As election night unfolds, this post will serve as your central hub.
Here, you’ll find stories and updates from polling places across the region, live reports from the Derrick Anderson and Eugene Vindman camps in the evening, and interviews with local pols-in-the-know to help put all of the night’s developments into context.
You’ll also be able to track vote totals on the relevant races in real time below.
Democrat Vindman staves off Anderson to claim victory in Virginia’s 7th district
Eugene Vindman took the stage late Tuesday night at the Silk Mill in Fredericksburg triumphant in his win in the 7th Congressional District race.
“Is this the greatest country in the world or what?” he asked his patient supporters.
Although the crowd had thinned by the time he arrived, those who remained began chanting, “Eugene, Eugene” and cheered as Vindman and his wife Cindy walked in.
It was an American dream come true for the Ukrainian immigrant, who characterized his win as “a testament to the power of the American experience.”
Vindman was neck and neck with Republican opponent Derrick Anderson until almost 11 p.m. The race was decided by just over 8,000 votes with 342,423 total ballots cast, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
Vindman won more than 65 percent of votes in Prince William County and stalemated Anderson just to the south in Stafford. Although the presidential race had yet to be called nationally, Vindman declared it a “historic night here in Virginia and in the district.”
-Kathy Knotts
Democrat Tim Kaine of Virginia fends off GOP challenger to win a 3rd term to the US Senate
Democratic U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia won reelection to his third term Tuesday, defeating Republican challenger Hung Cao.
Cao, a 25-year Navy veteran whose past political experience was limited to a promising but failed bid in 2022 for a blue-leaning northern Virginia U.S. House seat, faced an uphill battle in the race, according to political observers. The Commonwealth hasn’t elected a Republican to the upper chamber since 2002 with the late John Warner, a centrist with an independent streak.
Kaine won his last race in 2018 by 16 percentage points. When he announced his reelection bid last year, he said he was preparing for a tough race and wasn’t taking anything for granted. He noted that “Virginians will vote for Republicans in statewide elections,” as they did in 2021 for Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Political scientists had said there was a narrow path to victory for the GOP given Virginia’s moderate electorate, aversion to former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election and Kaine’s salience with voters.
“This is definitely an uphill climb for the Republican Party in this state, particularly with a candidate who could be more easily tied to Trump,” Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo, a Christopher Newport University political science professor, told The Associated Press in June.
Cao scored Trump’s endorsement during a crowded Republican primary race. And the former president stated then that Cao would help stop inflation, secure the border and “defend our always under siege Second Amendment.”
-Associated Press
For local Electoral Board chair, democracy is in the details
The distinction is largely semantic, but it matters to Scott Walker.
“I like to point out that it is not a voting machine,” Walker said. “It’s a counting machine. It’s a scanner, you know, that counts who votes for what.”
Technicalities are integral to Walker’s job as chair of the Fredericksburg Electoral Board. The three-member body, a version of which exists in every locality across the Commonwealth, consists by law of one Democrat, one Republican and one person belonging to the current governor’s party (in this case, Republican). It’s responsible for overseeing elections and issuing rulings on provisional ballots, which are given to voters whose registration or qualifications are in question.
They also make staffing decisions for elections officers, aiming to place an even split of Republicans and Democrats at each of the city’s five precincts.
“Though we have a party label, I mean, this only works if you then leave that at the door,” Walker said. “I mean, there’s no partisanship in [conducting] elections, and the three of us believe that.”
Between 7 p.m. on election day and Nov. 15 — when they’ll meet to certify the vote — Walker and his two Republican counterparts, Michael Beyer and Dave McLaughlin, will review every single provisional ballot cast in the city. According to Walker, in 2023 Fredericksburg had the fifth-highest total of provisional ballots of any locality in Virginia.
Each one requires a judgment call.
“Referee is probably the better word,” Walker said.
For example, if a provisional voter lives in an apartment building but doesn’t list the unit number on their same-day registration, that would be cause for a ballot to be thrown out.
“It sounds well, frankly, pissy, but it’s got to be correct,” he said.
For Walker and his counterparts, election day began at 4:30 a.m., when they met at the office of General Registrar Jessica Atkinson to receive locked boxes filled with ballots to deliver to Fredericksburg’s five precincts.
The precinct captains are the only ones able to unlock the boxes, which are relocked and checked back in at the registrar’s office once polls close.
But preparations for a smooth process began long before election day. Two weeks prior to the start of in-person early voting on Sept. 20, the board conducted “logic and accuracy testing,” personally testing each voting (or is it counting?) machine.
“It starts at zero, and then we have a hundred ballots that we try to put in upside down, backwards,” Walker said. “We, you know, sort of mark them with a crayon, anything to fool the machine.”
After certifying the vote, the electoral board has one more task. This cycle, the state board of elections has ordered a “risk management audit,” or a hand count of selected precincts. That will take place on Nov. 20.
“We’ve made it very plain,” Walker said. “We’re not putting up with any hoo-ha.”
Despite early deficit, ‘great energy’ among GOP hopeful Anderson’s supporters
As Tara Durant walked into a packed banquet room at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Stafford County Tuesday night, she smiled and shook hands with supporters of U.S. Congressional 7th District candidate Derrick Anderson.
Early results trickled in showing Anderson trailing Democrat Eugene Vindman by more than 17,000 votes, but with votes still being counted, Durant said local Republicans remain “very optimistic.”
