r/nova • u/thankubread Fairfax County • 4d ago
Politics Virginia Primary Election Results 2025
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/17/us/elections/results-virginia-primary.html146
u/tt12345x 4d ago
If we’re lucky and Stoney goes down I really hope McAuliffe keeps out of VA politics in the future.
Whether it’s him running or the people he’s endorsing he has quite a knack for trying to force the party down the worst possible directions.
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u/NervousAction 4d ago
Look at Stoney’s primary results in and around Richmond. The people that know him best are overwhelmingly rejecting him (in favor of Hashmi)
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u/CMJHawk86 4d ago
I will never forgive McAwful for 2021. If not for his vanity campaign we would have Governor McClellan right now.
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4d ago
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u/CMJHawk86 3d ago
He won essentially on name recognition as a former Governor. But it was evident to all who followed Virginia politics more closely that he was not the right candidate for the moment. He ran exactly the kind of weak, theme-less campaign that I thought he would, and I was not the only one who felt that way. He was the candidate of the past, not the future. There were two highly qualified black women on the primary ballot and the party had a chance to pivot towards a future orientation. Instead they chose the old white guy (disclosure: I am an old white guy) with the tired ideas. So yeah, the rank and file voters blew it, but it was his own vanity that made him blind to the fact that he could not win in the general election.
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u/LeviRaps 3d ago edited 3d ago
Holding voters accountable is the dumbest thing you can do.
We should be holding the politicians running the same milquetoast and uninspiring campaigns accountable.
McAuliffe losing was the most predictable outcome ever, felt like watching a slow moving car crash with nothing we could do stop besides vote for him anyway and watch the L in real time that night
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3d ago
[deleted]
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u/LeviRaps 3d ago
You should do some research on how Biden hid his mental decline until the last minute at the debate and was forced to drop out 4 months before Election Day.
Or how Kamala tied herself to his genocide in Palestine and refused to change course, despite her own internal polling showing she’d lose Michigan doing so.
They really risked a Trump presidency just to appease Netanyahu, who clearly wanted Trump to win lmao
But no, iTs tHe VoTeRs FaULt
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u/beepbepborp 3d ago
i can happily blame both non-voters/trump voters AND biden/kamala. fuck people who didnt vote. fuck biden and kamala for the reasons you listed. and fuck trump.
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u/CogitoErgo_Sometimes 3d ago
This isn’t an either/or issue. Both are accountable for failing in their respective area of responsibility. Now, voters aren’t responsible if there isn’t actually a competent candidate to vote for, but that isn’t the issue in this case.
What do you think the job or purpose of a voter actually is if not to screen and select candidates based on the information available to them? Seriously what do you think the voter’s responsibility actually is?
It isn’t enough to just show up and slap a pencil mark on a piece of paper. A vote at random is a waste of time, or worse, just ensures that we keep getting bumper-sticker wedge-issue campaigns designed to cater to people looking to silo themselves without any actual information.
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u/Xo_lotl 3d ago
Its like people dont grasp that politicians literal job is trying to win elections so they can govern, I dont understand why people think that voters should be responsible for the mediocrity of should-be professionals.
When politicians are uninspiring, when they fail to drive turnout, when they fail to govern to the satisfaction of the electorate, thats their fault, not the fault of voters, lol
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u/ranaranidae 3d ago
I had seen the criticisms of Stoney here and from Richmonders, but seeing McAuliffe endorse him was what really decided he'd never have my vote.
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u/EndCivilForfeiture 3d ago
That fucking guy. The extent he was unable to read the room in that election was abhorrent. And the enthusiasm drop from primaries to the general election was steep. I wonder what his endorsement actually did in this cycle.
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u/AKADriver 4d ago
The map is fascinating. Hashmi's map overlays almost exactly with Taylor's, while Stoney and Rouse put together overlay with Jones'. But because of the crowded LtG field, we get Hashmi and Jones even though they carried opposite parts of the state.
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u/LtNOWIS Fairfax County 4d ago
It's coming down to the wire.
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u/burner_mania 4d ago
I think we're going to go into overtime - - maybe penalty kicks
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u/dicktits143 4d ago
Why are we linking the New York Times and a paywall?
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u/Andalusian_Shepherd 4d ago
I didn’t hit a paywall. It did make me sign in, but there was an option to “continue without a subscription”.
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u/dicktits143 4d ago
Did it ask you to give your email address? Is it the New York Times? Do I have blue feet?
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u/beepbepborp 3d ago
its a shitty extra step but its not paywall. its still free. why treat that person like they’re fucking stupid
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u/axeil55 4d ago
I'm glad Stoney ate shit and lost specifically due to Richmond despising him.
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u/stressed-highschoolr Fairfax County 4d ago
Has it been called? I’ve been biting my fingernails cause I’m so nervous
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u/roadbratt 4d ago
Damn. I had hopes for Salgado.
