RICHMOND, Va. — Early voting for Virginia's statewide Democratic primaries ended Saturday with voters turning out to select nominees for lieutenant governor and attorney general ahead of the November general election.
According to the Virginia Public Access Project, Virginians cast more than 189,000 early or mail-in ballots across various contested Democratic races compared to over 15,000 in Republican races.
For Paris Johnson, voting early was a way to influence change.
"Voting is a way for us to express our voice, and it's a way for us to have a little bit of power," Johnson said.
Six candidates are competing for the Democratic lieutenant governor nomination, while two are vying to be the attorney general candidate.
The Republican statewide ticket is already set.
CBS 6 political analyst Dr. Bob Holsworth sees the race for the Democratic lieutenant governor nomination as primarily between three candidates: State Senators Ghazala Hashmi and Aaron Rouse, and former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney.
"Right now, it's just really difficult to tell who's ahead or who's behind, largely because these are very low turnout elections," Holsworth said. "We've seen a little bit of television advertising, but they're really appealing to a relatively small group of people."
The other three candidates are Babur Lateef, chairman of Prince William County's school board, Victor Salgado, a former federal prosecutor, and Alex Bastani, a union leader and attorney.
Early voters cited specific issues driving their decisions at the polls.
Madison Beardslee identified three primary concerns influencing her vote.
"Reproductive health, specifically, and gun violence, and I specifically was looking at like women-based government understanding, too," she said.
Sue Tarr said she voted for people who would uphold democracy.
"I really feel like we're losing our Constitution, and I think it's very important to make sure that people I'm voting for believe that the Constitution is primary in what we do here in this country," Tarr said.
Holsworth said the Democratic lieutenant governor nominees have used their political careers to differentiate themselves from one another. Nobody has emerged as a front-runner, however.
Stoney has campaigned on his experience leading Richmond’s government, according to Holsworth.
Rouse, a current state senator and former Virginia Beach City council member, has campaigned on his work to improve Virginia Beach’s water system, Holsworth said. Richmonders were under a six-day boil water advisory in January due to Water Treatment Plant power failures.
Hashmi, meanwhile, has been trying to appeal to voters with her history of introducing legislation to protect Virginians’ reproductive rights, Holsworth said.
The two Democratic nominees for attorney general have differentiated themselves with sponsors, according to Holsworth.
Shannon Taylor, Henrico County's Commonwealth's Attorney, is receiving money from Dominion Energy, Holsworth noted, adding Jay Jones, a former Virginia delegate, is receiving money from Clean Virginia, a environment and energy non-profit.
Jones has focused his campaign on legislation while Taylor has focused hers on her experience working for Henrico County as a Commonwealth's Attorney, Holsworth said.
Candidates have also taken Virginians' opinions of President Donald Trump into account.
"At the same time both people, both Jones, Taylor and everybody running for lieutenant governor says they're going to resist Donald Trump," he said. "If you're a Democrat running in a primary right now, you got to be against Trump, and you got to be against Elon Musk."
Former Virginia Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger is running unopposed as the Democrat's candidate for governor.
The Republican ticket is set with gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, lieutenant governor candidate John Reid, and Attorney General Jason Miyares running for re-election.
All 100 seats in the House of Delegates are also up for election in November, with five Democratic primaries taking place in Central Virginia.
Democrats have said they're looking to flip the seats in Districts 57, 73 and 75.
Residents of District 57 can vote between May Nivar and Andrew Schear. Nivar currently serves as Altria's senior manager and Schear owns a video production studio. Republican Dave Owen is the incumbent delegate.
In District 73, voters can choose between Leslie Mehta and Justin Woodford. The winner will face Republican Del. Mark Earley in November.
District 75 residents have a three-way race between Lindsey Dougherty, Stephen Miller-Pitts, Jr., and Dustin Wade. Doughtery is a senior research administrator at Virginia Commonwealth University. Miller-Pitts, Jr. teaches government at Virginia State University and chairs the political action committee of Chesterfield County's NAACP chapter, according to his LinkedIn. Wade co-founded Abraxas Home Care, an organization that supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. One of those three will challenge Republican Del. Carrie Coyner in the general election.
District 72 candidates Randolph Critzer, a lawyer, and Bilal Raychouni, a Powhatan County Public Schools teacher, race to face off against incumbent Republican Del. Lee Ware.
In District 81, incumbent Democratic Del. Dolores McQuinn faces a challenge from Henrico School Board member Alicia Atkins.
Holsworth said Richmond-area races could determine control of the General Assembly.
"While they're going to be 10 or 12 races statewide, the Richmond area is going to have three or four of the most competitive races, the most important races in deciding whether the Democrats keep control of the General Assembly," he said.
At the city level, Richmond voters can vote in Democratic primaries for two offices — both are rematches from the last primary election.
Tom Barbour is once again challenging incumbent Colette McEachin to serve as the city's Commonwealth's Attorney.
William Burnett is again challenging incumbent Antionette Irving for the Richmond City sheriff race.
In Petersburg, Mary Howard is challenging incumbent Brittany Flowers to become the commissioner of the revenue.
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