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Despite the snow, special elections go on as scheduled Tuesday

Last year, voters sent two state senators to Washington, which caused a member of the House of Delegates to resign so he can run for the state Senate.

That means three special elections: The 32nd Senate District and 26th House District in blue Loudoun County and the 10th Senate District red Central Virginia.

David Ramadan is a former Republican member of the House who is now at George Mason University's Schar School. He says don't expect the snowstorm to change the outcome.

 "Six to 12 inches is not going to change the expectation on any of these three elections. Anything could happen, but not likely," Ramadan predicted Monday. 

Democratic strategist Ben Tribbett says the new rules around early voting are having way more of an influence than the weather.

 "There's never been a special election in Virginia's history with this many votes cast going into Election Day," Tribbett said. "And we know that the early vote in-person and the early vote by mail favors Democrats and that the snowstorm is going to make it even more difficult for Republicans to have a chance to be competitive if it makes Election Day turnout itself lower."

Polls in those districts will be open from 6am to 7pm Tuesday. Click here to check your registration or polling place.

The winners of those three special elections won't have much time to savor their victory before they get to work. The General Assembly session starts the day after the election.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Michael Pope is an author and journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria.