PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Democrats will keep control of the state Senate and have taken control of the House of Delegates, Decision Desk HQ has projected.
Many results from Tuesday’s elections are in, but there are still some that have not been called.
The Senate District 24 race between Republican Danny Diggs and Democrat Monty Mason remains too close to call, with just 1,022 votes separating the two as of 2 a.m. Wednesday (32,764 for Diggs to 31,742 for Mason) with 89% of precincts reporting.
The House District 82 race between Republican Kim Taylor and Democrat Kimberly Adams is down to just 73 votes, with Taylor (50.31%) ahead 14,141 votes to 13,968 for Adams (49.69%) with 88% reporting.
Polls opened at 6 a.m. and closed at 7 p.m. tonight in Virginia. In North Carolina, the polls stayed open until 7:30 p.m.
Digital Host Sarah Goode hosted a Digital Election Special with WAVY anchors Tom Schaad and Marielena Balouris, Old Dominion University political analyst Dr. Ben Melusky and Christopher Newport University political analyst Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo.
All 40 seats of the Virginia Senate and 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates are up for grabs, with the future of abortion rights and other issues are stake. Republicans currently control the House and Democrats narrowly control the Virginia State Senate.
Live updates from Election Day are below:
Democrat Aaron Rouse has declared victory over Republican Kevin Adams for the state Senate District 22 seat.
State Sen. Louise Lucas has claimed victory in keeping the Senate majority.
“Democrats’ message of protecting fundamental freedoms resonated with voters tonight and allowed us to protect this chamber against an onslaught of spending and disinformation from Gov. Youngkin and his allies,” interim DLCC president Heather Williams said in a statement. “With this victory, Gov. Youngkin has been denied a governing trifecta and our newly elected majority stands ready to defend Virginia from Republican extremism.”
For a second time, a referendum to bring a casino to Richmond has failed. 10 On Your Side’s Brett Hall said a developer called him to say this is another “gift” to Norfolk and HeadWaters Resort and Casino.
Results: With 82% of precincts reporting in the state Senate District 17 race, Republican Emily Brewer, with 52.51% of the vote, leads Democrat Clinton Jenkins. Brewer’s lead is just under 3,000 votes.
With 100% of precincts reporting in the race for state Senate District 21, Democrat Angelia Graves leads Independent Giovanni Dolmo with 77.87% of the vote. Graves has 27,325 votes to Dolmo’s 7,766.
In House District 94, with 93% of precincts reporting, Democrat Phil Hernandez leads Republican Andy Pittman with 53.55% of the vote. For all the results, go to WAVY’s election results page. Hernandez has claimed victory in the race.
In House District 70, with 89% of precincts reporting, Democrat Shelly Simonds, with 52.8% of the vote, leads Republican Matt Waters and Libertarian Michael Bartley.
Meanwhile, state Sen. Monty Mason said he was pleased with the number of William & Mary students who cast provisional ballots today.
“My alma mater came through,” Mason told 10 On Your Side’s Andy Fox. “We worked hard at William & Mary. We knew there was a lot of student enthusiasm, and so we had worked to show them that you could register the same day, vote the same day, and boy, they turned out in droves. I’m simply excited about it and look forward to seeing the results.”
In Senate District 17, Democrat Clinton Jenkins has a slight lead over Republican Emily Brewer, but it’s still quite early.
In Newport News, voting computers were not working this morning, resulting in people having to be looked up on paper documents instead of on a computer. The city’s registrar told 10 On Your Side that “we did have an electronic pollbook issue city-wide this morning. All of the precincts utilized their paper pollbooks as a back up until their electronic pollbooks were operational. No voter was denied their vote due to this electronic pollbook issue as the officers utilized their paper pollbooks.”
Ryan Jackson, campaign manager for Democrat Aaron Rouse, said they’re feeling well about their chances for the Senate’s District 22 seat against Republican Kevin Adams and said their main focus has been getting people out to vote.
It’s just after 7 p.m., and polls have closed in Virginia. If you were in line at 7 p.m., you can still vote. North Carolina polls close at 7:30 p.m.
The early Monty Mason crowd at the Corner Pocket in Williamsburg are awaiting the returns.
Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo, the research director for Christopher Newport University’s Wason Center for Civic Leadership, said the reasons people are driven to vote depend upon what their political affiliation is, and what is important to them.
“When you get into the nitty-gritty of Democrats versus Republicans, Democrats have a whole different set of issues, and abortion is their top issue,” Bromley-Trujillo said. “And for Republicans, they’re really coalescing around the economy, and independents are a mix. Economy, abortion — I think abortion is going to be the huge motivator of the night.”
Old Dominion University associate political science professor Dr. Ben Melusky offered his analysis of Virginia’s elections, and their significance not only in how the state will be governed going forward, but also how it might affect the national conversation.
