Virginia votes in primary, with Democrat Terry McAuliffe on ballot: What to know

Voters go to the polls Tuesday in Virginia’s primarywith the Democratic race for governor on the ballot. Former Gov. Terry McCauliffe is considered the front-runner.

The winner of that primary race will face off against Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin, whom former President Donald Trump has endorsed, in the November election.

Voters will also pick attorney general and lieutenant governor Democratic nominees.

Virginia has open primary elections, so voters of any party can vote in both Republican and Democratic primaries.

As polling places opened Tuesday, there were already 114,616 ballots cast in early voting, which closed Friday, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. (Photo: Bob Brown, AP)

On the governor’s ballot, there are five Democrats vying for the spot in the November election: Virginia House Del. Lee J. Carter, Lt. Gov. of Virginia Justin Fairfax, former Virginia House Del. Jennifer D. Carroll Foy, state Sen. Jennifer McClellan and McAuliffe.

According to a Roanoke College Poll, he has a 73% favorable rating and 9% unfavorable rating among Democratic voters.

In the same poll, Fairfax received a favorable rating of 39% and an unfavorable rating of 22%. Carter, Carroll and McClellan didn’t receive ratings because most likely voters didn’t know enough about them to have opinions on them, according to the poll.

In April, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam endorsed McAuliffe, who served as Virginia’s governor from 2014-18.

McAuliffe has faced criticism thathis bid for governor may be standing in the way of a historic win since three of the five candidates are Black and two are women.

McAuliffe also stirred up Twitter on Monday night after posting a video of him dancing, tweeting, “I heard folks wanted more dancing videos!”

I heard folks wanted more dancing videos! pic.twitter.com/S4fPaEpK2X

Prior to serving as governor, McAuliffe was chairman of the Democratic National Committee for four years, the co-chairman of former President Bill Clinton’s re-election campaign and the chairman for 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign.  

The race in Virginia has taken on heightened importance as Democrats aim to hold onto power after assuming full control of state government in 2020. Since then they have pushed through sweeping changes, from gun control to police reform to marijuana legalization to an increase in the minimum wage, transforming what was once a reliably red state into an outlier in the South.

Only Virginia and New Jersey have regularly scheduled governor’s races this year, with Virginia’s considered the more competitive of the two. The unusual off-year elections typically draw outsized attention as a possible bellwether for national trends heading into next year’s midterms.

Contributing: Associated Press

Source: Read Full Article