HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Early voting began Thursday in Virginia's primaries for U.S. House and U.S. Senate seats, with some registrar's offices closed for Juneteenth.
Political analyst Dr. Bob Holsworth says all eyes will be on the outcome of Virginia's 1st Congressional District race, where Republican incumbent Rep. Rob Wittman is running unopposed on the Republican side, with seven people vying for the Democratic nomination. Among the seven is Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor.
"There's a set of other candidates who are running. They're trying to gain traction. They're trying to gain some energy here. At the same time, that's going to be an uphill battle because a lot of people are not paying attention to this right now," Holsworth said.
Another competitive race this year is the 5th Congressional District primary, with several Republicans and Democrats running, plus an independent. The favorites are incumbent Republican Rep. John McGuire and Tom Perriello, the last Democrat to serve the 5th District.
Holsworth says Democrats are looking to flip the 5th District seat as well as Wittman's 1st District House seat.
"[Wittman] is not going to win the Henrico part of the district and probably not the Chesterfield part of the district, but he's going to run up a large margin up in the Northern Neck where he's from and very, very well liked," Holsworth said.
The deadline to register to vote and request a mailed absentee ballot is July 24. Lawmakers voted to move the primary election day from June to August 4.
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