This week marks the beginning of voting for primary elections — statewide and local — that conclude June 17. On the ballot are statewide primaries for Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. Local primaries will also take place for Charlottesville City Council and School Board, as well as Albemarle County Board of Supervisors and School Board positions.
For the first time, ranked choice voting will be used for Charlottesville Council primaries. Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference rather than selecting just one candidate — if their first choice does not have enough votes to be within the top two candidates, voters’ second choice on the ballot can count as a vote. Sally Hudson, executive director of Ranked Choice Virginia, led the effort to bring the practice to the city, with the Council voting 4-1 to implement it on a trial basis last September.
Hudson said that Charlottesville can look to Arlington, the first locality in Virginia to adopt ranked choice voting, for an example.
“I’m confident our City election administrators will implement the new system successfully,” Hudson said. “[Election officials] have done test runs to prepare and have lots of resources to lean on from Arlington’s use in the past three years.”
The Democratic Lieutenant Governor primary features six candidates from a variety of political backgrounds, while there is only one Republican running to be the party’s Lt. Gov. nominee. Among the Democrats, the two legislators running are State Senators Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, and Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach. Hashmi — the first Muslim and South Asian to serve in the Virginia Senate — has a platform that focuses on addressing inequities in housing, education, healthcare and environmental justice. Rouse — a former NFL player — is also running on similar issues, and also pledges to provide tax cuts to families and seniors.
Levar Stoney, former mayor of Richmond and secretary of the Commonwealth and Babur Lateef, chair of the Prince William County School Board, are two other Democratic candidates in the race for Lt. Gov. In addition to his pledges to improve schools, increase access to housing and prioritize reproductive rights, Stoney aims to strike a balance between workers’ rights and a favorable business climate. Lateef, who is a former chair of the University’s Health System Board and a former Board of Visitors member, promises to use his experience leading large organizations to improve healthcare and education across the state.
The two other candidates in the Democratic primary include attorney Alex Bastani and Department of Justice prosecutor Victor Salgado. Bastani has positioned himself as the most progressive candidate in the race, emphasizing his tenure as a Union leader. Bastani’s platform proposes raising the state minimum wage to $20 by 2026, granting state workers collective bargaining rights, offering full healthcare coverage for all Virginians and clearing all student debt held by Virginia residents. Salgado is running on a platform of campaign finance reform, improving education, access to housing, the environment, gun violence prevention and immigration reform.
There is no consensus on which candidate will win the nomination, but Stoney, Rouse and Hashmi have a clear fundraising advantage over the field, each having raised over $1 million.
The Republican party will not hold a primary for its Lt. Gov. nomination — John Reid, a radio host and former communications director for former U.S. Senator George Allen was uncontested and will be the Republican nominee for Lt. Gov. Reid has raised around $180,000 for his general election contest.
Another upcoming election includes the Democratic primary for Attorney General. The two Democratic candidates are former State Delegate Jay Jones and incumbent Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor. Jones is running on an agenda of addressing crime, combating corporate price gouging and “standing up to Donald Trump and Elon Musk.” Taylor aims to address systemic bias in the justice system and strengthen laws against hate crimes and stalking.
As of May 2, Jones has raised $1.8 million compared to roughly $1 million for Taylor — although there is not a clear consensus for who will win the nomination.
The Republican party will not hold a primary — Incumbent Jason Miyares is the uncontested nominee for Attorney General. Despite not having a primary challenger, Miyares has already raised $3.3 million for the November general election.
At the top of the ticket, in the gubernatorial race, U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger and incumbent Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears have already secured the Democratic and Republican nominations, respectively. Since both major-party nominees are women, Virginia is now ensured to elect its first female governor.
According to Kyle Kondik, director of communications for the University’s Center for Politics, it is noteworthy that both major parties ultimately had uncontested gubernatorial primaries. Kondik believes that the gubernatorial race between Spanberger and Earle-Sears will shape the other statewide contests in November.
“While there is some differentiation in the down-ballot races compared to the governor’s race, the general trend is greater alignment among the three results,” Kondik said. “[In 2021] Youngkin won the governor’s race by 2 points, Earle-Sears won the [Lt. Gov.] race by 1.5 points, and Miyares won the [Attorney General] race by 0.9 points.”
For the local primaries in Charlottesville, there are two at-large City Council seats and three single-member district School Board seats.
Running for the two Council seats are incumbents Juandiego Wade and Brian Pinkston, who announced their candidacies during a joint event in December. Challenging the two incumbents is Jen Fleisher, program officer for Blue Ridge Health District. Wade, the current Council-elected mayor of the city, and Pinkston are running a joint campaign focusing on issues such as public school investment, homelessness, public safety, the cost of living and climate change.
Fleisher has a platform that prioritizes clean and reliable transportation, affordable housing, public safety, climate action and strengthening public schools.
Running for the three School Board seats are incumbents Lisa Larson-Torres and Emily Dooley. The challengers are Dashad Cooper and Zyahna Bryant.
For Albemarle County, Board of Supervisors and School Board seats are up for election in the Jack Jouett, Rio and Samuel Miller districts.
Board of Supervisors Vice Chair and Jack Jouett Supervisor Diantha McKeel is not seeking another term. Former professor at the University, David Shreve, and local high school teacher Sally Duncan are the two Democrats contesting McKeel’s seat.
Samuel Miller Supervisor, Jim Andrews, is also not seeking another term, endorsing Scottsville District Planning Commissioner, Fred Missel, to replace him.
Leslie Pryor, program associate and alumni coordinator at the Sorensen Institute, was appointed to fill the vacant Rio District School board seat in January.
Running for School Board in the Samuel Miller district is Bob Beard, retired news anchor and current science writer for the University’s health system.
Eligible voters can find more information about early voting by consulting the City Department of Voter Registration & Elections website or the County Department of Elections website.
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