Your cheat sheet to Virginia's 2025 primaries
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Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
Early voting for Virginia's June primaries starts Friday.
Why it matters: Virginia's off-year elections are considered an early indicator of the national political mood, so we'll be the center of attention this year.
The big picture: The Republican ticket for Virginia's executive branch races is set, as is the Democrats' candidate for governor, but there's a lot for Virginians still to decide.
- All 100 House of Delegates seats will be on the ballot in November, and for folks in metro Richmond, that includes five primary contests for those seats, all on the Democrat side.
- Plus, Richmond city residents need to pick between two candidates for commonwealth's attorney and sheriff, both Democrats.
Worth noting: In Virginia, voters can cast a ballot in either party's primary — they don't have to be registered with a party.
- But in metro Richmond, there aren't any Republicans facing primary challenges.
The intrigue: Cracks in the GOP ticket emerged this week when the governor's campaign asked lieutenant governor nominee John Reid to drop out of the race.
- There's no indication Reid will bow out. If he did, Virginia GOP's central committee would pick a new candidate, the Virginia Mercury reports.
Key dates:
- May 27: deadline to register to vote or update registration.
- June 6: deadline to apply for a mailed absentee ballot.
- June 14: last in-person early voting day.
- June 17: primary day.
- November 4: Election Day.
Where to vote:
- Find your polling place here.
What do you need to vote?
- A form of ID, but residents who don't have one when they go to vote can cast a provisional ballot that's counted once officials verify eligibility.
Zoom in: Starting Friday, these are the people locals will choose from in the Democratic primaries.
Lieutenant governor Democratic candidates:
- Alex Bastani, a NoVa-based labor leader; State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, who represents Chesterfield; NoVa eye surgeon Babur Lateef; State Sen. Aaron Rouse, who represents Virginia Beach; Arlington attorney Victor Salgado; and former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney.
Attorney general race: Jay Jones, a former state delegate out of Norfolk, is running for the nomination for a second time and faces Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor.
Richmond commonwealth's attorney: Tom Barbour is challenging incumbent Colette McEachin.
Richmond sheriff: William Burnett is challenging incumbent Antionette Irving.
In the local House of Delegates races:
- In House District 57, which includes Henrico and parts of Goochland, May Nivar and Andrew Schear are vying for the chance to challenge Republican Del. David Owen.
- In HD 81, which is Henrico and a sliver of Chesterfield, Democrat Alicia Atkins is challenging Del. Delores McQuinn.
- For HD 72, which includes Chesterfield, it's Randolph Critzer vs. Bilal Raychouni to go against Republican Del. Lee Ware.
- For the all-Chesterfield HD 73, Leslie Mehta and Justin Woodford face off to then later face off against Republican Del. Mark Earley, Jr.
- And in HD 75, also Chesterfield, three candidates — Lindsey Dougherty, Stephen Miller-Pitts and Dustin Wade — want the chance to unseat Republican Del. Carrie Coyner.