“There’s potential it could turn solidly blue, or the legislature could turn solidly blue,” Melusky said. “Or we could have a solidly red government as well, too. And it’s going to be very close tonight.”
Both sides have been getting their voters to the polls.
“If the legislature goes blue, we can expect a little bit more gridlock, … a little bit less power to the Republicans now,” Melusky said, “so Gov. Youngkin will have to work with the legislature to pass policies forward. If it does go solidly red, for Gov. Youngkin there’s been a lot of talk — is he going to be that last-minute, dark-horse candidate to jump into the presidential election, or, looking farther ahead, will he be the next one to take on (Sen.) Tim Kaine?”
Voters in Suffolk outlined what issues were important to them as they went out and voted today. One voter said a woman’s right to choose was important to her, while another man said getting prices down was important to him.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin said he is excited about what people are saying about Republicans. He urges people to vote, saying Republicans have reduced taxes and stood up for excellence in education and law enforcement.
“Most importantly, we’re creating opportunity like never before in the history of the Commonwealth,” Youngkin said. “I’d ask folks to elect a House and elect a Senate that will work with me, not against me, so that we can continue to release this unbridled opportunity across the Commonwealth of Virginia. We’ll deliver, and I promise.”
Youngkin, while at a northern Virginia precinct this morning, thanked voters and said that the state could have a fantastic two years if Republicans can hold on to the House of Delegates and flip the state Senate.
There’s still time to vote, and even register and cast a provisional ballot. In Virginia, you can vote until 7 p.m., and in North Carolina until 7:30 p.m. No one will be turned away from the polls if they are in line to vote by those times in the respective states.
Also, you can tune in this evening to a special newscast online at 8 p.m at WAVY.com.
Suffolk registrar Burdette Lawrence confirmed that a voting machine was down at the Chuckatuck Fire Department polling location this morning, saying “zero tape could not be printed. … (It) was not printed immediately, but we did get them printed — election officer error.”
Zero tape is a file that is produced by electronic voter machines showing that a machine has no votes tallied at the beginning of an election.”
She said the precinct chief notified her that “no one was turned away, and the tape was printed within minutes,” as a machine tech was able to resolve the issue.
With same-day registration allowed in Virginia, there has been an influx of College of William & Mary students showing up at the polls to vote, 10 On Your Side’s Andy Fox noted. Exit pollers have also been out in Williamsburg asking voters their thoughts about things such as the economy at the national level.
Political analyst Joel Rubin spoke with 10 On Your Side’s Raven Payne and told her that for both candidates in the 97th District House of Delegates seat — Republican Karen Greenhalgh and Democrat Michael Feggans — turnout will be a deciding factor.
The Virginia General Assembly website has been down this Election Day. 10 On Your Side reached out to find out why. WAVY received this reply from Diane Seaborn with the Division of Legislative Automated Systems, “You may have heard that recently the General Assembly moved from the Pocahontas Building up to the brand new General Assembly building on the corner of 9th and Broad Sts. in Richmond. This system outage has been planned today to complete the move of the servers to the new building. Access to the site will be restored momentarily.”
The Newport News Department of Voter Registration confirmed to 10 On Your Side Tuesday afternoon that there was an electronic pollbook issue citywide Tuesday morning. All of the precincts used paper pollbooks as a backup until the electronic pollbooks were again operational, according to Director of Elections Vicki Lewis.
Voting has been going smooth at a Virginia Beach precinct in House District 97, an election official tells WAVY.
Turnout on the Peninsula in Senate District 24 (Mason vs. Diggs) was “eh” as of 9 a.m. this morning, an election official in Newport News said.
Issue with voting? Did you go vote and encounter any issues/things you’d like to let us know about? Contact WAVY investigative producer Sean Davis at sean.davis@wavy.com.
WAVY talks with State Sen. Monty Mason: Mason, a Democratic incumbent, is facing off with Republican Danny Diggs. WAVY’s Brett Hall talked with him on Election Day in Newport News.
WAVY talks with House of Delegates candidate Karen Greenhalgh: Greenhalgh, a Republican incumbent, is running against Democrat Michael Feggans in the 97th House District in Virginia Beach.
WAVY’s Brett Hall talks to candidate Danny Diggs in District 24 Senate race: The District 24 race between Republican Danny Diggs and Democrat Monty Mason could decide the balance of the Virginia State Senate.
Brett talked to Diggs on Tuesday morning in York County.
Voters head to polls in competitive State Senate District 24: Democratic incumbent Monty Mason is up against longtime York-Poquoson Sheriff Danny Diggs in the State Senate District 24 race.
WAVY’s Brett Hall reports live from York County.
Candidate Michael Feggans talks to WAVY: The Democrat is running against Republican Karen Greenhalgh in Virginia’s 97th House District.