Politics & Government
Kingstowne Residents Hit the Polls Early to Vote for Governor
Tuesday, Fairfax County residents voted for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, sheriff and their local delegates. Voters re-elected Del. Vivian Watts (D-39th), Del. Mark Sickles (D-43rd) and Del. Surovell (D-44th).
After a long and interesting campaign year, Election Day came and went and Virginian voters narrowly elected Terry McAuliffe for the next governor.
Virginia, once reliably conservative-red, has become increasingly purple over the years, and voters lurched deeper toward the blue Tuesday, apparently showing their displeasure with the direction the GOP has taken in the state and nationally.
With 99 percent of the vote in, McAuliffe had 47.5 percent of the vote, Cuccinelli 45.9. Libertarian Robert Sarvis had 6.6. In the raw vote, McAuliffe had 1,027,453; Cuccinelli 991,562; and Sarvis 142,818.
Find out what's happening in Kingstowne-Rose Hillwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Cuccinelli and his running mate for the lieutenant governor’s office, the Rev. E.W. Jackson, are hard-core anti-abortion foes, and each has opposed gay rights in the state with razor-sharp rhetoric from their offices, the pulpit and on the stump.
Jackson was handily defeated by Sen. Ralph S. Northam, a state senator, physician and Democrat. Republican Mark Obenshain held a slim, 12,546-vote lead over Democrat Mark Herring, according to unofficial results from the State Board of Election. Twenty precincts had yet to report.
Find out what's happening in Kingstowne-Rose Hillwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
By the end of the night, unofficial results showed the voters had re-elected Del. Vivian Watts (D-39th), Del. Mark Sickles (D-43rd) and Del. Scott Surovell (D-44th).
While some polling places in Virginia may have long lines, the Kingstowne and Rose Hill areas weren't too extreme. At Rose Hill Elementary, Chief Elections Officer Terence Price said they had a large crowd when the polls opened at 6 a.m."Of course when we opened, we had a crowd. Since then, we've just had a trickle of people coming in," Price said around 8 a.m. Tuesday. At that time, 296 people had signed in and voted at Rose Hill Elementary. As of Nov. 1, 4,578 people were registered to vote in the Rose Hill District, according to the Virginia State Board of Elections. Price said he and his staff expected to see another crowd coming later around 5 p.m.
In Hayfield, Chief Elections Officer Barbara Grant at Hayfield Elementary School said they had a glitch with one of their machines, but paper poll books are being used to rectify the issue. Around 9 a.m., the Hayfield precinct about 266 people had already signed in and voted.
"This is my first time at this precinct, but there is a very experienced staff here," Grant said. "We had an influx at the beginning, and I was told we should expect more people around lunchtime and again around 6 p.m. before polls close."
Franconia had kind of a slow morning at Edison High School. According to Dan Good, chief elections officer, they were steady but the traffic wasn't too heavy. The staff had assisted about 221 people with casting their vote after about two hours of the polls being open. Good said, "one can only hope" the crowd would pick up later in the day.
Fairfax County residents also voted on a school bond referendum which passed Tuesday. For an in-depth look, visit this Fairfax County Public Schools page that gives all the details.
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