The November ballot is essentially set following Tuesday, June 18 primary elections in Gloucester, Mathews and the rest of the commonwealth, with voters deciding the Democratic candidate for the 1st Congressional District and the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.
Leslie Mehta and Hung Cao both won their primaries in convincing fashion, with Mehta to oppose incumbent Republican Rob Wittman for the 1st CD seat and Cao set to go up against incumbent Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine this fall.
While the top of the ballot has yet to be official (with the two major parties holding their national conventions in July and August), for all intents and purposes the 2024 presidential election promises to be a rematch of 2020, with Democrat Joe Biden opposed by Republican Donald Trump.
1st CD primary
Mehta, a resident of Chesterfield and former lead attorney with the Virginia ALCU, received 66.3 percent of the vote in the district, with Herb Jones (who ran for the seat in 2022, receiving 43 percent of the vote as the Democratic nominee) getting 33.7 percent.
While Jones won in both Gloucester and Mathews counties, Mehta drew a big part of her support from the western part of the 1st CD (Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover counties). The district’s boundary lines were redrawn following the 2016 election, with much of that western part added at that time.
Jones received 55.72 percent of the vote (375), while Mehta got 44.28 percent (or 298 votes) in Gloucester. In Mathews, 156 Democratic Party voters (59.54 percent) favored Jones, with 106 (or 40.46 percent) casting ballots for Mehta.
U.S. Senate
The Republican part of the June 18 dual party primary saw five hopefuls seeking the party’s nomination for U.S. Senate. Cao, endorsed by Trump, received an overwhelming 61.93 percent (166,683 votes) throughout Virginia, well above his nearest competitor, Scott Parkinson (who received 10.98 percent, or 29,559 votes).
Cao, a resident of Loudoun County and retired Navy Captain, won in every jurisdiction across Virginia with the lone exception of the City of Emporia, where Eddie Garcia received 29 votes to 25 for Cao.
Locally, Cao received 61.24 percent of the vote (or 749 votes) in Gloucester, with Garcia the next closest opponent with 12.18 percent or 149 votes. Cao also won in Mathews County, getting 205 votes (48.01 percent), with Jonathan Emord placing second with 121 votes or 28.34 percent.
Early voting began on May 3 throughout Virginia, with voters asked to choose whether they wished to participate in the Democratic Party or Republican Party primary.
The general election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 5.