ALTERNATE: Harris wins Virginia with lower turnout, Kaine reelected to Senate

By Brodie Greene 

Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. — Vice President Kamala Harris gave her concession speech late Wednesday afternoon, from her alma mater of Howard University. She encouraged supporters to “concede the election, but not the fight that fueled the campaign.”

She addressed the young people in the audience and said “it is OK to feel sad and disappointed.” 

Harris referenced her campaign slogan: “When we fight we win,” but added, “sometimes the fight takes a while.”

“This is not the time to throw up our hands, this is the time to roll up our sleeves … to stay engaged,” Harris said. 

She also promised a peaceful transition of power. 

Kamala Harris Wins Virginia

Virginia voters chose Harris by a 5 percentage point margin, or over 200,000 votes, based on unofficial numbers, though the victory was not as robust as a Nov. 1 poll predicted. Biden won the state by 10 percentage points in 2020, and the race was called before 8 p.m. 

 Initial statewide turnout numbers show a drop from 2020. Early numbers indicate turnout was roughly 71% of registered voters, though these numbers are not final. 

Alex Keena is an associate professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, whose research focuses on electoral systems, and legislative politics. Voter turnout was likely higher in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

“People were at home, it was a pandemic,” Keena said. “There was a lot of media attention around the 2020 election and people were more engaged.”

The Harris campaign failed to take stronger stances on issues that young voters care about, according to Keena.

Harris centered a message around Trump being a threat to democracy, when she needed to focus on her policies, according to Keena.

 “That was an opportunity that she could have made selling herself, or talking about her positions on things like housing, and then of course there wasn’t really much attention to climate change at all.”

Harris won the state’s 13 electoral votes, but President-elect Donald Trump projected to receive a national total of 292, more than enough for his victory. He is only the second president in history to win a second, nonconsecutive return to the White House. It is very uncommon, according to Keena. 

“It’s a political victory that our country has never seen before, nothing like this,” Trump said. “I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being your 47th president and your 45th president.”

Democrat Maintain Senate Seat

Incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine beat Republican opponent retired U.S. Navy captain Hung Cao by more than 8 percentage points, to win his third Senate term.

Kaine delivered his victory speech from the Hippodrome Theater in Jackson Ward, located in an area of Richmond that he represented as a City Council member in 1994. He referenced the Maggie Walker statue around the corner, and the hard work of Black women in electing leadership.

“Thank you for trusting me to be someone who walks side by side with you,” Kaine said.

Cao, who lost his second bid for a congressional office, said this was his last political run. He was able to carve into the margins of Kaine’s 2018 victory, which was much higher then.

“I want to tell you as my friends, that it’s pretty much lost right now,” Cao stated about his race on Tuesday. “I want to tell you this, though, we moved the heck out of that needle. Virginia is not blue, if anything it’s purple.”

Incumbents Maintain Seats in Congressional Race

All 11 U.S. House seats were up for reelection in Virginia. Of these, eight incumbent congressional representatives won reelection with comfortable leads. 

Four Democratic incumbents were reelected:

-Rep. Bobby Scott, District 3, won with over 69% of the votes.

-Rep. Jennifer McClellan, District 4, won with over 66% of the votes.

-Rep. Don Beyer Jr., District 8, won with over 71% of the votes.

-Rep. Gerry Connolly, District 11, won with over 66% of the votes.

Two Democrats won open seats, but with tight victories. State Sen. Suhas Subramanyam won District 10 with nearly 52% of the vote. Newcomer Eugene Vindman announced victory in the District 7 race. He narrowly leads Republican challenger Derrick Anderson, but no official call has been made in the race as of Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. 

Four Republican incumbents were reelected:

-Rep. Rob Wittman, District 1, won with over 56% of the votes. 

-Rep. Jen Kiggans, District 2, won with over 50% of votes.

-Rep. Ben Cline, District 6, won with over 63% of votes.

