Welcome to Charlottesville Tomorrow’s 2026 Central Virginia Voter Guide!

Primary season is here.

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Early voting for Virginia’s Aug. 4 primary election began June 18, giving voters across central Virginia a chance to cast their ballots ahead of Primary Election Day. Depending on where you live, you’ll help choose party nominees for Congress and the U.S. Senate.

The winners of those contests will then face off against each other in the Nov. 3 general election.

For many central Virginia voters, these will be the only races that appear on your ballot. However, a handful of localities will also select new candidates for local offices. 

During the general election, voters across the state will also decide three additional proposed constitutional amendments addressing reproductive rights, marriage equality and the restoration of voting rights for people with felony convictions.

This guide is here to provide information to help you decide who you want to represent you. It covers all eligible races in 11 central Virginia counties and the City of Charlottesville. (It doesn’t include the greater Richmond area because there are more media outlets providing information on those races.) Charlottesville Tomorrow has published a voter guide for 20 years. We expanded beyond the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County in 2023, after we heard from many people that they wanted more information in the region.

Sometimes, it’s hard to get information about local races. If you have information or see an error in this guide, please reach out and let us know.

U.S. Senate
Congressional District 5
Congressional District 7

This year’s primary election was postponed from its usual June date. That’s because voters were asked in April to decide whether to amend the Virginia Constitution to allow state lawmakers to redraw the congressional district map. Congressional district maps are usually redrawn only once every 10 years after the U.S. census. The amendment would have allowed Virginia to redraw its map earlier, a move supported by Democrats who hoped to redraw congressional districts in ways that could benefit their party after Republicans did the same in several other states.

Virginia voters approved the amendment, but conservative groups immediately challenged it in court. A judge blocked the new districts from taking effect, and the Virginia Supreme Court later struck down the amendment, leaving the current congressional map unchanged.

More about elections in Virginia

Help us make a voter guide that meets your needs

As part of Charlottesville Tomorrow’s annual Voter Guide, we send a list of questions to all registered candidates for each race in our central Virginia coverage area. This includes the City of Charlottesville; the counties of Albemarle, Appomattox, Buckingham, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange and Prince Edward; and the towns of Scottsville, Appomattox, Pamplin, Dillwyn, Stanardsville, Louisa, Mineral, Madison, Gordonsville, Orange and Farmville.

We publish each returned Q&A with the candidates’ responses grouped under each question to help you, the voter, understand how they compare on the issues that matter most to you. (You can see an example of how this looks from last years’ guide here.)

What questions should we ask your candidates? You tell us!

To help serve voters, we’d like to know what issues and questions matter to you. Please take a few minutes to complete our two-question 2026 Voter Survey, and tell us what you would like us to ask candidates in your area.

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Support this work

Our urgent need for high quality, local information is only growing as things change rapidly. Let’s build up free-to-access information for and about the people here in central Virginia. You can support this work immediately with your one-time gift, or with a sustaining monthly donation. To find out more ways to sponsor this work through your individual investment or through a business or nonprofit partnership, reach out to mhood [at] cvilletomorrow.org.

Here are key dates and deadlines in the 2026 elections

Friday, March 6, 2026 – Saturday, April 18, 2026Early voting for special election on constitutional amendment to allow state lawmakers to redraw the congressional district map. Voting is available weekdays at local registrar’s offices. Registrar’s offices will also be open for voting Saturday, April 11 and Saturday, April 18.
Friday, April 10, 2026, 5 p.m.Deadline to apply to your local registrar’s office for your ballot to be mailed to you or to apply for an absentee ballot using the Citizen Portal for the special election. Requests must be received by your local registrar’s office by 5 p.m.
Wednesday, April 15, 2026Deadline to register to vote or update an existing registration for the special election. You can still vote in the special election if you miss this deadline by registering at the polling place and casting a provisional ballot.
Tuesday, April 21, 2026Special Election Day!
Friday, June 29 to Aug. 1, 2026Early voting period for Primary Elections. Contact your local registrar’s office for all early voting and satellite location information.
Friday, July 24, 2026Deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot. Apply for an absentee ballot online using the Citizen Portal by 5 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026Primary Election Day!
Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026General Election Day!

We will update this list periodically as deadlines approach or we receive new information.

Register to vote, check your registration, find your polling place and apply to vote absentee at the Virginia Department of Elections here. Remember, even if you miss registration deadlines, you can register through Election Day and vote using a provisional ballot.

Need to know if you’re eligible to vote? Here are resources from the Virginia Department of Elections.

Let’s meet!

We’re touring central Virginia to find out what matters to you — and help get everyone engaged in our local democracy! Come see us when we’re in your neighborhood!

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As a reporter, I focus our local democracy and run our annual, essential Voter Guide. If there’s something you think we should be investigating, please get in touch! And you can follow all the work we do by subscribing to our free newsletter!