LIVE: Election night updates

LIVE: Election night updates

Stick with Richmonder.org all night for the latest. New updates will be added to the top of this page.

8:45 p.m. – Not much action to report on in the 8 p.m. hour. We've now seen all of Chesterfield's day-of vote, which is leaning very slightly "no" on the sales tax increase. However, more people early voted in Chesterfield than voted day-of, so there's plenty of time for that to reverse. It's far too early to call, with "yes" being in a slightly better position at the moment.

There's a clear rural/urban split in the county, with the more urban (closer to Richmond) voters trending yes on the increase.

In Richmond, we've seen part of one precinct's vote in the Anne Holton-Jackie McDonnough school board race, and it's a big margin for McDonnough. There's just no way to extrapolate off those numbers, so it'll have to remain a curiosity for the moment.

Richmond's "Yes for RPS" campaign appears to be getting the job done, though. If we were in the prediction game, we'd be awfully close to making the call.

8:06 p.m. – Catch video updates from the newsroom all night long on Instagram at RichmonderNews

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7:54 p.m. – An early surprise out of Chesterfield, which was considered likely to pass the 1% sales tax increase easily, as residents did with a bond referendum four years ago.

Unlike Richmond, the "no" vote has a strong early showing in Chesterfield. That said, keep in mind that we are only looking at day-of vote, and we have not seen any of the early vote yet, which is likely to be a larger overall number than the day-of vote.

There's still plenty of time for this number to swing, but as "yes" solidifies in Richmond, it's much more uncertain in Chesterfield.

7:28 p.m. – We've got our first two precincts reporting in Richmond, and it's good news for the "Yes for RPS" campaign, though there's still a ways to go.

These are both 1st District sites in the Near West End, where you'd expect cynicism about the 1% sales tax to be at its highest.

Still a long ways to go, but the very first indicator is positive for a potential sales tax increase.

5:50 p.m. – Polls close in a little more than one hour in Richmond, and turnout appears to be high on a beautiful day across the region.

Early voting numbers came in strong as well, with Chesterfield, Henrico and Richmond residents participating in early voting at 6-12% higher rates than they did in last year's elections.

Here are some of the things we'll be watching as the results begin coming in:

  • How quickly will the Rob Wittman vs. Shannon Taylor House race be called? If Taylor logs a quick win, as some polls are suggesting, it could indicate a "blue wave" nationally.
  • There are 47 localities with a 1% sales tax increase on the ballot. Will they vote uniformly or will there be splits? These types of referendums often carry broad support, but the economy is a major driver in voter angst this year. Will we see a pushback against increasing taxes, even for something as popular as schools?
  • The Richmond school board race between Anne Holton and Jackie McDonnough turned surprisingly contentious in the final days, with McDonnough using an attack mailer and the Democratic Socialists endorsing her campaign amid a run of recent successes. Can they topple one of the biggest names in Virginia politics?

Expect plenty more, as well as video updates and chats with voters, as we settle in at Richmonder HQ to document what promises to be an eventful night.


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