“There’s a great energy right now and the mood is very good,” Durant said.
Durant and others in her party are looking to the rural parts of the 7th District to help Anderson remain competitive, although the bulk of the votes will come from Democrat-leaning Prince William County.
“They’ve paid attention to every part of the district because every voice matters,” Durant said.
At 8:30 p.m., Anderson had yet to arrive at his gathering of approximately 125 supporters, many donning pro-Presidential candidate Donald Trump attire. Anderson signs were plastered on the walls in the room and his voters posed with pictures holding the candidate’s signs.
Anderson spent part of the day hanging out at Smith Station Elementary School, which he attended growing up in Spotsylvania County, said campaign staffer Riley Ploch.
Fredericksburg-area voters flock to polls with inflation, abortion front of mind
The Rev. Hashmel Turner may not serve on the Fredericksburg City Council anymore, but that doesn’t mean he’s stopped being involved in civic affairs.
The two-term councilman, who’s also a past president of the city’s branch of the NAACP, spent part of his Tuesday hanging out with members of the Democratic party after voting at New City Fellowship Church.
He was one of thousands of Fredericksburg-area residents who came to the polls to exercise their right to vote.
Turner said he appreciates what his ancestors endured to allow him to have that right, so he is a regular voter. He was wearing a black T-shirt with white letters that read, “Black Voters Matter” on the front and “It’s about us” on the back.
He said he agrees with Vice President Kamala Harris’ policy of promoting national unity, and he hopes she can bring young people into the realm of public policy, maybe through picking some of them for a future presidential cabinet.
“We definitely need to move the country forward and not back,” said Turner, who will be 75 on Nov. 15. “We will not go back. We will not go back. No, no indeed.”
Tameisha Carter also voted for Harris at New City Fellowship — but she said her choice was not so much about being for the Democratic nominee as it was about standing against Republican ideas.
She was particularly concerned about a woman’s right to choose abortion.
“That was the big deal for me because I have daughters, and I want them to be able to always have a right to choose,” said Carter, 43.
She spoke while standing in front of a Democratic tent where party members were handing out beaded bracelets that said “Kamala” on them.
Farther down the sidewalk in front of the church was a cluster of Republicans, who, not to be outdone, had brought along a cardboard cutout of former President Donald Trump.
Near them was Richard Griffith, who said abortion is also the pivotal issue for him. He’s against it.
The 88-year-old didn’t want to reveal his choice for president, and he said he doesn’t vote strictly for one party or another.
“It depends on the person,” he said.
Pamela Watkins came to the church to vote for Harris, and she said she’s concerned about Trump being a convicted felon. She also is against Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for government that’s been controversial during this election cycle.
“That’s ludicrous,” Watkins said. “It is disrespectful. It’s not American. It targeted certain groups — that’s not American. It separates the ethnic groups, the genders — that’s not American.”
As if to illustrate the closeness of this year’s presidential race, voters interviewed by the Free Press at the Lee Hill Community Center in Spotsylvania County were split 50-50 between Harris and Trump.
-Jonathan Hunley
These first-time voters found the ballot box — eventually
Jeanne Davis wasn’t going to leave Fredericksburg without a photo.
No sooner had Davis’ 18-year-old daughter, Laura, cleared the ramp outside the Dorothy Hart Community Center around 10 a.m. Tuesday than she whipped out her cell phone to memorialize the occasion.
Laura Davis appeased her mother by posing somewhat sheepishly in front of a curbside voting placard and yellow crime scene tape with the words “no campaigning beyond this point.” In her right hand, the University of Mary Washington freshman displayed the first “I voted” sticker of her civic career.
Davis, an Ashburn native, said she first realized the importance of her vote after taking a women and gender studies class during her senior year at Rock Ridge High School in Loudoun County.
“My vote counts towards something that protects me,” she said. “By voting for Kamala Harris, I want to protect my autonomy.”
Laura Davis, 18, was one of several first-time voters to cast a ballot at the Dorothy Hart Community Center on Tuesday morning. (Submitted photo)
By contrast, fellow first-time voter Kaden Crim took a more analytical approach to determining which candidates he’d support.
“I used ChatGPT to summarize things for me,” said Crim, 21. “Summarizing their policies and comparing the things I want to see.”
Crim, who also attends UMW, took advantage of same-day registration after arriving at Dorothy Hart on Tuesday morning. He listed inflation and domestic issues as his top priorities at the ballot box.
“All my friends talk about it a lot,” he said of the election, “and I figured it was irresponsible to not vote any longer until I got older.”
Age was just a number for Bridget, an elementary school teacher who voted Tuesday for the first time — at 27 years old.
“In college was the first time I was able to vote, and I didn’t really see the importance yet,” said Bridget, who requested to go by her first name while discussing her vote. “Then when Trump won, it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this can actually happen.’”
When the most recent midterm elections came around, Bridget had recently moved and her registration wasn’t yet up to date.
“Somehow this ended up being my first one,” she said. “But I’m happy I did it.”
While Jeanne Davis was eager to witness her daughter’s civic milestone, she also had a practical reason for making the drive down from Ashburn, where she’d already cast her ballot.
“I had to be here to make sure she voted, number one,” she said with a smile. “And, number two — I had to give her a ride here.”
-Joey LoMonaco
