Trump, Biden win Virginia: Protest votes remain, some Dems vote for Haley

Current President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump were crowned victors in the Virginia primary election Tuesday, as the nation continues its slow and steady march toward a rematch of the 2020 election come November.

Biden was declared the winner of the Democratic primary just moments after the polls closed at 7 p.m. Trump was declared the winner of the Republican primary at around 7:30 p.m.

As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, Biden had won just under 89% of the Democratic vote in Virginia, with nearly all localities reporting. Trump had won 63% of the Republican vote and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley had won just under 35% of the Republican vote.

Rich Anderson, the Republican Party of Virginia chairman, called on Republicans to unite in support of their party's presumptive nominee in a Wednesday morning statement.

“Virginians are ready to re-elect President Donald J. Trump in November so he can re-establish his Promises Made, Promises Kept Agenda, which strengthened our economy, made our communities safer, and protected America’s Southern border," Anderson said.

Haley supporters vow to not vote for Trump in November

Most Virginia’s voters who cast a Republican ballot on Tuesday filled in the bubble next to Trump’s name, but a number of Haley supporters have said they will not vote for Trump in November.

Republican voters at a rally Thursday in Richmond said they saw Haley as the only viable option to remedy the divisive politics that have shaped the Republican Party in recent years. Many named the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol as their breaking point.

James A. Wilson, 59, from Mechanicsville, said Haley is his last hope for a Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential race. He said he’s unsure what he’ll do – if he’ll stay home, write in a candidate or vote for the Democratic nominee – if she loses.

“I won’t vote for Trump, that’s for sure,” he said. “I’m retired military and January 6 was, that was it for me. I voted for Trump twice but after that, I can’t.”

Bethany Kirschner, 38, from Montpelier stood in line before the start of the rally with her four young children. A life-long Republican, she said she plans to write in a candidate if Trump wins the nomination.

“I think he puts himself first, over the good of the country, based on the big lie about the stolen election and the riot on January 6,” she said.

“I think that is not good for the American people, for us to be so divided.”

Mark Crean, 72, from Henrico County, said he hopes Haley will be able to pull through and win the Republican nomination, despite the beating she’s taken so far at the polls.

“After January 6, I can’t in good conscience vote for Donald Trump so I will be voting Democratic and I’ve never voted for a Democratic candidate for President but I will this time,” he said.

Dems choose Haley to send a message

On Tuesday, some Democratic voters opted to for a Republican ballot to cast their vote for Haley. Workers at a number of polling places in traditionally deep blue parts of Richmond said they saw an unusual increase in requests for Republican ballots.

Marty Gravett, 73, usually votes Democratic, but this year she opted to cast a Republican ballot for Nikki Haley, she said as she stood outside of her polling place.

“I don’t have any fear of Joe Biden being on the Virginia ballot, I will vote for him as president,” she said.

On Super Tuesday, she wanted to send a message: “Go Nikki Haley, give [Trump] a run for his money,” she said.

“I like that Nikki Haley is standing up to Trump. All in all, I don’t like her politics but I think she has a lot of integrity which I see missing in the Republican Party. I would very much like to see a return to that integrity and I feel like this oddball chance that I have is a piece of that for me.”

Virginia has open primaries where voters can request one ballot to cast one vote for either party.

Biden won but protest votes remain

“President Biden and Vice President Harris have fought tooth and nail to build an economy that works for everyone and save American democracy from the fascist, destitute bigot that Virginia Republicans just pledged their allegiance to," Susan Swecker, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, said, after Virginia was called for Biden and Trump.

"We will work day and night to ensure that Virginians cast their votes in an overwhelming majority this for President Biden and Vice President Harris.”

Biden handily beat the other two other Democratic candidates on the ticket, Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson. Though some voters did opt for one of Biden’s opponents, as a protest vote against the president’s support for Israel during the war in Gaza which has left thousands of Palestinians, including children, dead.

One of those voters was Emily Maurer, 26, in Richmond. She had planned to write in “uncommitted” on the Democratic ballot, but there was no option to write in a vote on either the Democratic nor Republican ballot in Virginia.

“I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “I wanted to show my distaste with the President’s actions on the genocide happening in Gaza.”

Come November, her plan is to vote in down ballot races, but she does not plan to vote for either Biden or Trump.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: In Virginia, Trump and Biden win their respective primaries