Tuesday’s primary turnout ‘maybe 5 percent’

Turnout at polling places across the Charlottesville region is expected to be fairly low in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.

“We not expecting an enormous turn-out,” said Dianne Gilliland, Charlot-tesville’s assistant registrar. “Maybe 5 percent.”

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 Tuesday’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 Tuesday’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.

Jake Washburne, Albemarle’s general registrar, said he hopes voter turnout is higher than expected Tuesday, but he is not optimistic.

“I’m hoping we’ll hit 6 or 7 percent,” he said. “But based on past elections, it’ll probably be closer to 5 percent.”

Tuesday’s primary, however, is the first time in recent memory that Virginia has seen a gubernatorial primary with three well-funded and competitive candidates.

“This is a real horse race,” Washburne said. “You’ve got three for-real candidates who’ve poured a lot of time, money and effort into their campaigns.”

When Jim Webb beat out Harris Miller in the 2006 primary for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, only 3.45 percent of voters turned out statewide. In the 2005 GOP gubernatorial primary between Jerry W. Kilgore and George Fitch, only 3.98 percent of voters participated.

This time around, Washburne said, the three-way gubernatorial primary is likely to generate more interest than those previous races, but not nearly as much as the Republican presidential primary in 2000 and the Democratic presidential primaries in 2004 and 2008.

Early signs are showing that Tuesday’s race will not draw large numbers of voters.

As of Friday, only 10 people had voted absentee in Louisa County since absentee voting started May 11.

“I don’t expect it to be a very big crowd on Tuesday,” said Cristy E. Watkins, Louisa’s general registrar.

The polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Voters will cast their ballot at their normal polling places. To check a voting precinct location or voter registration status, go to http://www.sbe.virginia. gov.