Trump, Good take solid wins in Mecklenburg


Virginians closed out Election Day night not knowing the exact 2020 vote in the Commonwealth with late arriving mail-in ballots yet to be counted.

Around 8 p.m., however, the Associated Press called Virginia for Democratic candidate Joe Biden, with other major news organizations also declaring Biden the winner of the state’s 13 electoral votes.

The declared victory for Biden came despite early night tallies that showed President Donald Trump opening a significant lead in the state, 57 percent-41 percent, by around 10 p.m. The figure excluded large portions of the Fairfax County vote, home to around an eighth of Virginia’s population and a Democratic stronghold.

While Virginia appeared to fall into the blue state column as widely expected going into the night, Trump and down ballot GOP congressional candidate Robert “Bob” Good ran strong in Southside Virginia and the Fifth Congressional District.

Good, a Campbell County Republican seeking to replace Rep. Denver Riggleman in the House, opened up a lead in his race against Charlottesville physician Cameron Webb, making his first run for public office as the Democratic nominee.

Mecklenburg County delivered solid victories for Trump and Good, although some ballots have yet to be counted and all results are unofficial.

With all 24 county precincts in, Good beat Webb by a 58.3 percent-41.7 percent margin, a slight improvement in the Republican performance in the 2018 mid-term election when Mecklenburg County went 56 percent-44 percent for the Republican winner that year, Riggleman.

Mecklenburg voters favored Trump 57.4 percent-43.42.0 percent over Biden, with the Democrat taking 6,751 votes and Trump claiming 9,232 votes.

The outcome in the Fifth District in the Good-Webb race was too close to call Tuesday night around 10:30. With an estimated 72 percent of the vote counted in the sprawling district, Good led by a 53.9 percent-46.1 percent margin, with roughly a 25,000 vote cushion — 169,836 ballots to 145,256 votes for Webb.

Turnout was very heavy in Mecklenburg, with more than 75 percent of the county’s registered voters casting a ballot either on Election Day, by in-person early voting or via mail and dropbox delivery.

A change in Virginia law this year requires elections officials to count mail-in ballots through Friday, Nov. 6. That count will include mail-in ballot that are postmarked on or before Election Day but arrive late.

Voter Registrar Jason Corwin said the 2020 general election proved to be one of a kind. He called it an election like no other he’s experienced in his 10 years as registrar.

With more than 16,000 local ballots cast, Mecklenburg’s turnout far outpaced the 2016 presidential election that put Trump into the White House. That year Mecklenburg County cast 14,925 votes in the race between Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Corwin reported no problems at the polls Tuesday. Overall, voting was very orderly even in those situations where voters were required to wait outside the polling location

Nearly 40 percent of the county’s more than 22,000 voters cast their ballot ahead of Election Day. Yet the polling locations still saw a large turnout when the polls first opened at 6:30 a.m. and then at midday.

In the race for U.S. Senate, incumbent Mark Warner lost in Mecklenburg to first-time candidate and challenger Daniel Gade by a vote of 4,908 or 63.1 percent for Gade, to 2,828 or 26.9 percent to Warner. However, Warner was headed to victory by a comfortable margin in his bid to win a third term.

Nationally, the race for president between Biden and Trump was too close to call Tuesday night.

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