LIVE: Election Day Updates

Though more than 2.7 million Virginians have voted prior to Election Day, polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. this evening. Many counties and cities within the 5th Congressional District reported that around 40% or more of registered voters already voted via mail-in ballots or early voting. While the Albemarle County registrar estimates that 90% of the county’s votes will have been tabulated by the end of this day, registrars across the state still have until noon Friday to receive absentee ballots and until next Monday to finish tabulating everything and verify any provisional ballots.

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Election Night: Cameron Webb concedes to Bob Good

While election officials have expressed that final results will not be clear on Nov. 3, Virginia’s 5th Congressional District candidates expressed otherwise. After 11 p.m. when registrars finished work for the day, Republican Bob Good took a lead with 53% of the vote and 328 precincts of 330 reporting in. Though registrars will resume their work on Wednesday and remaining absentee ballots have until Friday at noon to be received, the margins were far enough that Democrat Cameron Webb’s campaign conceded the race after midnight. “While this is not the outcome we hoped for, it has truly been an honor to run to represent this district in Congress. This campaign has been a battle of ideas about how to best serve the people of our district and I cannot give enough thanks to everyone who made it possible,” said Dr. Cameron Webb. “Congratulations to Mr. Good for his victory and I look forward to continuing to engage with him as we move forward from the election in a unified way.” Ahead of midnight, Good spent more than 30 minutes thanking campaign staff, volunteers and supporters while reiterating his faith-based campaign as a “Biblical conservative” and criticizing political pundits—singling out but not directly naming Sabato’s Crystal Ball, which had switched its race rating from “toss up” to “leans Republican” the night before the election. “It’s really a toss-up, but as a service to our readers, we lean all the toss-ups at the end,” managing editor Kyle Kondik said in an email earlier in the day. “Basically, I think Webb is the better candidate, but the district is clearly right of center. That to me gives Good a slightly better chance to win.” Meanwhile, during Good’s speech he stated that his campaign and voters were “united by conservative principles.” “I get asked this question a lot — ‘hey you call yourself a Biblical conservative; how can you represent people who maybe don’t agree with you on everything?’” Good said. “I think people respect someone who has integrity, somebody who stands on principle, someone who stands on trust.” An audience member shouted “and someone who will tell you where they stand on something” to which Good repeated, adding “and will take positions.” On priorities when he takes his seat in Congress, Good plans to push a “Life at Conception Act,” reform immigration and bolster fiscal conservatism in Federal government. The crowd of more than 100 people was unmasked, save for reporters in attendance, and social distancing was not followed by Good or his supporters. When asked what Good sees as safely reopening the economy amidst the COVID-19 pandemic— something he expressed support of in his campaign—he stressed the the economy can safely be open. “I’ve been in the camp of safely reopening the economy, getting our kids back to school,” Good said. “I believe that learning is essential. I believe that our teachers are essential, our kids are essential. I think it’s critically evident the impact on our kids to not be in school socially, academically, developmentally and many other ways.” Good cited the information concerning the coronavirus that has emerged since the declaration of a pandemic and noted President Donald Trump’s administration’s statements that vaccines are “around the corner.” “We’ve learned who is at higher risk and what precautions need to be taken, but I also believe in Constitutional freedom and I also believe in individual liberty,” he said as members of the crowd agreed. Echoing a Trump talking point, Good said “that while infections are up, because we’re testing some seven million a week now, thank the Lord, the death rate is going way down. As his time on the podium neared a close, Good called his win a victory for Constitutional rights, the Second Amendment, free market capitalism, and fiscal responsibility. “It’s a victory for President Trump,” he added, to which the room cheered.  

Election Night : 10 p.m.

While a crowd of more than 100 gathers at Liberty University for Republican Bob Good’s election night party, Democrat Dr. Cameron Webb kept his gathering private. Shortly after 9 p.m., he live streamed a speech to his supporters on his candidate Facebook page— giving shout outs to his campaign staff and supporters across the district. “There’s no way for any one person to connect across 21 counties and two cities,” Webb said, noting his supporters’ efforts to spread the word of his campaign and policy proposals.  “I can’t thank you enough for absolutely powering this campaign every single day. I’m so grateful for you this evening.”  As of a little past 10 pm., Webb is leading in the city of Charlottesville at 84%, while Webb is leading in Albemarle by about 9 points. Webb is also leading in the city of Danville with over 60%— those three localities are among the ones to watch according to CVille Dems co-chair Bekah Saxon. “Whether or not we carry the 5th [District] will likely come down to how much turnout we get in Charlottesville, Albemarle, and then down in the Danville area,” Saxon explained. “It’s been exciting to watch Webb connect with voters all over the 5th though.” Crucial, many say, is the Central Absentee Precincts within each locality — which will not report numbers until 11 p.m. Meanwhile, absentee ballots can still be received by noon on Friday, Nov. 6. As he concluded his speech via live stream, Webb reiterated his excitement to see how things go. “The fight goes on because the future demands it,” Webb said virtually and physically to supporters. “I’m thankful for you fighting beside me.” As of this moment, Republican candidate Bob Good is at his party, but has yet to make a speech.  

Clark & Tonsler Precincts : 3 and 4 p.m.

