ELECTION 2025: Virginia's blue wave hit Henrico; voters said it was a long time coming

Henrico voters overwhelmingly supported Democrats all the way down the ballot in Tuesday's election, helping flip the top three statewide offices from Republican control and helping fill all but one of the county's state delegate positions with Democrats.

Democrat and Henrico resident Abigail Spanberger won the governor’s race over Winsome Earle-Sears with an estimated 69.1% of Henrico voters, a significant increase from the 58.8% of votes that democrat Terry McAuliffe won in the county during the 2021 governor’s race. Democrats also took the lieutenant governor and attorney general positions, with Ghazala Hashmi winning Henrico with 66.5% of votes in the former race (to outdistance Republican candidate and Henrico resident John Reid) and Jay Jones earning 63.5% of votes in the county to outpace incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares.

In a slight upset, Democrat May Nivar flipped the House of Delegates’ 57th District seat in Western Henrico with 55.3% of votes, defeating Republican incumbent David Owen and becoming the first Chinese-American elected to Virginia’s General Assembly. 

Democratic incumbent Rodney Willett was re-elected to the 58th District seat with 61.2% of votes, defeating his Republican challenger Milad Mikhail while winning 23 of the district's 24 precincts; and Democratic incumbents Destiny LeVere Bolling and Delores McQuinn both were re-elected in uncontested races for Districts 80 and 81.

As a result, only a small part of Henrico County that includes the neighborhoods of Glen Allen and Staples Mill will be represented by a Republican, with incumbent Buddy Fowler defeating Democratic challenger Scott Konopasek for the 59th District seat, with 57.1% of votes, though Konopasek won 9 of the 10 Henrico precincts in the race.

Henrico has been trending blue for quite some time now, according to former Democratic state delegate Debra Rodman, who defeated 17-year Republican incumbent John O'Bannon in 2017 to win Western Henrico’s 73rd District. What was once deemed extremely difficult for Rodman – winning the more conservative areas of Henrico’s Tuckahoe neighborhood – now has become the status quo for democrats such as Rodney Willett, she said.

“Things have completely changed. The Democratic committee in Henrico is a model for all of Virginia, and now it really is a blue county,” Rodman said. “When I ran for office, I always thought this would be a bluer place in 10 years. And I think it happened faster than I thought it would. Henrico has been going this way for a while.”

Rodman credited a well-organized local Democratic committee, along with demographic changes in the county, for Henrico’s blue shift.

Trump effect pays off for Democrats

But other Henrico voters cited another reason: the looming shadow of Donald Trump over the Republican Party and even more moderate local Republican candidates.

“I think this is really a reflection of our frustration nationally,” said Jake, a voter in Glen Allen. “I think the Republicans, as always, had the opportunity to show what they’re going to do for the people, and they’re not going to do shit for people. And also, you’ve got an illiterate, bumbling, narcissistic, spoiled, overprivileged man in office that can’t relate to someone on our level.”

Hunter Dean, a resident of the more right-leaning Hunton neighborhood, said that she used to support a mix of Democrats and Republicans in the past, and even campaigned for a local Republican candidate years ago. But her feelings shifted when Trump took office in 2017, prompting her to now vote blue all the way down the ballot.

“It’s gotten so insane that I feel like I have to vote Democrat just because I want my gay rights and abortion rights,” she said. “Now, I just feel like if I were to vote for a Republican, then it would be on Trump’s agenda, and I just don’t want to do that. So it’s kind of forcing me into being Democratic.”

Anwar Carter, a voter in Eastern Henrico’s Wilder precinct, said he also changed his tune when Trump and Gov. Glenn Youngkin were elected. Both administrations have shown a lack of support for public schools, he said, and now, he always votes Democratic.

“I’ve mainly voted Democrat, but I have voted for Republicans in the past. I’m not a one-track mind,” Carter said. “I will say now though, it’s kind of been one-sided the last few years, and I’ve been down-the-ballot Democratic. I just think we need a little change up from this past administration.”

Many voters also cited recent economic burdens that they say have come with certain Trump administration policies and the federal government shutdown – national challenges that have produced local issues in Henrico. 

“The elderly, with rising health costs, having to decide between, ‘Do I pay rent, do I pay a bill, or do I get my medicine?’” said Yvonne, a voter in the Tucker precicnt. “The cuts to Medicaid, the food stamps that they’re cutting, and the cost of everything – rent, food – it’s just a lot.”

“I just feel like [Democrats] are focused more on the middle and lower class, and those are the people that really need the help,” said Nikki, another Tucker precinct voter. “It’s mostly about just being able to survive. How can we pay our rent and then the upkeep, the leaking pipes, parking, all that, when we’re not even making much?”

Some voters split their ballots

For the Henrico voters who did vote Republican down-the-ballot, many cited issues in education, such as an ongoing statewide debate over whether transgender student athletes should be allowed in girls’ sports and athletic spaces such as school locker rooms.

“As an adult woman, I wouldn’t want a gentleman changing in the same place I do,” said Jackson Davis precinct voter Kara Topping. “That’s why when you go to dressing rooms in stores, there’s no crossover there. So why would it be that way in a locker room?”

“I’m a dad, so I worry about the kids’ stuff,” said Tucker precinct voter and parent Patrick. “Particularly in this election, there’s been a big stink about the boys bathrooms and girls bathrooms and all that stuff. I think the overarching issue of how we address gender is something I’m concerned about.”

Wilder precinct voter Elizabeth, who voted for republican Winsome Earle-Sears for governor, said that she hoped having a Republican head of the state would help maintain unity between Virginia and the federal government.

“As more of a Trump supporter-type person, it was important to me that there would be somebody that would support the president. I didn’t want there to be opposition,” she said. “I think with the strong president that we have right now, I don’t know if having a Democratic head would be a very good point of union.”

Virginia’s blue wave is a sign of hope for Democrats nationwide – maybe not in every part of the country, but definitely in more purple areas, said Wilder precinct voter Brandon. Virginia is the “quintessential purple state,” he said, and its shift towards the left could signal similar shifts in other purple states.

“I think the news cycle will help empower people,” he said. “The same way that when Youngkin won, we had to hear about it all over the country and it caused some tweaks and some shifts, maybe the same thing will happen here again. It may not be too much of an actual change, but I think it’ll get the ball rolling.”

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s government and education reporter. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.