Virginia Democrats beat their previous record for early primary voting over the weekend.
According to the Virginia Department of Elections, nearly 134,000 Virginians voted early in statewide Democratic Party primaries for Attorney General and Lt. Governor since early voting opened in early May.
The previous record, set in the summer of 2023, saw 129,000 early Democratic primary votes cast, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
Democratic Party Chair and State Senator Lamont Bagby told Radio IQ Monday that the quality and message of primary candidates are inspiring voters.
“They've been focused on the issues and folks are excited about the opportunity that we have to push back not only on Donald Trump, but on Glenn Youngkin and Winsome Earle-Sears,” Bagby said.
Returning primary ballots via mail has been the preferred method for 2025 primary voters so far. Historic data from VPAP suggests a surge in early in-person voters the weekend before the primary could push the final number much higher.
University of Mary Washington Political Science professor Stephen Farnsworth told Radio IQ last month the increase in early votes shows excitement among Democrats across the Commonwealth.
“The Washington narrative that Democrats are dispirited and the activists are hopeless," he said. "That’s just not supported by these early voting numbers in Virginia.”
In fact, Farnsworth thinks its action coming out of Washington — via the Trump administration — that may be firing Virginia Democrats up.
“In Virginia, where there’s a disproportionate, large number of people who are federal employees or federal contractors, the anxiety over the future, whether you’ve lost your job already or whether you’re worried you might, will discourage consumer spending," Farnsworth told Radio IQ. "And all of those downward pressures on the Virginia economy will not help Republican candidates going forward.”
Still, the increase in early voter turnout early in the primary race could mean the pool of day-of Democratic voters would get smaller.
"Early voters would vote anyway," Farnsworth said. "If they're banking their votes, that still shows some enthusiasm."
Notably there's no statewide primaries on the GOP ballot this year, leaving only about 14,000 registered early voters in districts with primaries.
For Democrats, with a six-way race for lieutenant governor and a two-way race for Attorney General, that number is nearly 260,000.
Virginians can continue to vote early in person through Saturday, June 14 until 5PM.
Mail in ballots can be sent until Primary Day on June 17th but won't be counted without a post mark on or before the 17th. Mailed in ballots must be received before Friday, June 20th.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
