Virginia Primary Day 2023: Open Thread

Today is primary election day in Virginia; polls are open from 6 am to 7 pm, and you can vote at your regular polling location. In addition to Democratic and Republican primaries for a bunch of State Senate and House of Delegates seats, there are also primaries for some local offices (e.g., Arlington County Board, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Prince William Board of County Supervisors, etc.) as well. For some predictions by Blue Virginia and Elections Daily, see here. The races I’ll be watching most closely today include:

VA SENATE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES

• SD04 (Roanoke Valley; Trish White-Boyd vs. Luke Priddy vs. DA Pierce) – Blue Virginia (BV): Leans White-Boyd; Elections Daily (ED): Leans White-Boyd
• SD11 (Cville/Nelson/Amherst; Sen. Creigh Deeds vs. Del. Sally Hudson) – BV: Tossup; ED: Likely Deeds
• SD13 (Henrico/Petersburg/Hopewell; Sen. Joe Morrissey vs. Del. Lashrecse Aird) – BV: Likely Aird; ED: Likely Aird
• SD14 (Richmond/Henrico; Sen. Lamont Bagby vs. Katie Gooch) – BV: Sen. Bagby is very likely if not 100% certain to win this one; ED: Safe Bagby
• SD18 (Chesapeake/Portsmouth; Sen. Louise Lucas vs. Sen. Lionell Spruill) – BV: Tossup; ED: Leans Spruill
• SD21 (Norfolk; Del. Angelia Williams-Graves vs. Andria McClellan) – BV: Leans Williams-Graves; ED: Leans McClellan
• SD27 (Fredericksburg area; Joel Griffin vs. Ben Litchfield) – BV: Leans or Likely Griffin; ED: Likely Griffin 
• SD29 (Prince William/Stafford; Sen. Jeremy McPike vs. Del. Elizabeth Guzman) – BV: Tossup or even leans Guzman; ED: Likely McPike
• SD31 (Loudoun/Fauquier; Russet Perry vs. Zach Cummings) – BV: Strongly leans Perry; ED: Safe Perry
• SD32 (Loudoun; Del. Suhas Subramanyam vs. former Del. Ibraheem Samirah) – BV: Likely Subramanyam; ED: Safe Subramanyam
• SD33 (Prince William/Fairfax; Former Del. Hala Ayala vs. former Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy) – BV: Likely Carroll Foy; ED: Lean Carroll Foy
• SD35 (Fairfax; Sen. Dave Marsden vs. Heidi Drauschak) – BV: tossup or maybe even leans Drauschak; ED: Leans Drauschak
• SD36 (Fairfax; Sen. George Barker vs. Stella Pekarsky)- BV: Leans Pekarsky; ED: Likely Pekarsky
• SD37 (Fairfax/Falls Church; Sen. Chap Petersen vs. Saddam Salim)- BV: Leans Petersen; ED: Likely Petersen
• SD40 (Arlington; Sen. Barbara Favola vs. James DeVita)- BV:100% safe for Favola; ED: Safe Favola

VA HOUSE OF DELEGATES DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES

• HD07 (Western Fairfax; Mary Barthelson vs. Paul Berry vs. Shyamali Hauth vs. Karen Keys-Gamarra) – BV: Leans Keys-Gamarra; ED: Leans Keys-Gamarra
• HD15 (Fairfax; Laura Jane Cohen vs. Eric Schmidt vs. Henri Thompson) – BV: Very likely Cohen; ED: Likely Cohen
• HD19 (Fairfax/Prince William; Rozia Henson vs. Makya Little vs. Natalie Shorter) – BV: Tossup; ED: Likely Little
• HD26 (Loudoun; Kannan Srinivasan vs. Sirisha Kompalli) – BV: Very likely Srinivasan; ED: Safe Srinivasan
• HD54 (Charlottesville; Bellamy Brown vs. Katrina Callsen vs. Dave Norris) – BV: Likely Callsen; ED: Leans Callsen
• HD55 (Albemarle/Louisa/Fluvanna; Amy Laufer vs. Kellen Squire) – BV: Leans or Likely Laufer; ED: Leans Laufer
• HD57 (Western Henrico; Susanna Gibson vs. Bob Shippee) – BV: Leans Gibson; ED: Leans Gibson 
• HD79 (Richmond; Rae Cousins vs. Ann Lambert vs. Richard Walker) – BV: Likely Cousins; ED: Safe Cousins
• HD80 (Henrico; Destiny Levere Bolling vs. John Dantzler) – BV: Likely Bolling; ED: Safe Bolling
• HD81 (Eastern Henrico; Del. Delores McQuinn vs. Terrence Walker) – BV: Likely McQuinn; ED: Likely McQuinn
• HD82 (Petersburg/Dinwiddie; Kimberly Pope Adams vs. Victor McKenzie) – BV: Leans McKenzie; ED: Likely McKenzie
• HD84 (Suffolk/Isle of Wight; Nadarius Clark vs. Michele Joyce) – BV: Likely Clark; ED: Likely Clark
• HD92 (Norfolk/Chesapeake; Bonita Anthony vs. Kim Sudderth) – BV: Leans  Sudderth; ED: Leans Sudderth 
• HD95 (Virginia Beach/Norfolk; Alex Askew vs. Rick James) – BV: Very likely  Askew; ED: Safe Askew
• HD96 (Virginia Beach; Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler vs. Susan Hippen vs. Brandon Hutchins vs. Sean Monteiro) – BV: Tossup or *possibly* leans towards Convirs-Fowler; ED: Leans Hippen

INTERESTING VIRGINIA GOP PRIMARIES

• SD1 (Winchester/Valley): Eight Republicans – all of whom are really bad – are running for the nomination in this deep-red district (“Elections Daily” thinks this one leans to John Massoud, over Del. Dave LaRock and Timmy French).
• SD12 (Chesterfield/Colonial Heights): Incumbent Sen. Amanda Chase, an extremist/insurrectionist/conspiracy theory nutjob/etc., is fighting for her political life against former Sen. Glen Sturtevant and Tina Ramirez in a district that is, unfortunately, solid red. So…one of these right wingers will be the next State Senator (“Elections Daily” thinks it leans Sturtevant), and none of them will be good in any way.
• SD17 (Hampton Roads/Southside): Emily Brewer and Hermie Sadler are vying for the Republican nomination in this “purple” district. The winner of the Republican primary (“Elections Daily” thinks it leans Brewer) will face off with Democrat Clint Jenkins in November.
• SD19 (Chesapeake/Virginia Beach): The Republican candidates in this solid-red district are former Del. Tim Anderson, Christie Craig and Jeff Bruzzesi. None of these people will in any way/shape/form represent “value added” in the VA Senate, unfortunately (“Elections Daily” thinks it leans Craig).
• SD27 (Fredericksburg area): The Republican candidates in this “purple”/competitive seat are right-wing Tara Durant and even-more-right-wing Matt Strickland (“Elections Daily” thinks this one is likely Durant). Great, huh?
• HD21 (Prince William): Republicans John Stirrup and Josh Quill are competing for the Republican nomination in this winnable/purple seat. The winner (“Elections Daily” thinks it will be Stirrup) will face off with Democrat Josh Thomas in November; let’s make sure he wins!
• HD47 (Carroll/Patrick/Floyd/Henry): Two far-right insurrectionist incumbents, Marie March and Wren Williams, were “drawn in” together by redistricting, and only one can politically survive in the new, deep-red district (“Elections Daily” thinks it will be Williams). Either way, Virginia will lose…
• HD59 (Hanover/Henrico/Louisa): Republicans Graven Craig, Del. Buddy Fowler and Philip Strother are competing for the nomination in this deep-red district (“Elections Daily” thinks Fowler will win). Blech.
• HD73 (Western Chesterfield): Republicans Mark Earley, Jr., Yan Gleyzer and Ryan Harter are vying for the nomination in this deep-red district (“Elections Daily” thinks this one leans to Earley).

LOCAL RACES

• Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney (incumbent Steve Descano vs. challenger Ed Nuttall), Loudoun Commonwealth’s Attorney (incumbent Buta Biberaj vs. challenger Elizabeth Lancaster) and Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney (incumbent Parisa Dehghani-Tafti vs. challenger Josh Katcher)
• Arlington County Board (two seats open – candidates are Maureen Coffey, Susan Cunningham, Jonathan Dromgoole, Natalie Roy, JD Spain, Tony Weaver), Sheriff (candidates are James Herring, Jose Quiroz, Wanda Younger)
• Fairfax County Board of Supervisors (Mason District – Andres Jimenez vs. Reid Voss vs. Steve Lee vs. Jeremy Allen – and Springfield District – Albert Vega vs. John Nowadly – are competitive)

With that…what are you seeing and hearing out there? What’s turnout like in your neck of the woods? Who did you vote for and why? Feel free to add your observations in the comments section.