By Amy Gardner, Brigid Schulte
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Voters across Virginia braved thunder, wind and heavy rain to head for the polls today in a Democratic primary election that, as expected, appeared to be drawing few voters, adding to a sense of unpredictability in a wide-open, three-way gubernatorial race.
Bad weather apparently caused only minor issues across the state, temporarily knocking out power at polling places in Prince William and Arlington counties. But election officials reported dismally low turnout across Virginia -- except near Washington, where voters were showing up in greater numbers than expected.
"Falls Church has come in at 7 percent voter turnout so far, which is pretty high, and it's 6 percent for Arlington," Nancy Rodrigues, secretary of the State Board of Elections, said just after noon. "The rest of the state is, er, low."
Candidates for the top spot on the Democratic ticket are state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, former Alexandria delegate Brian Moran and former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe. Whoever wins the primary will face Republican Robert F. McDonnell in the general election. Polls will be open statewide until 7 p.m.
Campaign workers and outside observers have said for weeks that a key to this primary is mobilizing reliable voters rather than drawing those who are not used to casting ballots in preliminary races. But that was hard to do in the early-morning hours, as soaking rain, hail, thunder and lightning affected conditions and led the National Weather Service to urge people to stay indoors.
As the weather improved through the morning, turnout often didn't. At Selden's Landing Elementary School outside of Leesburg in Loudoun County, only 14 of 4,109 registered voters had cast ballots by 11 a.m.
And by mid-morning at St. Albans Episcopal Church in Annandale, the traffic had slowed to mainly retirees, who could park their cars close to the door and avoid lines and hassles. Some said they voted for McAuliffe because of his emphasis on jobs; some for Deeds because of his support of transportation funding; and some for Moran for his experience representing Northern Virginia in state legislature.
While most polling places were deserted, Deeds' voting station in Bath County, on the West Virginia border, carried the mood of a high school reunion, or maybe a church social, as a steady trickle of voters arrived to cast ballots -- nearly all of them for their hometown candidate.
"We're all pulling for Creigh," said poll chief Sharon Sherrard, who had brought fruit salad and homemade "breakfast cookies" for voters.
Voters are also choosing a Democratic nominee to face Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) in the fall. Jody Wagner, a former secretary of finance from Virginia Beach, is running against Michael Signer, a campaign strategist and national security expert from Arlington County. Today's election will also determine the Democratic nominees for 12 House of Delegates races, including four in Northern Virginia -- two in Fairfax and one each in Arlington and Prince William counties. The parties are preparing for a November fight over control of the chamber.
With surveys showing remarkable volatility in the race's final days, all three campaigns have agreed that victory will be less about soaring oratory and big ideas and more about which candidate's supporters are energized enough to visit the polls. Voters do not register by party in Virginia, so Democrats, Republicans and independents can all participate.
"There are enough voters out there for any one of them to win. The secret is finding them and motivating them to go vote," said C. Richard Cranwell, chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, who has not endorsed any candidate.
The Democratic Party, once an outgunned minority in Virginia, has seen a dramatic return to power the past decade as voters embraced a succession of pragmatic moderates. This is the first contested Democratic primary for governor in more than 30 years, however, and it could provide a window into the mind-set of Democratic voters.
All three candidates and their organizations have mobilized armies of volunteers to knock on doors, organize rides to the polls, staff precincts and call likely voters.
Moran, fresh from his 30-stop statewide "Fighting for Virginia" tour, will spend the day in Northern Virginia. McAuliffe will make appearances in West Falls Church and Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington -- where President Obama made a recent unannounced visit. Deeds spent Monday campaigning hard in the Roanoke-Danville-Martinsburg area and will start his day in his rural home district of Bath County.
"Virginia primaries in June are notoriously low turnout affairs. People are thinking about graduations, weddings, almost anything other than politics," said Stephen Farnsworth, a professor at George Mason University who has been watching the race closely. "The real challenge for any candidate in a close race like this one is to make sure you turn out everyone who is even remotely interested in you."
When it comes to which geographic areas will prove key in this three-way race, or which voter demographic -- young people, for instance, or the African Americans who turned out in force in Virginia to secure the state for Obama -- no one knows. There has been no Democratic primary in the Virginia governor's race in more than 30 years. And Virginia has changed a lot since then.
"Because there's no track record, we don't know what the norm is. That's one of the reasons why the campaigns are working so hard up to the last minute," Farnsworth said. "In a race this close, with this many undecided voters, any place can turn out to be decisive."
Rodrigues, of the elections board, said the turnout might be lower because of the sheer number of elections that Virginia has had recently, including several local races in Northern Virginia. Virginia and New Jersey are the only two states that hold elections every year. "Whether there is some voter fatigue," she said, "that remains to be seen."
Indeed, several polling places in central Fairfax County felt like ghost towns this morning. At Cedar Lane Elementary School in Vienna, only eight people had voted by 6:40; volunteers for candidates there joked that election officials might be able to count votes on their fingers and toes if the early morning pace held. At the Vienna community center on Cherry Street, volunteers paced quietly in the parking lot, waiting for voters.
One of the few to come was Teri Goldsmith, 41, who said she was voting in her first Virginia election -- she moved from Colorado last fall. A schoolteacher who has volunteered over the years for national party candidates, she said she voted for McAuliffe because of his "professionalism. He knows how to run, he knows how to win. And he gets it. He knows people are struggling and he's talking about creating jobs. He talking about things that everyone is worried about."
In the 35th House district race, where Del. Steve Shannon is stepping down to run for attorney general, Goldsmith said she voted for Mark Keam, who is seeking to become the House's first Asian American delegate. She said she was impressed by Keam's background working on Capitol Hill.
Tom Winston, 44, said he voted for Moran because of what he called experience. "All three of these guys know their stuff. They are all good Democrats," said Winston, who is on disability after what he said was a work-related accident five years ago. "But Brian's my guy. He's paid his dues. And he knows how all this system works. We need that to keep the party strong."
In Woodbridge, Kevin Evans said he never considered skipping the polls. As an African American, he said, he takes pride in exercising this basic right, denied to generations of his ancestors. Evans was thrilled to be able to cast a ballot for Luke Torian, who is vying to represent the 52nd district in the House of Delegates.
"He's my pastor, and I look at him every Sunday," said Evans, 49, who attends First Mount Zion Baptist Church and votes at Rippon Middle School. "He prays on everything, so with God behind you . . . who can be against you?"
Another Torian supporter, Bruce Smith, was planning to distribute campaign literature outside the middle school but changed course as the storm worsened. "I'd stand in the rain but not out in this lightning," Smith said after ducking for cover. "The rain might impact the day . . . it gives people a real good reason to stay inside."
Copyright 2009 The Washington Post Company