It’s Primary Day in the Commonwealth of Virginia for Republicans and Democrats. Polls will be open from 6:00am until 7:00pm.
What voters will see on today’s ballot: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, all 100 House of Delegates seats, and (in some locations) local elections such as Sheriff, Commonwealth’s Attorney, and Board of Supervisors. See more here [1].
Some of Bearing Drift’s writers offered up their predictions [2].
Let us know in the comments what you’re seeing. Updates will be here throughout the day.
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Rick Sincere: “I’m not sure if this applies statewide or not, but I just saw a report on the NBC29 news in which the Charlottesville registrar said that more Democratic absentee ballots have been received than there were total Democratic ballots cast in the 2016 presidential primary. Of course, the Charlottesville primary includes a contest for Commonwealth’s Attorney for the first time in some 30 years and a contest for City Council, which is essentially the general election for both offices.”
7:20am: A neighbor posted on Facebook that “things were dead as a doornail at my very Republican voting precinct. Pulled the lever for Davis, almost entirely as a means of acting against the campaign tactics of Reeves and Vogel. Did not vote for governor.”
7:50: Matt Hall called on his way to work to say he spoke with Jill Vogel this morning, and she and her family are out meeting voters as they campaign at polling locations, and they are ready to win.
7:52: Melissa Kenney: “I walked to my polling station this morning and the only signs out there were 3 signs for Ed Gillespie. However, early voting/absentee ballots in Fluvanna have been overwhelmingly Democrat.”
8:30: Seen on a friend’s FB page: “Dear Virginia, Yes, it’s a primary, but you need to vote. Who you choose to vote for is less important than the fact that you actually get out to vote. Polls are open until 7:00 p.m.”
8:45: Melissa Kenney: “Our A/B precinct typically goes Democrat anyway (was the only precinct in the Presidential election that did not vote go for Trump). But the other day I ran into the former Dem chair in the county who loves election data, and he said that the early voting was almost entire Democrat, and even he was surprised at the numbers. The Perriello-Northam race is certainly driving turnout.”
9:00: Voter: “I was voter 131 in the heart of Henrico. No Gov or LG signs at my precinct, only delegate signs. Shocked to see no Gillespie signs.” Susan Sili noted there were none to be had.
9:15: The sign people were out in force overnight and this morning including Augusta County’s Anne Seaton as she put out Glenn Davis signs. (Photo credit: Denise Kelley)
9:16: DJ McGuire: “I was voter 62 in Huntersville (Suffolk) as of 8:45AM. That would mean about 400-500 voters total (I think), which would be less than the Dem primary in 2016. Clinton won over 80% in this precinct (primary and general). Perriello was the only one with signs (and the volunteer was still getting them up as I went in to vote).”
9:30: More sign volunteers in Augusta County, this time Denise Kelley. (Photo cred: Anne Seaton)
9:30: Ed Matricardi’s FB post: “I was just the 122nd voter at the Brown’s Store Precinct in Culpeper County (that includes both Republican and Democratic Primary voters)…polls are open until 7pm tonight…as George Allen used to always say, ‘the world is run by those who show up!!’ ”
1:45: Lynn Mitchell: “I was voter #87 at noon at my precinct west of Staunton. This is our first election going back to paper ballots so we filled in the bubble and fed through the machine that sucked them in like a dollar bill in a soft drink machine. The black pens used to color in the bubble had little American flags taped to them. The only signs — there were three or four — were Gillespie. Drove around Staunton and Augusta County and saw very little activity. We do have plenty of Gillespie signs. At my precinct that was all that was there. Elsewhere they had Davis and Gillespie. Staunton had local signs for local candidates.”
1:50: Jean Gannon, Chairman, Powhatan Republican Committee: “Only sign placement at polls is Gillespie and Vogel. Turnout is typical for a primary — maybe 8-10%. Numbers reflect a 3-1 turnout GOP over dem.”
1:55: Alex Davis, former Chairman of Radford Republican Committee: “Number 173 at 1:00pm. Sign turnout at Radford precinct: Gillespie 1, Stewart 1, Adams 1, Yost 1, Periello 1, Wagner 11.”
2:25: Dolores Switzer in Roanoke County is reporting the Vinton precinct in South Roanoke County has 5 percent turnout.
2:40: Brian Schoeneman: “Voter turnout in Fairfax, per Fairfax County, is running over 2:1 Democrats to Republicans. Estimated to be 6.1% Dem turnout vs. 2.5% GOP. It’s still early — still five hours of voting left.”
3:15: Lynn Mitchell: “Got a phone call from Michael Thomas who is working primary day in Chesterfield County and was heading to the Salisbury Presbyterian Church precinct which is where my parents and sister vote. When he pulled up, Glenn Davis’ Mello Yellow was there so Mike found Glenn and put him on the phone. It was a good opportunity to wish Glenn well and catch him up on what’s going on in Augusta County.”
4:15: Melissa Kenney: “We have a OneVirginia2021 tent at our little polling station in the middle of nowhere, collecting signatures.”
4:24: Lynn Mitchell’s sister was voter #380 Salisbury precinct.
5:00: Rick Sincere: “I was voter 423 at Georgetown Precinct in Albemarle County. There was one person ahead of me and the election officer joked that it was the longest line all day. Yard signs for Perriello, David Toscano, and Ross Mittiga outside the 40 foot line. Two Mittiga poll workers offered me literature. No GOP presence at all. There’s a sign for One Virginia 2021. As I stood here writing, another 5 or 6 voters walked in.”
5:05: Vivienne Smith: “Went to vote around 1:00 in Glenmore Precinct in Buckingham County. I was the 41st Republican to vote to the Dems 59.”
5:06: Bluedog reported low turnout in Waynesboro.
5:06: Julie Crone reported low turnout in Fishersville.
5:10: S. Fisher: “Voter #322 at 12:30 in Charles District of Newport News.”
5:11: Chad Davis: “I just voted at 11:30 am in Leesburg. Line was only four voters deep when I arrived.”
5:12: Jay McConville: “Voter #235 at 10am at Staples Mill in Henrico. Lots of Gillespie signs and Ed had the only poll watcher.”
5:12: John Plaster: “It might just be Virginia Beach, but I worked 4 polls this morning, engaging voters in support of Glenn Davis for LG and several people said they were voting for Glenn, others liked my reasons for supporting Glenn, and nobody said they were voting for Jill or Bryce.”
5:14: Wally Erb: “When I got to my precinct (VB-Arrowhead) I wondered is today the primary or is it Wednesday and I missed it.”
5:15: Jay McConville: “At 8:00 working Henrico County, Staples Mill. Turnout is slow but steady, more voters are Republican, which is expected with an open Supervisor seat and given the precinct’s make up.”
5:16: Wes Fisher: “At 7:15 turnout seemed like a trickle in Arlington, about 0-1 voters in the polling place at a time.”
5:40: Jim Hoeft in Chesapeake: “I was voter 444 at Cooper’s Way. Only volunteer was for Stewart. Normally heavy GOP. Was favorable to Trump.”
5:42: Matt Hall was at Hunting Hill precinct in Roanoke County at 5:00 … extremely low turnout. In 20 minutes there were maybe 10 voters.
6:22: Jason Kenney in Chesterfield’s Shenandoah precinct: “Voter #540 out of 4400 eligible in a Obama Clinton precinct.”
6:26: Matt Hall was working the Church of Nazarene in Roanoke County for Vogel but had only a slow trickle of voters.
Polls close at 7:00pm. We will move over to a new post to report numbers as they come in.
7pm: Join us for post-primary analysis: 2017 Post Primary Analysis and Open Thread [3].