Virginia Democratic primary today

Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. today for the Democratic primary.
Voters will cast their ballots at their normal polling places.

Only two races — governor and lieutenant governor — will be on the ballot for Charlottesville and the counties of Buckingham, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Nelson and Orange.
Three candidates are vying to win the Democratic nomination for governor: Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, a Bath County resident who represents the Charlottesville area in the Virginia Senate; Terry McAuliffe, a McLean businessman and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee; and Brian Moran, an Alexandria lawyer and former Democratic caucus chairman of the House of Delegates.
The winner of the Democratic gubernatorial primary will face off against Republican nominee Bob McDonnell, who most recently served as Virginia’s attorney general, in the Nov. 3 general election.
Running for the Democratic nod for lieutenant governor: Michael Signer, a longtime Democratic operative who worked as a senior campaign strategist for U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello’s successful campaign against Virgil H. Goode Jr. in 2008, and Jody Wagner, who served as state treasurer under former Gov. Mark R. Warner and as secretary of finance under Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.

A third candidate for lieutenant governor, Jon Bowerbank of Russell County, dropped out of the race and endorsed Wagner. Despite withdrawing, Bowerbank will still appear on today’s ballot.
The vast majority of Albemarle County will vote solely for the governor and lieutenant governor candidates.
However, three precincts in Western Albemarle — Brownsville, Crozet and Yellow Mountain — will also vote in a Democratic primary for the 25th District of the House of Delegates.

Del. R. Steven Landes, a Republican from Weyers Cave, has held the seat since 1996 and has never faced a serious opponent. In today’s primary, two Democrats are competing to win the opportunity to battle Landes in November. These Democrats are: James G. Noel, a Mount Sidney resident who works as a facilities planner at Perdue Foods, and Dr. Greg Marrow, an optometrist and Navy veteran who lives in McGaheysville.