Early voting is already underway for the 2024 election, beginning Sept. 20 and ending Saturday at 5:00pm. For early voters or those planning to head to the polls Nov. 5, Charlottesville voters will have the opportunity to vote for federal government representatives, including President of the United States, as well as one of Virginia’s Senators and the representative for Virginia’s 5th district in the House of Representatives. Beyond individual positions, voters can vote on a potential amendment to the state constitution that proposes extending tax exemptions to surviving spouses of military members.
Because Virginia elects its state legislators in odd-year elections, Charlottesville and Albemarle County voters have a relatively short ballot this cycle. One of the federal representatives that Virginians will vote on is the House of Representatives member for the 5th district — which includes Charlottesville and portions of Albemarle County. The race for this house seat is between Republican State Sen. John McGuire and Democrat Gloria Witt.
While McGuire’s policy positions are succinctly captured on his website by the slogan “pro-life, pro-gun, pro-Trump,” Witt’s campaign aims to counter McGuire’s stances, focused on what she refers to as an “assault on” social issues involving voting rights, education and protection for the LGBTQ+ community.
McGuire’s policy positions earned him an endorsement from former President Donald Trump, helping him defeat incumbent Rep. Bob Good in the June 18 Republican primary by a slim margin of 374 votes — 0.6 percentage points — after Good endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the June 18 Republican presidential primary.
McGuire also secured an advantage in the primary when Good, who chaired the far-right House Freedom Caucus, helped lead the charge to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, leading McCarthy in turn to endorse McGuire.
Witt, on the other hand, defeated Democratic runner-up Gary Terry by a much greater margin of 8,622 votes — or 34.74 percentage points — in the Democratic primary.
In terms of financial support, McGuire has raised nearly 1.4 million dollars more than Witt since the beginning of the campaign, giving him a fundraising advantage heading into Election Day. The vast majority of donations for both candidates came from individual donors as opposed to the political parties or Political Action Committees.
If McGuire were to win the seat, he would be the third congressman in six years to represent the 5th district after Good narrowly ousted former Rep. Denver Riggleman in the 2020 Republican nominating convention. His victory would also mark the second GOP primary in six years where the challenger was more right-leaning than the incumbent.
While there is no public polling which sheds light into this race, Kyle Kondik, managing editor of the University Center for Politics’ election forecast Sabato’s Crystal Ball, characterized the 5th district election as Safe Republican, meaning that the Republican Party is very likely to retain this seat.
Kondik cited the 2020 presidential results in the 5th district, where Trump won by eight points, to explain why the seat is unlikely to change from its Republican lean.
“I could also … imagine … Virginia [5th district] might be the kind of place where Trump might actually do a little bit better than he did in 2020,” said Kondik. “That provides a lot of cover for McGuire.”
Because terms in the U.S. Senate are six years and senators do not run at the same time, also on the ballot is one of Virginia’s U.S. Senate seats, featuring a race between incumbent Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican Navy veteran Hung Cao. The Crystal Ball rates this election as Safe Democratic, favoring Kaine, who has raised over 12 million dollars more than Cao since the start of the campaign.
Kaine’s campaign has centered around tying Kaine directly to President Joe Biden, calling the president’s administration the “Biden-Kaine administration” in multiple places on his website. HIs top policy issues include protecting access to abortion, investing in jobs and rural Virginia.
Cao’s policy priorities include increasing border security, restrictions on abortions and investments in American manufacturing. Cao also has earned the endorsement of Trump, who recently campaigned for him in Virginia.
Kaine currently leads Cao in the FiveThirtyEight polling average by nearly 13 points. This polling is consistent with Kaine’s previous election performances, in his 2018 Senate race he defeated Republican Corey Stewart by 16 percentage points.
All Virginia voters will also have the chance to vote on an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia to extend a tax exemption currently granted to the surviving spouses of soldiers killed in action to also include those whose spouses died in the line of duty. While “in action” refers to combat, “in the line of duty” is a more broad term encompassing when a military member is performing official duties. This small wording change would provide equal financial support to all surviving spouses of military personnel, regardless of if they were killed in action or died of other causes when performing official tasks.
At the top of the ballot is the presidential race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden won Virginia in 2020 by 10 percentage points, including winning the City of Charlottesville by a margin of 73 points.
Early voting began Sept. 20 and will last until 5:00 p.m. Friday. Voters who live in the City of Charlottesville have a different early voting precinct than residents of Albemarle County.
City residents can vote early at the Voter Registration Office. Those who live in Albemarle County can vote early at the 5th Street County Office Building. The Center for Politics offers additional information for students about where, how and when they can vote based on their registration status and their precinct.
Virginia also offers same-day registration, meaning voters may show up on Election Day and cast a provisional ballot after registering.
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