Virginia voters will choose a new governor this year, but first come the state’s primary elections, which are happening on June 17.
Early voting begins May 2.
There will not be a primary in the governor’s race, as both parties have already selected their nominees — Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger.
Most of the action in the primaries will focus on the race for lieutenant governor.
Six candidates are competing on the Democratic side.
They include former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, State Sens. Ghazala Hashmi and Aaron Rouse, Prince William County School Board Chairman Babur Lateef and attorneys Alex Bastani and Victor Salgado.
On the Republican side, the candidates were Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity and radio host John Reid, though Herrity just dropped out due to health reasons, leaving only Reid in the race.
Mark Rozell, dean of George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government, called Reid “a well-known radio personality” in the Richmond area.
In the race for attorney general, Democrats have two candidates — former state Del. Jay Jones and Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor.
There will be no Republican primary for attorney general, as incumbent Jason Miyares is seeking a second term unopposed.
“It is highly likely that one of these candidates who emerges as lieutenant governor or attorney general is going to be a future gubernatorial nominee and governor of the state, so it’s very important that people pay attention,” Rozell said. “The real concern here is whether there will be a significant enough turnout that you get something like a real mandate within each of the parties for the eventual nominees.”
In November, all 100 seats in the House of Delegates will be on the ballot.
There’s not much activity in the primaries for those seats, however, with most incumbents running unopposed. In all, there are nine Democratic primaries and eight Republican primaries, with only a few of them happening around Northern Virginia.
In House District 1 in Arlington County, Democratic Del. Patrick Hope faces a primary challenge from Sean Epstein and Arjoon Srikanth.
Republican primaries are taking place in District 21 in Prince William County and in District 62, which includes part of Culpeper County.
The District 21 primary features Greg Gorham, Sahar Smith and Xanthe Larsen. In District 62, Karen Hamilton and Clay Jackson are competing for the nomination.
There is also one local Democratic primary in Arlington County, where County Board Chairman Takis Karantonis faces a challenge from James DeVita.
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