Polls open today at 6 a.m. to allow the 1 million-plus registered Northern Virginia voters to choose from among six candidates in the Republican and Democratic primaries.
Election officials expect some 5 percent of the state’s 4.5 million voters will cast ballots by the time polls close at 7 p.m.
The most prominent and highly contested race is between former lobbyist Harris Miller, 54, and Navy Secretary Jim Webb, 60, for U.S. Senate. The winner will face Republican Sen. George Allen in November.
Miller was calling on Democrats statewide Monday to support his agenda of firing Donald Rumsfeld as the beginning of making a new start in Iraq and taxing oil companies to support alternative fuels.
Webb, who appeared Monday with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., in an effort to boost voter turnout, has been an outspoken critic of President Bush, the war in Iraq and the Congress that “rubber-stamps” the president’s requests. Fairfax and Prince William Democratic voters will also decide between federal regulatory lawyer Andrew Hurst, 36, and former State Department employee Ken Longmeyer, 68, in the race to pick a November challenger to Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., in the 11th District.
Both candidates have criticized the Republican Party and the Iraq war.
Longmeyer unsuccessfully ran against Davis in 2004.
Iraqi war veteran Tom O’Donoghue, 41, and Alliance Bank Vice President Mark Ellmore, 37, are vying for the Republican slot in the 8th District election for the U.S. House of Representatives.
The district covers Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax and Falls Church, and the winner will face eight-term Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., this November.
Each candidate focused on ending the country’s dependence on foreign oil, securing the borders and returning high-paying jobs leaving Northern Virginia due to military base realignments.
Virginia does not register party affiliations, so voters can choose to vote in either primary — as long as they only choose one. They must declare whether they are voting Democratic or Republican, said Barbara Cockrell, with the Virginia State Board of Elections.
Where to vote
» Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.
» Arlington questions: 703-228-3456
» Alexandria questions: 703-838-4050
» Fairfax questions: 703-222-0776
» Prince William questions: 703-792-6470
» Moreinformation at www.sbe.virginia.gov or call 800-552-9745
