Virginia Primary 2026 polls now open

Well, polls in Virginia have now been open for about an hour as voters choose their candidates in the statewide primary. It's happening a little later than usual this time because Virginia's spring redistricting battle pushed the primary back a couple of months, so here we are in August, and it's primary day. Mel, what do we need to know? Yeah, well, off-date may lead to lower voter turnout. I've got to tell you, we really haven't seen a lot of people coming here to this particular precinct. Important to know that on primary day, you do need to vote in your home precinct. Now, because so many of the incumbents are running unopposed, this really is a day for the challengers to figure out who is going to face those incumbents in the fall elections. As you mentioned, polls opened at 6 a.m., they'll be open until 7 p.m. tonight. This is an open primary, so voters can choose which party's ballot they'd like to mark. Virginia does require an acceptable form of I.D. to vote, there are many options there for you. Among the races to watch, who will emerge as the opponent to Democrat Senator Mark Warner in the fall? There are three challengers in today's Republican primary. Warner is running unopposed. Warner has signaled that this could be his last term. If he's re-elected, he's been in office since 2009. And sixth-term incumbent Representative Don Beyer, well, he is facing challengers for the Democrat Party nomination. The four candidates include a former Alexandria City Council member, a tech executive, a former CIA officer, and a retired general. This is in the 8th district, which covers Alexandria, Arlington, Falls Church, and parts of Fairfax County. The GOP candidate is running unopposed. And as you mentioned, if the calendar feels a little off, yes, it is. Normally the primaries are held in June, but yes, because of that big referendum that voters had to come and vote for that might have changed the lines of the congressional districts, they did push the primary back to give them a little bit of time. Well, that did not happen because of the ruling by the state Supreme Court. So everyone is back in their familiar districts for today's primary day voting.