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Rebecca Keel talks to Antonio Clarke before he votes. Keel is a volunteer for City Council candidate Mamie Taylor. (Photo by Jay Paul)
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Voters young and old made their way to the polls for Tuesday's general election. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Although presidential elections are still a year away, Tuesday's general election brought plenty of voters eager to make their voices heard in several key local and state-level races across the Richmond region.
Some say they see voting as a civic duty, while others were drawn to the polls because of a specific issue or candidate. Notably, this year’s election will decide the make-up of the Virginia General Assembly as all 100 seats in the House of Delegates and 40 seats in the state Senate are on the ballot. Republicans currently hold a slim margin over both legislative bodies.
In Henrico County, Kim Moncrief stood in front of Tuckahoe Middle School after casting her vote, chatting with a friend while her three children looked on and greeted volunteers and other voters. For Moncrief, 50, voting is a tradition that she was proud to pass along to her kids, and said she was glad they had the day off from school so they could tag along — although she says it was "a little more of a hassle.”
"it’s worth it because then they learn how to vote," she adds.
As the mother of a young son with special needs, she says she faces daily challenges that other families may not be able to relate to. After searching for candidates who she felt were sensitive to those unique concerns, Moncrief says Republican 12th District Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant fits the bill.
"There’s a lot of paperwork and bureaucracy and all kinds of stuff that we have to go through on top of caring for them, and it’s a real struggle," she says. "I can’t even tell you how many hours I spend working on those sorts of things just to get him what he needs on top of just normal care-taking."
Henrico resident Kim Moncrief proudly dons her "I voted" sticker with her three children: Gibson, Isabella and Logan. (Photo by Rodrigo Arriaza)
Civic participation also runs in the family for Henrico County resident John Price, 37, who says his parents instilled the democratic tradition in him at a young age. Before walking into Dumbarton Elementary School to cast his vote, Price says he was drawn to 12th Senate District Democratic candidate Debra Rodman and 72nd District Del. Schuyler VanValkenburg after meeting both of them.
“We live in a world with different, diverse people, and I think everybody should have the same rights,” he says.
Also on the ballot in Henrico are candidates for Board of Supervisors, School Board, commonwealth's attorney, sheriff and soil and water conservation director.
In Hanover County, Scott Wyatt, the Republican candidate for the 97th House District, faces a write-in challenge on behalf of Chris Peace, the incumbent Republican delegate who lost his party's nomination in June. At Washington-Henry Elementary School, campaign volunteer Rachael Moran says she’s been friends with Peace and his wife since childhood, and got involved after seeing the confusion that resulted from the nomination process.
"We need a state delegate who is invested in this community unlike federal representatives where their area is much broader, they can’t come out and meet their constituents,” she says.
Rachael Moran volunteers with a write-in campaign on behalf of Republican Del. Chris Peace for the 97th House District seat. (Photo by Nicole Cohen)
Cate Bach, a Wyatt volunteer, said that although she voted for Peace in the past and likes his leadership, “he’s not the nominee this year and I tend to vote for whoever is the Republican nominee.”
Angela Kelly-Wiecek, a member of the Hanover Board of Supervisors running unopposed, stopped by while making the rounds of precincts. She emphasized the importance of participating in elections for local officials – people who make decisions about county government, public schools and criminal justice. “All of those decisions are made on the local level so it’s very important for the voting people of Hanover to get out at the local level too,” she says.
In Chesterfield’s Bermuda District, voters selected candidates to fill open seats in the county’s Board of Supervisors and School Board. The district also falls into the 11th Senate District, where Republican incumbent Amanda Chase faces a challenge from Democratic nominee Amanda Pohl, a former hospital chaplain.
Jo Anne Parham, chief election officer at Chester United Methodist Church, says voter turnout was busy and steady as of 9 a.m., though she expects to see bigger crowds once the workday ends.
As she left Thomas Dale High School in Chesterfield, Twyla Butler, 31, says her stances on abortion rights, schools safety and gun control drove her to the polls, and she felt it was important to make her voice heard.
"Even though this wasn’t a four-year election, I think it was definitely an important one because it shapes what the smaller picture looks like," she says.
It wasn’t smooth sailing at all local polling places, Virginia Department of Elections Commissioner Christopher Piper said during a conference call Tuesday morning. Due to a mix-up, poll workers at First Presbyterian Church on Cary Street Road received just 150 ballots and ran out shortly before 8 a.m., leaving an unknown number of voters empty-handed. An additional 1,200 ballots were delivered to the precinct 10 to 15 minutes later, Piper said.
In Richmond, 5th District voters are playing a role in deciding the future direction of city politics as they choose between seven candidates looking to fill outgoing City Council member Parker Agelasto’s seat as a vote looms on the massive Navy Hill redevelopment project.
Pam McCarthy, dressed all in purple in tribute to the musician Prince, walked to Maymont Preschool Center to cast her vote for Mamie Taylor in the City Council race. "She really cares," McCarthy says. After voting, McCarthy was handing out clementines, saying, "I'm trying to bring a little sunshine to the volunteers."
At Randolph Community Center, John Cox was the 139th voter at 6:45 a.m. He biked over to vote for 5th District candidate Stephanie Lynch, director of government affairs, strategy and development at mental health and disabilities services counseling program Good Neighbor.
"She'll do the most for safer streets," he says, explaining that he was hit by a driver while in the protected lane on Franklin Street last week. "They turned left without looking."
Fifth District candidate and former City Council member Chuck Richardson talks to a voter Tuesday morning. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Between poll visits, candidate and former City Council member Chuck Richardson was pessimistic. “I used to sweep this precinct, but today, the young crowd doesn't know me," he says.
At Tabernacle Episcopal Church in Richmond's Fan District, Liz Boastfield says she believes it's important to participate in the democratic process even though there's no competitive race to decide in her district.
"Coming out [during an off-year] is important even though it might not change the outcome," she says. "The national state of affairs is being torn apart. ... I want to hang my flag with pride again."
