Virginia’s presidential primary is fast approaching, and the stakes are high. So far in the Republican and Democratic primaries, it’s becoming pretty clear that November’s election will likely be a rematch between former president Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden. Nevertheless, there are still multiple candidates on the ballot in both parties. Virginia’s primary, on Tuesday, March 5th, falls on what is known as “Super Tuesday,” when 15 states and territories all vote. It is the single biggest day on the presidential election calendar before the November election.
Virginia Republican primary
In the Republican primary, Virginia is setting up to be a contest between former President Donald Trump and former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley. In the early primary states, Trump has been racking up landslide wins. Most recently, Trump won the South Carolina and Michigan primaries by 20 and 42 points respectively. The former was particularly surprising, given that South Carolina is Nikki Haley’s home state, where she served as governor for two terms. Currently, amongst the five states that have voted so far, Trump leads with 1.5 million popular votes (63.6%) to Haley’s 756,585 (32.0%). Despite this, Haley has vowed to stay in the race until at least Super Tuesday. Virginia is seen as an important state for Haley’s prospects, since she has done well with higher income and college educated voters, which there are a lot of in Northern Virginia. Some Democrats have even crossed over to vote for Haley in states that have open primaries. It is important to note that Virginia is an open primary state, meaning one does not have to be registered with a party to vote in their primary. While there are still four other candidates on the ballot, they have all dropped out of the race.
Virginia Democratic primary
In the Democratic primary, President Biden faces little opposition. U.S. representative Dean Phillips from Minnesota and author Marianne Williamson are challenging Biden on the Virginia ballot. Virginia is being viewed as a state that could potentially become competitive this November, due to Biden’s low approval ratings, and Republican Glenn Youngkin’s election as governor in 2021. However, most analysts see Virginia as leaning Democratic.
Voting in the primary
Tuesday, March 5th is a holiday for FCPS students, since most schools are polling places. An important rule in Virginia is that one who turns 18 before the November election is allowed to vote in the March primary as a 17 year old. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. While the voter registration deadline has passed, it is possible to register to vote on election day, and vote on a provisional ballot. A provisional ballot is one that isn’t counted until the voter registration form has been processed. All that is needed to register is a verifiable government I.D., which includes a passport. Virginia makes it very easy to vote, which increases civic participation amongst the youngest voters.
