The economy, abortion rights, and civil liberties drove Lexington residents to the polls today. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi stopped by and filed this report.
By 1:30 p.m., about 660 people had voted in person at the Rockbridge Area Relief Association, just under a fifth of the city's active voters. But a decent number of local residents voted early, an election official told me. Last year, 62% of city voters went for Kamala Harris. All three people who spoke with me voted for Democrats – even the one who identified as a Republican.
BILL BROWN: The Trump presidency, I would say, is a big issue with me.
Bill Brown said that while he voted for gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger, it's been a long time since he really identified with a politician.
BROWN: And I'm a Republican! I was in Young Republicans at Washington and Lee, as a matter of fact. … I've always been a moderate Republican, more of a conservative, and it's discouraging to me that that party has changed so much here in the last, I would say, 10 years. So I'm kind of without a ship right now, because I'm also against a lot of the more extreme positions of the Democratic party.
Bee Sackett also voted for the Democratic slate.
BEE SACKETT: I think abortion is a big issue in this election, and I think that a lot of what's going on in the White House has been reflected in what's going on in Richmond, and I think that that needs to change.
Eighteen-year-old Taina Covington was voting for the first time.
TAINA COVINGTON: I like to focus on making sure everyone has a stable life, like income and such, and that everyone can express themselves, and I feel like the candidates I voted for today represent that.
