Virginia voters to cast ballots in dual primary

Northam is lieutenant governor of Virginia and a pediatric neurologist at the Children's Specialty Group in Norfolk.

"That is rivaling the presidential primary, the numbers are very high", Moorman said.

Stewart - who served as Donald Trump's campaign chairman in Virginia - got 155,743 votes (42.5 percent) to the 160,060 votes (43.7 percent) cast for establishment Republican Ed Gillespie, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee.

The Democratic campaign focused on Northam's experience as a lawmaker working with Republicans, and Perriello saying he could better harness the frustration voters feel over Trump to forge a new direction for the party and bring in new voters for the general election in November.

Northam beat former congressman Tom Perriello. That's the type of enthusiasm Democrats have been banking on to build a midterm election backlash to Trump, and the 2017 Virginia race will be a critical test of whether they can do that. Northam raised almost $6.5 million in the primary compared to Perriello's $4 million haul, which helped the lieutenant governor saturate Washington-area television stations with ads over the last few weeks.

Yet Stewart very almost knocked off Gillespie anyway, falling just 4,300 votes short to come within about 1 percent of the failed 2014 Senate candidate - in all Gillespie took home 43.7 percent of the vote compared to Stewart's 42.5 percent, while state Sen. Frank Wagner, has struggled to gain traction, despite winning the endorsement of The Washington Post's editorial board.

And back in 2005 only 175K Republicans came out to vote for Jerry Kilgore who would eventually lose to former Governor-turned-State Senator Tim Kaine.

Northam beat opponent Tom Perriello, a one-time US representative for Virginia's 5th district, with roughly 55 percent of the vote statewide.

In the primaries for lieutenant governor, the Historic Triangle chose Democrat Justin Fairfax while the Republican ballot remained much closer, with Jill Vogel and Bryce Reeves within 110 votes of each other late Tuesday.

Already looking ahead to the November contest, Gillespie has criticized both Democrats as being hostile to charter schools and Virginia's status as a right-to-work state, a business-friendly policy that makes it hard for labor unions to organize.

Democratic candidate for governor.former Rep. Tom Perriello, reacts to supporters at an election night party at the State Theatre Tuesday, June 13, 2017 in Falls Church, Va. Perriello lost to Lt. Gov Ralph Northam in the primary for the Democratic nomination for Virginia Governor. Stewart, known better around the state for his love of Confederate memorials than his county-government work, was supposed to fizzle against Gillespie, an establishment pick who almost picked off Mark Warner's US Senate seat in 2014.

McAuliffe, who can not seek re-election due to term limits, has backed Northam for the post.

The Virginia gubernatorial election will take place November 7. That includes Trump's loss previous year to Democrat Hillary Clinton, which made Virginia the only Southern state to reject the future president.

In terms of tax rates, Gillespie believes that Virginia's tax plan is antiquated - Virginia's income tax has not been cut since 1972.

Northam essentially had been campaigning for years, making key contacts with influential power brokers like prominent African-American politicians and religious leaders, and building up a large cash advantage that let him outspend Perriello on TV advertising in the closing weeks of the race. Virginia is one of two states electing governors this year.

Northam will face Ed Gillespie in the general election.

His race for governor is too close to call, he said. Meyer said Gillespie's "vision for tax reform" was the reason why he was supporting the gubernatorial candidate.

"I am so thankful to the people of Virginia for this vote of confidence in our vision for the future of the Commonwealth".