Del. Ken Plum: And They Are Off!

Inevitably someone is going to refer to the nominating contests for candidates for the Virginia statewide offices and the House of Delegates as horse races–not because of the characteristics of any of the candidates but because of the crowded field of persons who are offering themselves for public office. Space limitations on this column will not permit me to list all the candidates for they are numerous. For whatever the reason, Virginia voters have more choices than ever. That is a good thing. Democracy has broken out in the Commonwealth.

Virginia election cycles do not parallel those of other states except for New Jersey where state elections are held in years other than those in which federal elections are held. This November Virginia will be electing a governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and all one hundred members of the House of Delegates.

That is the schedule for the general election. Before we get there, however, candidates must be chosen by the political parties. Democrats pick their candidates in primary elections this year on June 8, and Republicans use conventions to pick their candidates. What is amazing is the number of people who have shown up seeking the nominations. For the names of all persons who have declared themselves at the time of the writing of this column, go to https://www.vpap.org/elections/.

For governor, there will be five Democrats on the June 8 primary ballot from which voters can choose their candidate. Republicans will have seven candidates from which to choose in a convention-like process adapted for the pandemic to determine their candidate for governor to be on the ballot for the General Election on November 2.

At the same time and as part of the same process, the major political parties will pick their candidates for lieutenant governor and attorney general. For lieutenant governor there are five Republicans and eight Democrats seeking their party’s nomination. For attorney general there are three Republicans and two Democrats seeking their party’s nomination. There may be independent candidates on the ballot in November, but they must qualify through another process.

In the House of Delegates races there are more challenges to incumbents and to open seats than I can remember. For Democrats who have a slight majority in the House of Delegates and who have been realizing amazing success in getting their legislative agenda passed, there are fourteen challenges to incumbents with many of them being to Democratic progressives in Northern Virginia. On the Republican side there are contests for the House nominations in seven districts with a couple of the most conservative members being challenged for their nomination.

In the past two legislative sessions the General Assembly passed and the Governor has signed many pieces of legislation to make voting easier and more accessible. There will be early voting this year with no-excuse absentee voting, curbside voting, drop-boxes for ballot delivery, longer voting times. Voter registration is for life. There is no excuse for not voting. And for this year in particular, there is no lack of choice. The candidates are off, and you get to decide who wins!