Three incumbent prosecutors in Northern Virginia who faced challenges after being elected four years ago on a progressive reform agenda were projected to win their Democratic primaries.
In Loudoun County, Buta Biberaj defeated challenger Elizabeth Lancaster on Tuesday. In Arlington County, incumbent Parisa Dehghani-Tafti defeated Josh Katcher, a former deputy in her office. Fairfax County Attorney Steve Descano rejected a challenge from Ed Nuttall.
The winners of Tuesday’s primary will face each other in a November general election that will decide control of the closely divided General Assembly. Republicans seek a complete blackout on the Commonwealth’s legislative agenda by retaking the state Senate, which Democrats now control by a 22-18 majority.
Virginia is one of the few states with midterm elections this year. Virginia’s unusual election cycle and near-flipping statehood mean that races often garner a great deal of attention as a potential indicator for future national races.
Prosecutors in Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun counties had Democratic rivals within the party.
Biberaj, the projected winner in Loudoun County, raised much more money, but Lancaster had won the endorsement of The Washington Post. Biberaj faced criticism, including from within his own party, for his day-to-day management of the office and when Loudoun found himself in the national spotlight over issues including school safety. He also faced criticism for his handling of two sexual assaults at two different high schools in 2021.
In November, Biberaj will face Republican Bob Anderson, who served as Loudoun’s prosecutor more than 20 years ago.
Biberaj told the Associated Press that the general election race “will be about taking Loudoun County forward or back 20 or 30 years.”
You can see the results here.
In Arlington County, incumbent Dehghani-Tafti defeated challenger Katcher, who had been one of Dehghani-Tafti’s deputies before leaving office. Dehghani-Tafti is overwhelmingly favored in heavily Democratic Arlington County in November.
The Biberaj and Dehghani-Tafti contests were two of three in Northern Virginia where candidates elected in 2019 as reformers faced primary challenges in which the challengers themselves largely embraced reform efforts and focused criticism on management issues. office daily.
In Fairfax County, Descano defeated Ed Nuttall, a former prosecutor and trial attorney best known for representing police officers accused of misconduct.
“We went before the people of this county in a referendum where, frankly, the Republican Party was against us, a lot of money came in against us and we bet on the people of Fairfax County, and they did it, because I think they saw that we have been successful, that we can have a safe community and also treat people fairly,” Descano explained.
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR ABOUT OTHER CONTESTS
The results of the elections in the House of Delegates and the state Senate were expected to be dramatic, with high turnover in both chambers.
Democrats running for State Senate:
District 33 (south of Fairfax and north of Prince William): Former delegate and gubernatorial candidate Jennifer Carroll Foy is projected to win over former delegate and lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Hala Ayala, who was trying to return to the legislature.
District 29 (south of Prince William and north of Stafford): Representative Elizabeth Guzmán challenged current Senator Jeremy McPike. The contest was still too close to declare a winner.
District 37 (East Fairfax): veteran Senator Chap Petersen, first elected in 2007 after serving two terms in the House of Delegates, faced Saddam Salim, a more progressive candidate. The contest was still too close to declare a winner.
Republican candidate for State Senate:
District 1 (Winchester, Clarke, Frederick, Warren, Shenandoah): Timmy French, a farmer from Shenandoah County, won this newly created seat that drew the candidacy of veteran Republican Dave LaRock. It was a massive contest with eight candidates. LaRock began serving as a delegate in 2014.
Arlington County Board:
All votes were counted. None of the six candidates obtained 34% of the votes in the vote in order of preference, so it goes to a second round. Susan Cunningham, Natalie Roy and Maureen Coffee were in the lead.
HOW LONG DOES IT USUALLY TAKE TO COUNT THE VOTES?
In the 2022 general election, the vote count in Virginia lasted 10 days in some counties, but the updates were relatively small in the days after Election Day.
Mail-in ballots are accepted through Friday if they are postmarked by Election Day.
Check out the latest results here.
