Historic turnout for 2013 Virginia governor’s race

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR)–Despite the importance of state and local issues on the ballot, turnout tends to be lower in an off-election year.

Virginia and New Jersey are the only states to hold their gubernatorial election the year after presidential elections. Virginia is currently the only state whose governor serves one term.

A large voter turnout in the 2012 and 2008 elections is the primary force behind the state turning blue. In 2012, 80-percent of registered voters turned out to the polls, or 3,896,846 voters.

The 2009 race brought the most voters out to the polls (still only 42%) of any other gubernatorial race.

But the voter turnout for Nov. 5, 2013 surpassed that race with a turnout of 2,160, 068 voters, and still not all the precincts have been counted.

Terry McAuliffe’s campaign outspent Ken Cuccinelli’s roughly ten to one, and utilized a well-organized street team strategy. Yet the race was still a nail-biter, with Cuccinelli doing much better than many had predicted.

Libertarian candidate Robert Sarvis did not get the needed ten percent votes to secure his party ballot access through 2021, but he drew a good number of people out to the polls, with 142, 062 votes, or seven-percent.

There were 9,365 write-in votes, many possibly for Lt. Governor Bill Bolling, who had been anticipated to represent the Republican party bid for governor in 2013.

***info from State Board of Elections