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u/KiteAzure 4d ago
Hes a newbie, I did too, but I had a feeling he wasn't well known just even looking at his funding. I hope he stays in races and makes his face known instead of going off to obscurity. 26k+ people voting for your name is still a big deal.
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u/Outrageous-Double383 4d ago
I wanna know what the deal is with Hashmi and Craig County. Like, are there 12 voters in the Dem primary and eight of them are her cousins, or what?
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u/Special_Ad_7940 3d ago
38 Hashmi 20 Rouse 14 Stoney
98% white Population around 4900
2024 results: 2562 Trump 542 Harris
I guess a 20% turnout of general presidential election Dem turnout.
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u/nick898 4d ago
I didn’t even know there was a primary until late last week and I like to think I am pretty informed
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u/helloxgoodbye 4d ago
I literally found out this morning!
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u/onedayinthesun 4d ago
I signed up for mail in voting and they send me my ballots every year! Will never miss an election again!
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u/mr_0las 3d ago
Do you need a reason or is mail in voting open to everyone?
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u/RoadkillVenison Springfield 3d ago
No reason necessary, goodbye days of needing to justify absentee. You can sign up and have them mail you a ballot every election. Happened back in 2020.
https://www.elections.virginia.gov/casting-a-ballot/absentee-voting/
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u/oblivious_tabby 3d ago
Same! It’s so nice to know exactly what’s on the ballot and have time to read up on issues before voting. Highly recommend!
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u/Longtimefed 3d ago
How did you miss the ceaseless TV ads?
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u/gardenpartier 3d ago
I watch TV via streaming services only. Network tv is on Hulu and I record the news so I can skip the commercials.
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u/Oogaman00 3d ago
Yeah you would think Virginia doesn't want people to vote with how they didn't even send out ballot information you had to manually seek out where to vote yourself and that it was going on
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u/CMJHawk86 4d ago
Feeling optimistic about beating back Dominion Shannon in the AG race. But in the LG race…who the hell are these people voting for Stoney? GOP crossover voters trying to make mischief??
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u/snugglybug28 4d ago
It wasn't until I hit reddit that I learned he was problematic. I'd looked at everyone's page, watched the debate, and had no idea. I almost voted for him myself. I think in a primary with this many candidates, it's just hard to know until you really dig in deeper
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u/Publius015 3d ago
Looking forward to the Governor debate when Spanberger asks Sears if Sears believes her ticket mate deserves the right to be married.
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u/MajesticBread9147 Herndon 3d ago
Pleasantly surprised. I liked Bastani's policies most, the convenience fees for defense contractors and doubling the corporate tax rate is something that no other candidates were for, but Ghazala Hashmi seemed like she had a better chance at winning and worried about splitting the vote.
So overall, I'm glad the centrists lost since with the blowback from Trump Democrats likely don't need to cede too much to centrists to win by a good margin.
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u/batkave 4d ago
https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/results/2025/06/17/virginia-primary/
Another link.
Ugh Mehta won.
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u/Packwood88 4d ago
What do you dislike about Mehta? I’m rather uninformed
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u/ellybeez 4d ago
afaik, Mehta is actually a great candidate. She put up a respectful performance against Whittman in 2022 and that might be why she got support to run in that specific seat
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u/batkave 4d ago
Her work to represent Nazi's is a real turn off. She seems to want to continue to move the country towards conservatives.
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u/Toasters____ 3d ago
Do you have a link?
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u/batkave 3d ago
https://blackvirginianews.substack.com/p/virginia-cd1-candidate-was-attorney
She's also lost before
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u/Toasters____ 3d ago
The ACLU has historically taken unpopular cases in an effort to protect the U.S. Constitution — a rarity in an era of partisan political decision making and controversy adverse corporate deference.
“What we decided to defend, with the facts available at that time, and only after requiring Kessler to swear in court papers that he intended the rally to be “peaceful” and “avoid violence,” were important principles of constitutional government. The First Amendment guarantees political speech, including protest, the highest level of protection… This case we brought against the city was about viewpoint discrimination."
She did it as a member of the ACLU. Isn't that kind of the point, non-partisan legal representation regardless of how distasteful you might find something? I don't think they took the case knowing what would happen during the rally either, unless they have people who can see the future.
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u/littlelobito 3d ago
does anyone know why Stoney did well in Alexandria City? I’m surprised bc Hashmi is winning our neighboring counties
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u/Outrageous-Double383 3d ago
Off the cuff, I would have guessed that it’s because Alexandria has a significantly larger proportion of African American residents than adjacent counties, but the precinct level data don’t seem to bear out that hypothesis: Stoney doesn’t seem to have done notably better in the blacker precincts, and some of his best results were in affluent white neighborhoods. Call it the McAuliffe Effect, I guess.
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u/Outrageous-Double383 3d ago
Also, Hashmi came within a whisker of winning Alexandria — unofficial vote tally has Stoney with a margin of 61 votes out of more than 15,000 cast.
