John Matthews
WMAL.com
RICHMOND — (WMAL) It’s Election Day in Virginia, and all 140 seats in both houses of the General Assembly are up for grabs.
Yet, many voters hardly seem to know it.
The commonwealth has been electing its lawmakers in ‘off’ years – odd-numbered years that do not include congressional or presidential races – since 1851, and in fact, it is one of only two states – the other being New Jersey – that does this.
With Republicans holding a strong majority in the House, the real horserace in today’s election will be in the Senate, where Democrats have invested heavily to try and pick up at least one seat to take control of the chamber. The GOP currently has a 21 – 19 seat advantage, but with Democrat Lt. Governor Ralph Northam’s tie-breaking vote, the Democrats need just a one seat net gain to take over.
Just a handful of races are considered to be in play, with two of the hottest coming in Senate districts where incumbent moderates are retiring. In Prince William County, Republican Hal Parrish, the Mayor of Manassas, is taking on Democrat Jeremy McPike in a battle to succeed Democrat Charles Colgan. In suburban Richmond, Republican John Watkins is also stepping down, and millions of dollars have been raised by both parties to win his seat. Democrat Dan Gecker is taking on Republican Glen Sturtevant in that race.
Securing control of the Senate is a top priority for Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who is counting on a Democratic Senate to pass his top legislative priorities, including Medicaid expansion and tighter gun control laws. Having the Senate behind him would also give McAuliffe more leverage to negotiate items like the state budget with GOP lawmakers.
At the local level, most county Boards of Supervisors have elections, including races for Board Chairman positions. In Northern Virginia, the most visible Chairman’s race has been in Loudoun County, where longtime incumbent Scott York – once a Republican – is running for reelection as an independent against three challengers.
The polls opened at 6 am and will remain open through 7 pm. WMAL will offer special election night coverage this evening with WMAL’s Maria Leaf.
There are also several municipal races in Maryland this election day. Voters in the cities and towns of Bowie, College Park, Laurel, Rockville and Salisbury will be electing new Mayors and council members today.
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