RICHMOND, Va. -- Voting is a family affair to Odessia Braxton, who came out on an off day for work to cast her early vote in the 2023 Virginia Elections. The balance of power at the General Assembly is at stake.
"If you don’t vote and you see that something passes and you’re not satisfied, don’t complain," Braxton said.
The averted federal government shutdown deal, which came down to the wire with a late-night vote Saturday to pass stop-gap funding measure, did not impact her decision in the voting booth, but the potential of a shutdown was definitely on her mind.
“I do have family members that work for the government," Braxton said. “They’ve been through this before, so yeah they were feeling a little on edge, but I guess they prevented it from shutting down, but it’s like every time we’re going through this.”
While candidates running in Virginia elections have no real say in congressional fights happening up Interstate 95, the politics impacting the federal government have a direct impact on hundreds of thousands of Virginians who earn a living as federal workers or serve in the military.
You can read more about the last-minute deal to push off the budget debate for 45 days.
"Virginia is one of the states most impacted by federal government shutdowns. Typically, politically that has worked to the benefit of the Democrats and to the detriment of the Republicans," said Dr. Bob Holsworth, CBS 6's political analyst.
Holsworth noted the deal to avoid a federal shutdown would expire after Election Day in Virginia and that congressional Republicans likely had Virginia's elections in mind.
“It’s going to be read both nationally and in Washington as the first election of 2024. Republicans were certainly aware when they were thinking of how many days to have this continuing resolution of when the Virginia elections were going to take place," Hoslworth said.
While national Democrats argue their votes helped keep the government open and prevented federal workers from missing paychecks for now, Holsworth said the argument surrounding the shutdown will be less potent for Virginia Democrats on the ballot this fall.
"While that message might work in some places with a few people, it’s certainly not going to have anywhere the impact it would have had if people were watching a government shutdown," Holsworth said.
Virginians do not have to look that far back to see how federal shutdowns can impact elections here. In October 2013, a 16-day federal shutdown over sequestration cuts was followed by a gubernatorial election where Democrat Terry McAuliffe narrowly defeated Republican Ken Cuccinelli.
For Odessia Braxton, federal shutdown threats can be easy to tune out these days, which is exactly why she tunes into every single election in Virginia.
"It’s a lot of noise," Braxton said. "Just to see the last four, five years as far as politics is concerned, it’s important we do go out and vote.”
Early voting continues in Virginia, and you can better research the races in your neighborhood with the CBS 6 2023 Voter Guide.
Depend on CBS 6 News and WTVR.com for in-depth coverage of this important local story. Anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
