegally provides full healthcare for undocumented residents in the U.S. Last year, when appointed to the Prince William County Jail Board, she pushed to abolish a nearly 20-year 287(g) agreement with federal officials which provided training for jail guards processing inmates to identify illegal immigrants, and then contact federal immigration officials to come and take them into federal custody.
Guzman’s challengers include Rod Hall, a transportation policy advisor, Idris A. Jibowu-O’Connor, progressive Democrat and supporter of the Clean New Deal, and Kara A. Pitek, a project manager for a federal contracting firm, who promises to review school curriculum across the state, noting on her website that schools “can no longer accommodate a whitewashed version of history.”
For Republicans, two GOPers are running to represent the 51st House seat in Prince William County. Tim Cox, a Navy veteran who advocates legal immigration to the U.S. and school choice, is running against Jeffery Dove, a database engineer, who says he’s focused on businesses recover from the forced government shutdowns during the pandemic.
We’re also watching one Primary Election race for the Stafford County Board of Supervisors.
Republican Paul Milde is working to win back his seat on the Board of Supervisors from incumbent Cindy Shelton, who’s served in the past three and a half years. Milde chose not to run for reelection in 2017 and instead ran for House of Delegates District 28 seat (Fredericksburg, Stafford), challenging and losing Bob Thomas in a Primary Election that year.
Two years later, Milde won his next Primary Election bout with Thomas but went on to lose the November General Election to current seat holder Joshua Cole.
Currently, Milde is running on a platform of low taxes to attract new residents and businesses, while Shelton is encouraging residents to invest in the county, provide more services, and make it a more desirable place to live and work.
One Democrat sits on the Stafford Board of Supervisors, whoever, that could all change later this year as four seats on the seven-member board are up for grabs.