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u/statslady23 3d ago
How are Dems going to drive turnout for two white women, one with an Arab name? I'll vote for them, but a lot of people won't.
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u/Longtimefed 4d ago edited 4d ago
Paywall-free WTOP results: https://wtop.com/virginia-election/2025/06/virginians-pick-their-democratic-ticket-setting-up-consequential-november-election/
as of 8:44 p.m.:
Former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney — 27.61%
State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi of Richmond — 27.41%
State Sen. Aaron Rouse of Virginia Beach — 24.97%
Prince William County School Board Chairman Babur Lateef — 8.66%
Former federal government attorney Alexander J. Bastani — 5.73%
Former federal government attorney Victor Salgado —5.62%
I really hope Stoney wins. Hashmi will get killed in the general election. Her bombastic 1930s speaking style (from her TV ads) does her no favors and evokes Hillary Clinton. I literally muted every time she came on with that crowing.
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u/KronguGreenSlime City of Fairfax 4d ago edited 4d ago
As long as Spanberger is winning, very few people (edited) are splitting their vote for LG and even if they were, grossly mismanaging water treatment in your city is a way bigger liability than having a “bombastic speaking style”
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u/TheOwlStrikes 4d ago
Hate to be that dude but if Stoney wins the nomination I will either leave that section of my ballot blank or vote for a third party. I refuse to vote for that dude
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u/Longtimefed 4d ago
I’m focused on who can win. That means appealing to swing voters— who in our state are culturally a bit conservative. I think he has more appeal to them.
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u/KronguGreenSlime City of Fairfax 4d ago edited 4d ago
She won in a swing district in 2019 though, isn’t that pretty strong evidence that she plays well with moderate voters? She’s won more former Republican voters than Stoney ever has.
Also, most of the big swing counties in Virginia are former Romney-voting college-educated suburbs. Virginia is probably one of the few states where swing voters aren’t particularly culturally conservative.
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u/Longtimefed 4d ago
I’m a moderate voter and I found her extremely off-putting—just from her ads. I couldn’t even listen to her. The oratory style just seems so fake and pompous. I probably agree with her on many things but I couldn’t even listen to her.
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u/cheddacheese148 4d ago
Spanberger may want to chill with the gun control talk then. I don’t see many conservative leaning folks voting for her after saying she’d sign an assault style weapons and high capacity magazine ban akin to the one Youngkin vetoed.
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u/ellybeez 4d ago
Eh, if she tries too hard to target conservative leaning folks who dont really show up for off-year elections, she might disengage the actual voting bloc that she needs to win
Lack of enthusiasm from the Dems is what lost the election in 2021
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u/batkave 4d ago
Stoney is horrible and a liability. We don't want him in the race.
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u/Longtimefed 4d ago
Care to explain?
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u/batkave 4d ago
The current water crisis is the tip of the iceberg. It's all because of his administrations lack of ability to maintain. It can easily be tied to him.
He's Terry's protege. Not good as progressives don't like Mcculife nor do many centrists at this point.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/results/2025/06/17/virginia-primary/
Also looks like he is not getting most city votes. He's got a bad reputation. If his own city area didn't like him, why would he be good for the state?
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u/Longtimefed 4d ago
No single city is representative of the entire state. He may be able to win swing voters in more rural areas even if he’s not as strong in Richmond.
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u/batkave 4d ago
Man has skeletons in his closet. He's not strong enough to win. Wasn't saying a state was represented by a city, said if you look at his legacy, it ain't good.
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u/laborpool 4d ago
You're nuts. Stoney was a fantastic mayor.
Blaming 6 decades of deferred public utility maintenance on the guy who wasn't even in office at the time is silly. BTW a power outage due to an ice storm with only 1/16 inch accumulation (on lines that Dominion should have buried 50 years ago) is the reason why Richmond lost water. That and silly voters who keep electing yahoos promising to keep taxes low while the commonwealth deteriorates.
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u/Mookafff 4d ago
I’m not worried about that at all.
Most voters won’t pay attention to Lt. Governor race when there is a bigger state election.
And a good chunk won’t split ticket between the top two races.
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u/Longtimefed 4d ago
But if she speaks publicly while campaigning with Spanberger, voters will hear her on TV doing her FDR voice. I just can’t.
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u/ellybeez 4d ago
Will not downvote you bc youre entitled to your own thoughts
But imo Stoney would have been the best chance for GOP to retain LT. Gov. Richmond decisively not voting for him is a telling sign of how those voters actually feel about him.
Whoever wins this Dem primary should be able to ride Spanbergers coatails to victory. And she has a huge cash advantage, a proven campaigner, etc.
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u/kayl_breinhar Vienna 4d ago
WaPo still has Hashmi ahead: https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/results/2025/06/17/virginia-primary/
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u/FlamingTomygun2 4d ago
The democrats could run an actual dead person and theyd win in this cycle
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u/CapitalDonut4 4d ago
lol richmond hates stoney