Virginian voters will elect the state's 71st governor today. After months of campaigning, gubernatorial candidates Bob McDonnell and Creigh Deeds finished their campaigns with whirlwind state tours yesterday.
"We're touching every corner of the commonwealth today," McDonnell's Press Secretary Crystal Cameron said yesterday. The campaign toured seven regions in Virginia, including Charlottesville, and also rallied neighbors and canvassed until 9 p.m.
Creigh Deeds has been "out on the stump" all across the state discussing his plans for jobs, education and economic development in an effort to win the support of undecided voters, Deeds' Communications Director Mike Gehrke said.
He said at this point the main focus of the campaign is getting voters to the polls. They are "trying to find Democratic voters to get them motivated, get them excited and make sure they know when and where to vote," he said.
For local voters, there are several polling places on or near Grounds. Albemarle County poll locations include the Miller Center and University Hall, which Deputy Registrar for Albemarle County Lauren Eddy said are the most popular among University students. There also are county polling locations at Albemarle High School, St. Anne's-Belfied Lower School, Jack Jouett Middle School and the Berean Baptist Church, she said.
Though most students are in county precincts, Charlottesville General Registrar Sheri Iachetta said, students registered in the city of Charlottesville may be assigned to polls at Alumni Hall or Venable School on 14th Street, as well as the Carter Family Life Center on Cherry Avenue.
There are 67,212 voters registered in Albemarle County, and a 50 to 51 percent turnout is expected, Eddy said. She characterized this as "not very high," which "[is] about normal for a governor's race. Nothing like [the turnout] we saw last year." By contrast, Albemarle County had a 75.71 percent turnout rate in 2008.
Charlottesville has 27,516 registered voters, Iachetta said, adding that a turnout of about 40 percent is expected.
Both registrars said that polls will be busiest in the early morning, before people go to work, around lunchtime and after people get off from work. The best times to go, therefore, are mid-morning and mid-afternoon, they said.
Voters will be required to show identification, Iachetta said. Albemarle County voters will vote electronically, using the same machines from the past few years, Iachetta said, while Charlottesville voters can choose between a paper ballot and an electronic ballot at the polls, Eddy said. Iachetta added that this year, officials will have electronic poll books, which may make lines move more quickly.
Isaac Wood, assistant communications director at the University's Center for Politics and a former Cavalier Daily opinion columnist, said the economy will be the most important issue for local and student voters. "Everyone is certainly aware of the economy and being squeezed in one way or another," he said. "Most Virginia [voters will] be focused on that when they go to the polls."
Similarly, Cameron said that jobs will be the most important issue in the election, for which she said McDonnell offers the only "forward-thinking" plan, while Gehrke emphasized Deeds' plan to help students afford higher education.
Polls are currently showing a double-digit lead for McDonnell, which has been steadily growing for about the past month, Wood said.
"If the polls are correct and turnout follows the model that everyone's expecting, then it would certainly be a good day for Republicans Tuesday night," he said.
Wood said turnout is the Deeds campaign's only hope to avoid that outcome.
"The Deeds turnout has to try to get as many Obama voters from 2008 to show up at the polls again this year," he said, "and that's easier said than done when there were so many first-time voters and voters who are parts of groups which typically don't vote in non-presidential years."
Both campaigns are concerned the poll results will cause lower voter turnout, Wood said. "[McDonnell] doesn't want his voters to become complacent and think that their votes aren't needed," he said, while "Deeds obviously has to worry about his supporters not showing up for an election that they fear could be a blowout."
Wood predicted overall there will be a much lower turnout for 2009 than 2008, expecting about 2.5 million or fewer voters compared to 3.7 million statewide last year. "I think a low turnout election will benefit Bob McDonnell and I think Creigh Deeds' only hope is that turnout surpasses the current estimates," he said.
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