Thousands of Virginians cast their ballots in Tuesday's primary elections.
In what will likely be the most competitive race in the state in this fall's midterm elections, Democrat and former Congresswoman Elaine Luria won her party's nomination in the 2nd District. Luria's win sets up a rematch with Republican incumbent Congresswoman Jen Kiggans, who unseated Luria in 2022.
In the 5th District, Republican incumbent John McGuire successfully secured renomination — defeating a challenger from his own party. Democrat Tom Perriello — who represented the district for one term from 2009 to 2011 — secured his party's nomination Tuesday and will face off against McGuire in November in a race Democrats think they can pick up a seat in the U.S. House.
Another Virginia seat Democrats have their eye on is the 1st Congressional District, which includes some Richmond suburbs and a good chunk of Eastern Virginia. There, Democrat Shannon Taylor defeated several other Democrats in the primary contest. She will go up against Republican incumbent Rob Wittman.
Bert Mizusawa has won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. He will face Democratic incumbent Mark Warner, who says this will be his last term if re-elected.
Other House primary results of note:
- Doug Ollivant has secured the Republican Party nomination in Virginia's 7th Congressional District, which includes the Fredericksburg and Culpeper areas. Ollivant will face Democratic incumbent Eugene Vindman and independent candidate Alaha Ahrar in November.
- In Northern Virginia's 10th District, Dave Beckwith has won the Republican nomination. He will go up against Democratic incument Suhas Subramanyam, along with two independent candidates.
- Democratic incumbent Don Beyer has secured renomination — and likely reelection — in Virginia's 8th District. He had several challengers from his own party. There were no Republican candidates in this reliably blue district. In a statement, Beyer expressed gratitude to voters there for the nomination. "I will continue to do all I can to justify that sacred trust. I want to thank my primary opponents for their willingness to run and serve," he said.
- Joy Powers has won the Democratic nomination in the 9th Congressional District. The Southwest Virginia district has been represented by Republican Morgan Griffith since 2011. Powers will face him and independent Michael Jackson on November's ballot.
"The establishment cleaned up across the board," says Wes Bellamy at Virginia State University.
"You could say the Democratic establishment, they showed up and showed out, winning two of the more competitive races in VA-01 and VA-02. And then, when you look at the Republican Senate side, the person who got all the endorsements from everybody, a former Trump appointee, a former person super affiliated with Trump is also doing very well."
Trump could end up being the issue in this midterm election. One of the three seats Democrats are trying to flip from red to blue is the 5th Congressional District, where former Congressman Tom Perriello is trying to make a comeback. Karen Hult at Virginia Tech says Congressman John McGuire is viewed as close to Trump.
"The pull of President Trump in terms of his own endorsement of McGuire, which may or may not do much to boost the turnout of Republicans to vote for him," Hult says. "So that's a possibility, but I don't think it's a very strong possibility, quite frankly."
In the three key races this November, Democrats now have Elaine Luria going up against Jen Kiggans, Shannon Taylor challenging Rob Wittman and Tom Perriello trying to unseat John McGuire.
Some local election results
In Roanoke, Democratic voters ended incumbent City Council member Peter Volosin's bid for re-election Tuesday. Volosin was one of two incumbents running for the Democratic nomination, but failed to win enough votes to secure his re-nomination for one of three seats on council.
Fellow incumbent Vivian Sanchez-Jones finished third – enough to secure her spot on the November ballot.
First-time candidates Raekwon Moore finished first and "Danny" Clawson second for the other two Democratic nomination slots on the fall ballot. They'll face three independents, including first-time candidate Kathy Cohen, former city clerk and council member Stephanie Moon Reynolds and former mayor David Bowers, as well as Republican Amanda Marko.
In Montgomery County, Tim Brown has secured the Democratic nomination for the sheriff election this fall. Brown will face off against Republican interim sheriff Robert Page.
You can find full election results at the Virginia Department of Elections website.
