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Deeds pulls off primary upset
In an unpredicted upset, state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds of Bath County claimed his party's nomination for Virginia governor, defeating former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe and former state Del. Brian Moran.
Deeds won Virginia with nearly 50 percent of the vote and took Loudoun with 46.96 percent.
Deeds won despite being the financial underdog in the race – he raised only $2.8 million to McAuliffe's $6.94 million and Moran's $3.8 million.
“Wow. You and I sure surprised a lot of people tonight,” Deeds wrote in a released statement June 9. “Tomorrow starts a new campaign with lots of work. It is going to be a tough fight with a tough opponent. But that's all for tomorrow.”
Joining the Democratic ticket for Virginia's highest elected offices are lieutenant governor candidate Jody Wagner, who captured about 74 percent of the vote, and attorney general candidate Steve Shannon, who ran unopposed for his party's nod.
Loudoun County was frequented by McAuliffe and Moran, with few campaign stops by Deeds, whose most recent known stop here was in November 2008. Still, the nominee was able to capture the lead in the county's Democratic primary votes.
"My wife is for Moran," said Pete Stockton, of Leesburg. "I had to cancel her out. Deeds is for guns. I voted for Deeds, even though I'm not wild about him."
Compared with the 2008 Democratic primary between presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, polls were empty, campaign workers said.
About 4.35 percent of registered voters in the county visited the polls in this election. Election workers blamed severe thunderstorms for the quiet polls. Turnout is also normally lower for local elections than presidential elections.
"In November, we had lines out the door, and now there's nobody here," said Wendy Webb, chief election officer at the Ida Lee Park Recreation Center polling site in Leesburg. Only 14 people voted at Ida Lee in the first two hours after polls opened.
Voter turnout June 9 was similar to previous years' turnout for similar races.
In the June 2005 Democratic primary, only 1 percent of registered voters participated. During this race, Gov. Tim Kaine ran unopposed for his party's nomination. During that same election, however, 4.6 percent of registered voters in the state voted in the Republican primary, which had two candidates.
Deeds will face Republican former state Attorney General Bob McDonnell in the fall election.
Reporters Dan Stalcup, Shannon Sollinger and Holly Hobbs contributed to this article.
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