-Rep. Morgan Griffith, District 9, won with more than 72% of the vote.

State Sen. John Mcguire won District 5 with over 57% of the vote, after he bested incumbent Bob Good in a contentious primary.

Danny Avula Grabs Mayoral Victory in Richmond

Levar Stoney served two mayoral terms, the maximum consecutive terms allowed for city mayor. He plans to run for lieutenant governor next year.

Avula emerged as a front runner of five candidates early in the night, and accounted for 46% of votes. Avula is a pediatrician who served as the director of Richmond and Henrico Health Districts, and was the state vaccination coordinator during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Avula’s competition included a current and a former City Council representative, but voters clearly favored the doctor.

“He was a beacon of stability during an uncertain time, you know? He was the name and the face behind Richmond’s response to COVID-19,” Keena said. 

The mayor-elect expressed gratitude to supporters late on election night. He encouraged the people of Richmond to share their ideas, whether they voted for or against him.

“I am going to be a mayor for all of the people of this great city,” Avula said to supporters. 

Petersburg Casino Proposal Hits Jackpot 

Petersburg residents overwhelmingly voted in support of a referendum to build Virginia’s fifth casino, something Richmond voters rejected twice at the polls. The proposal had majority support across each precinct, with almost 82% support, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. 

The casino is projected to be built at the intersection of Wagner Road and Interstate I-95, and will also have a 200-room hotel, an event center and several dining options, according to the project’s website. 

It will be the fifth casino for the state, and the closest to Richmond.

Mamie Hamilton, a passionate volunteer and active community member, was one of the many smiling faces on Tuesday who provided voters with information on the project, and urged them to vote yes.

“I think it’s the greatest event that could ever happen to Petersburg,” Hamilton said. 

Election Day ‘Fair and Secure’

Capital News Service reporters across four counties reported that polling locations mostly ran smoothly, with fast lines and some small, technical issues.

Incidents reported on Election Day included the removal of a Richmond precinct captain who did not hand out 11 complete ballots, a ballot scanner jammed in Chesterfield County and a pulled fire alarm that prompted the evacuation of an Arlington County polling location, but didn’t prevent anyone from voting.

Last month, a voter roll purge initiated by Gov. Glenn Youngkin was challenged in court, but upheld. Some people were incorrectly removed. Virginia allows same-day registration and voting with a provisional ballot. 

Youngkin thanked the Department of Elections, local registrars, staff and volunteers for the smooth process.

“We know the election was fair and secure,” Youngkin stated in a press release. “In Virginia, we took concrete steps to protect our election process and Virginians know that they can have faith in our election results because we have paper ballots, counting machines not connected to the internet, strong chain of custody requirements, secure drop boxes, and most importantly – the cleanest voter rolls in America.” 

Linda Jones, who has voted in Hanover County since 1987, said it was the largest turnout she has seen with people “wrapped around the building.”

 There were a higher number of provisional ballots cast than usual at Hermitage High School, according to Bruce McRoberts, the chief election officer of Henrico County. This was “to be expected with this election,” he said. 

Provisional ballots are fairly new in Virginia, since 2022. The unofficial total of provisional ballots used in this election is reported at over 120,000, according to ELECT. The election night count in 2023 was 25, 926. College-age voters have helped spike use of the option.

Voters reported that top issues included the economy, reproductive rights, foreign affairs and simply voting against the other candidate, or oppositional voting.

Petersburg voter Kristin Smith, needs “cost to go down,” she said. “I can barely afford myself.”

Sakina Thaler, an immigrant from Niger adopted by a family in Goochland, was happy to cast her first presidential vote for Trump. Regardless of political ideas, Thaler said that to have a great country, citizens need to vote. “We should do what is right,” she said.

Reporters Summer DeCiucis, Madison Parlopiano, Liam Velazquez, Stacy Watkins and Anna West contributed to this article. 

Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Robertson School of Media and Culture. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia.