Open Thread: 5th (Update 7 p.m. – Polls Closed)
By JR Hoeft | Monday, November 1st, 2010 | PoliticsContributors to Bearing Drift will use this thread to update you on what we’re hearing regarding the 5th Congressional District campaign in Virginia between incumbent Democrat Tom Perriello and Republican Robert Hurt.
Check this post frequently throughout the day for updates.
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Update 7 p.m.: Polls are now closed in Virginia. Check out our live-blog of election results and projections; photos, interviews, speechifying. Don’t forget, when you use the hashtag #vpod your tweet will appear in the liveblog too.
Update 5:35 p.m. (Jason Johnson): In at least two precincts in Bedford County (Smith Mountain Lake area) turnout is almost exceeding turnout during last year’s gubernatorial election.
WDBJ-7 in Roanoke is reporting a turnout rate of 38 percent in Danville–far lower than in 2008.
Update 5:20 p.m. (J.R. Hoeft): Getting reports from statewide staff that southern portion of the district and Pittsylvania County have high turnouts; Charlottesville is at extremely low turnout; and, Albemarle is average turnout (32-35%) – but really good in GOP precincts in the district.
Update 3:15 p.m. (Jason Johnson): FWIW: My precinct is now approaching 50 percent turnout…and the after-work voters won’t arrive for another three hours. Unlike usual off-year elections, there has been no mid-day lull; traffic has been steady all day long. At the current rate, we fully expect to exceed 50 percent.
Elsewhere in Bedford County, I’m hearing reports from my precinct captains of long lines and ebullient voters in the county’s most Republican precincts. The one name no voter has mentioned today: Jeff Clark. Perriello and the DCCC notwithstanding, this IS a two-man race in the 5th’s southwestern corner.
Update 1:10 p.m. (Jason Johnson): Perriello changing tactics. He’s pulling observers in the district to phone bank in order to generate turnout.
Update 10:30 a.m. (Jason Johnson): I was at my precinct in southern Bedford County to set up the Republican tent at 5:30 and it was cold! There was a line (about four or five) by 6 a.m. Since then, turnout has been steady, with no lulls…perhaps slightly higher than an average midterm election. (In fact, my unit chair reports high turnout across Bedford County.) This is a heavily Republican precinct (we usually vote 68-75 percent Republican), but the voters seem even more enthusiastic than normal. By 9:15, I was voter 255. The Democrat volunteer, who is a good friend of mine, told me she isn’t holding out much hope that TP can pull it off.
I heard Tucker Watkins had trouble with his machine this morning in Charlotte County (I think that’s where he lives)–the default setting was, surprise, Perriello. Election officials were still waiting for it to be fixed at 7:30. Election Day Observers (and we have them in every precinct in the district!) across the 5th have been warned to be on high alert.
Update 6 a.m. (J.R. Hoeft): Robert Hurt voted in Chatham.
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Also, please feel free to leave comments with your observations on turnout, campaign shenanigans, and anything else that might cross your mind.
Send your photos and any information you personally don’t want to post to jr@bearingdrift.com.
Be sure to follow our live-blog of the election returns beginning at 7 p.m. You can also add to the live-blog by either following along in the Cover-It Live window or Tweeting using the hashtag “#vpod”.
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About the author
Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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17 Responses to "Open Thread: 5th (Update 7 p.m. – Polls Closed)"
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bearing Drift, Scott Bennett. Scott Bennett said: RT @bearingdrift: Web: Open Thread: 5th http://bit.ly/cFbrzm [...]
Retweet from news source: Perriello operative states the Congressman will move back to NEW YORK soon after his term expires.
going to work polls from 6 -8 am. will come back to report in
Voted at 6:30 at Scruggs. Line was decent. Hurt had supporters there and so did Perriello. I am looking forward to an exciting day!
aaron, where is scruggs? can’t speak to turnout in Lunenburg, but what i’m seeing on FB & what I’ve seen in Lunenburg so far is that there are very few Perriello signs & no campaigners. very, very different from 2008. and weird.
Scruggs is in Franklin County. SML area
About 200 people had voted in the Columbia District of Fluvanna at 7:30am — which is heavy turnout. Perriello signs showed up late, probably because of all the Hurt signs my kids put up last night!
Other parts of Fluvanna seem to have good turnout as well. GOP very positive across the board.
Shaun, Perriello won Columbia with 57% last cycle. Is that a precinct you want high turnout?
hearing that no Perriello presence in clarksville either or Chase city (he had campaign office in chase city).
this is very very different from 08 when he had full court press.
@Chris — didn’t say it was good or bad, just said that turnout was heavy this AM. As for Fluvanna writ large, the county leans R… so that’s probably a good sign.
It’ll be interesting to see what turnout is like in the blue parts of the 5th — Albemarle, Charlottesville, Buckingham, and Nelson…
shaun, on FB, someone said good Dem turnout in Martinsville but no signs or workers for Perriello. what is up with that?
has he pulled everyone back to the blue areas for last stand? does anyone know what is going on in Albemarle?
Just voted in Charlottesville at a University precinct. I was the only voter. This is definitely a Perriell stronghold so, anecdotally, this was a good sign.
Two Hurt workers and two Perriello workers handing out sample ballots.
Kelley-Martinsville (city) is a Democratic area anyway–it’s the homebase of Ward Armstrong. The question is how good is Democrat turnout there. Virgil got his clock cleaned there in 2008, if Hurt can keep Martinsville from being a blowout, he might be ok.
RUCKERSVILLE IN Greene county reports 25% turnout as of 3:30, where as Standardsville says they have seen 40%.
turnout heavier in some precincts in Lunenburg than for gubernatorial election. i don’t know what that means.
going to SBE website now to pull 08 & 09 results. because starting at 7 pm, that site will get slooooow.
more anecdotal comments from NLS indicating that deep blue Cville isn’t turning out as it did in 08. that is not good for Perriello.
yippee
CNN just called the 5th for Hurt.
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