While Republican candidate Bob Good perched in Albemarle County throughout much of election day so far, Democratic candidate and Charlottesville/Albemarle local, Dr. Cameron Webb has been dropping by polling precincts throughout the district. By the late afternoon, he visited the Clark and Tonsler polling locations at Clark Elementary School and Tonsler Park to speak with people in line. On his campaign as a “consensus builder,” Webb has consistently toured or held virtual events connecting with residents from the bottom to the top of the district over the past year. “The main conversations have been ‘thanks’ for running the campaign that we ran. I think folks have been reacting to the issues we’ve raised in commercials or interviews— saying thanks for ‘speaking to issues of rural broadband, thanks for speaking to education, thanks for speaking about healthcare and the pricing of drugs or insurance and surprise medical bills.’” Webb said. “it was nice to see that reflected in what people are saying back to us.” Should he win, Webb said that continued focus around the coronavirus pandemic will be an immediate priority. “There’s still going to be a real need for work around the coronavirus pandemic and making sure we are getting relief and resources to communities here in the 5th District,” Webb said. “We’re heading into a tough moment so I want to make sure I bring my expertise.” Should Webb lose, he notes that his experience as a physician and in healthcare policy will remain helpful to communities in the district. As the polls close in a few hours, Webb’s Election Night gathering will happen virtually with live streams on his social media. Meanwhile, Good will travel back to his base camp in Campbell County for a gathering at Liberty University. On Good’s decision to spend his day in Albemarle County, his scheduler Courtney Heath says he wanted to be present in an area that has been more challenging to secure voters. “The northern part of the district has been a little more tough, but we’ve seen more support in here over the past few weeks,” Heath explained.  “Bob wanted to make himself available here to talk with voters as they vote today.”

Biscuit Run Precinct

As of 3 p.m., more than 70% of the registered voters turned out this year in the Monticello precinct, the highest turnout Precinct Chief Joi Estep remembers one her 18 years working elections. “We didn’t even get that many for the Obama elections,” Estep said. “It’s really great to see. I’ve never seen so many young people, too. Lots of first time voters. It’s great to so so many young people participating in the way our country is run.”

Prince Edward County 

As of 3 p.m., the registrar’s office said a total of 8,528 people voted overall in the county, including mail-ballots and in person.

• 3,609 people voted
• 3,470 people voted early. 

There won’t be more updates from Prince Edward today. The grand total will be called in at 7 p.m., the registrar’s office said.

Key Recreation Center

The precinct at the Key Recreation Center had the highest early voter turnout of any precinct in Charlottesville, with 64.4% of their roughly 4,000 registered voters casting their ballots before Election Day. By 3 p.m. Tuesday, 512 people can come in person, said Becca Peters, the precinct chief. Peters guesses the precinct will get another 500 or so voters before the polls close.

Venable Elementary School

Voters were trickling into the polling location at Venable Elementary School in much smaller numbers than previous elections, said Jessica Otey, the election officer. Though this is partly because so many voters cast their ballots early this year, Otey thinks that may have more to do with a decline in the number of student voters. Most of the students who live off Grounds live in this precinct, she said. And given the uncertainty around whether the University of Virginia would open in the fall, she believes many of those students simply voted in their hometowns. “I’m convinced students voted elsewhere,” Otey said. As of 2 p.m., roughly 450 people had voted at Venable.

1 p.m. updates

Here’s the breakdown of the voter turnout for the Pittsylvania County

• 14,485 people voted prior to Election Day
• There are a total of 45,300 people registered to vote in the county
• Results of today’s elections will be posted later tonight, according to voter registration director of elections, Kelly Keesee
• There are 30 precincts in the county. The precincts are not required by law to have results throughout the day in part because they may not have phone services. 
• All the polling results will be in between 7 to 8 p.m. today

Source: https://twitter.com/AlbemarleCounty/status/1323703177875759104

Source: https://twitter.com/CvilleVotes/status/1323693917603270667

Photos: Clark Elementary School

As of 1 p.m., 452 voters, or 11.7% of active voters, in the Clark Elementary School voting precinct in Charlottesville have cast their votes today, according to the voter registrar’s office. This total does not include the portion of the 31.7% of active voters citywide who voted early or the mail-in votes from that precinct.

Stone-Robinson Elementary School

Of the more than 300 polling places in the 5th Congressional District, Republican House candidate Bob Good plans to spend most of Election Day at Stone-Robinson Elementary School in Albemarle County. “We have tremendous ground game with a tremendous number of volunteers to staff every polling place,” Good said Tuesday morning. “But my team felt like this was one of the more impactful places we could be here in Albemarle. So, we’ve enjoyed visiting with voters today, we’ve been received tremendously. We’re very encouraged by the response right here.” Good greeted voters as they walked from the parking lot into the polling place, introducing himself and asking for support. Several voters assured him that he would receive their votes. “We’re very optimistic,” Good said. “We very much believe we’re going to win today and I think that the prognosticators will be proven wrong once again on this race.”

Numbers Updates, 11:11 a.m.

Here are the localities we’ve heard from so far: Albemarle CountyNumbers are based from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. today at the precinct 914 in Albemarle County

• 7,620 voters have already voted. The percentage of voters who have voted so far is 9.3%. These numbers are just from the polling. The overall numbers are not available yet — still working on the absentees.

Prince Edward County 

• Overall, more than half of the voters in Prince Edward County have already voted. 
• Here’s the breakdown: 
  • 13,389 active and inactive voters in the county
  • 6,396 people have voted so far in-person and by mail, that number includes early voting 
•  As of 9 a.m. today, 1,526 voters had voted in the county’s 10 precincts

Danville City

• 11,797 registered voters have already voted
• The city has 910 inactive voters, and a total of 27,487 active voters
• 41.5% of the voter turnout is from voters who have voted by mail or voted in-person 

Rappahannock County

• This a two-person office, director of elections said and numbers are not ready yet, but could be by 1:30 p.m.

Campbell County

• Per the office, the county does not do any reporting on the voter turnout until the end of the night — the numbers will be posted on the department of elections website