The Center Square reports that two Virginia counties that had backed Republicans in the top race on their ballots for seven elections were narrowly on the Democratic side in Tuesday’s unofficial results.
Accomack and Lancaster counties favored Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Warner after supporting Republicans in every earlier election included in a Virginia Public Access Project comparison dating to 2016. The analysis tracks the top race on each year’s ballot: president, U.S. Senate or governor. Just 22 of Virginia’s 133 cities and counties backed candidates from both major parties during that span.
Accomack and Lancaster supported Donald Trump in all three of his presidential campaigns. They also backed Republicans Ed Gillespie for governor in 2017, Corey Stewart for U.S. Senate in 2018, Glenn Youngkin for governor in 2021 and Winsome Earle-Sears for governor last year.
In Accomack, state results reported Thursday morning showed Warner ahead of Republican Bert Mizusawa by 117 votes, 6,941 to 6,824. In Lancaster, Virginia Public Access Project’s preliminary figures showed Warner with 50.1% and Mizusawa with 49.8%. Earle-Sears received more than 54% in both counties last year.
Lynchburg and the counties of Essex and Fluvanna also favored Warner this year after supporting Youngkin, Trump and Earle-Sears in the most recent races in the comparison. Those five localities were the ones Virginia Public Access Project identified as moving from Earle-Sears last year to Warner in this year’s Senate race. In Lynchburg, unofficial results showed Warner with 53.2% to Mizusawa’s 46.5%. Virginia Public Access Project’s 2026 figures reflect results through noon Wednesday, and the Accomack totals reflect Thursday’s state update. This year’s results have not been certified. The patterns describe which party’s candidate carried each locality; they do not show whether individual voters switched parties or what motivated their choices.
