by Rich Tucker
The stage has been set for the November congressional elections. The Associated Press announced all Virginia races within an hour of the polls closing at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
Democrat Mark Warner tries to win a 4th term in the race for U.S. Senate. He won the primary without opposition and will face Republican Bert Mizusawa who won a three-way contest on Tuesday. Mizusawa easily won the majority of votes and beat David Williams and Kim Farington. He retired as a U.S. Army major general.
In the 5th Congressional District, the primary was held both by the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. Melanie Lucero lost the Republican primary to incumbent Rep. John McGuire. McGuire had defeated Bob Good two years earlier in a similar race. Tom Perriello, a former Democratic Rep., defeated Rob Tracinski and Suzanne Krzyzanowski to return to Congress.
In the 1st district, incumbent Republican Rob Wittman faces Democrat Shannon Taylor who is the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Henrico County. She won easily in a crowded race. In the 2nd district, Republican incumbent Jen Kiggans faces Democrat Elaine Luria.
In the 6th District, Republican Ben Cline seeks reelection in opposition to author Beth Macy. Ben Cline, a Republican, is seeking re-election in the 6th district against author Beth Macy. These six candidates did not face a primary opponent this week.
Democrat Eugene Vindman won his first term as a legislator in 2024. He was not challenged in the 7th District, and will now face Republican Doug Ollivant who defeated two other GOP candidates by more than 56 percent.
Don Beyer, a Democrat running for a seventh term in the 8th district, won a crowded race of five candidates. He raised more than $2.1million for this campaign, which is more than eight-times more than his closest rival, Adam Dunigan. Beyer received two-thirds, and Dunigan about 10% of the votes in the primary. Republican Tony Sabio ran unopposed.
In the 9th district, Republican Morgan Griffith is unopposed and will be facing Democrat Joy Powers. Democrats are hoping to keep the 10th district in Northern Virginia, with incumbents James Walkinshaw and Suhas Subramanyam. They will be facing Republicans Dave Beckwith and Arthur Purves.
The primary election was moved from June to august because of the uncertainty that could be caused by redistricting. The Virginia Supreme Court later overturned that vote for procedural reasons and kept all 11 districts.
Election Day, November 3, will include a vote on three constitutional changes.
Question 1 would be: “Provide the state constitution with a right to reproductive liberty, defined as the right to make one’s own decision about all matters relating to one’s pregnancy.”
Question 2 would be: “Repeal a provision that defines marriage as being between one man, and one woman, and prohibit the state to deny a marriage licence to two adults based on their sex or gender, or even race.”
The answer to Question 3 is: “Ensure that those convicted of felonies are able to vote upon their release from prison.”
Early voting begins Sept. 18 and continues through Halloween.
Rich Tucker is a Virginia Correspondent for the Daily Signal. He is a Richmond-based journalist. The Daily Signal has given permission to republish this column.
