Election Day is over. There aren’t any more political campaigns to give to, text messages from political action committees have slowed down, and the season of inflammatory political ads has subsided.
This is a good time to consider the importance of independent, nonpartisan information in our democracy. At the local level, the federal offices matter, but so do the school boards, treasurers and soil and water conservation districts.
From early voting through Election Day, tens of thousands of you are turning to Charlottesville Tomorrow’s Central Virginia Voter Guide for information about local races you can’t get anywhere else. To put that into perspective, we estimate that one in five central Virginia voters rely on our Voter Guide. (We’ll have more details about the number of users of the Guide and voter turnout in the coming weeks.)
In 2025 and into 2026, our Voter Guide team revamped our community engagement efforts to gather questions from rural voters living outside of the Charlottesville metropolitan area. You saw us at county fairs and spring festivals, encouraging not only adults but also kids to engage in our local democracy. Thank you to those of you who filled out the voter survey for the first time this summer! The results informed our candidate Q&As, including adding multiple new questions about the impact of data centers.
And 2027 is going to be even bigger. We’re getting ready to cover some 160 races.
Many of you have told us our Voter Guide is essential. That’s because we focus on the issues that matter most to you, and because we fact-check answers and give editors’ notes that provide valuable context. This is not a generic voter guide where political candidates can copy and paste their platforms. It’s a town hall — a guide that not only helps us vote, but helps us better understand the issues. The Voter Guide helps us hold our local representatives accountable, and support local leaders to better understand what their constituents want.
Thank you for engaging in our democracy through your votes and campaigning and debate. And thank you for helping to support the team that brings you our annual Voter Guide. It takes talented and dedicated people to do it, and it only continues and grows when our local community steps up.
Support the Voter Guide and all our coverage by making a donation today at whatever level you can.
Thank you for participating in our democracy and caring about how we all get informed.
Sincerely,
Angilee Shah
CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Charlottesville Tomorrow
P.S. We’re also looking for sponsors for the 2027 Voter Guide. Contact our Partnerships & Revenue Lead Sakeena Alkateeb at salkateeb [at] cvilletomorrow [dot] org now if you, your business or nonprofit want to help make it happen!
