Isle of Wight voters choose Republicans

Published 9:31 pm Tuesday, November 3, 2020

In the races for president, U.S. Senate, and the House, Isle of Wight voters chose Republican candidates.

Just after 9 p.m. on Election Day, with all 14 precincts and preliminary early votes reported, 58.4% of Isle of Wight voters cast their ballot for incumbent President Donald Trump, while 39.9% voted for former Vice President Joe Biden; 1.3% of those who voted in Isle of Wight cast a ballot for Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen.

Isle of Wight voters similarly gave overwhelming support for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Daniel Gade, who is challenging incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Warner. Voters cast 58% of their ballots for Gade, a combat-wounded Army verteran, versus 41.8% for Warner, a former governor of Virginia who was first elected to the Congress in 2008.

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Republican John W. Collick Jr. challenged incumbent U.S. House Rep. Bobby Scott, a Democrat, has served in Congress since 1993, representing the 3rd Congressional District, which encompasses all of Isle of Wight County and all or parts of seven other Hampton Roads jurisdictions. Collick received 59% of votes versus Scott, who received 40.8%.

Isle of Wight voters also overwhelmingly supported two state constitutional amendments. Amendment one asked voters to decide if Virginia should establish a redistricting commission to redraw congressional and state legislative districts; 72% of voters said yes and 27.9% said no. On the second constitutional amendment question, 86.3% said yes to the question of allowing a state tax exemption for a vehicle that is owned by military members and veterans who have a 100% service-connected permanent and total disability.

In contrast, Surry County voters went blue, supporting Democratic candidates. The county’s eight precincts reported just after 8 p.m. on Election Day that Biden carried the county with 54.7% of the vote versus Trump who received 44.1%. Libertarian Jo Jorgensen received just under 1% of votes cast. Warner received 55.3% of the votes in Surry versus Gade, who received 44.6%.

Surry is part of the 4th Congressional District, which includes the county and 15 other jurisdictions. Incumbent Donald McEachin, a Democrat, was first elected to represent the House district in 2016. He formerly served in the House of Delegates and state senate. McEachin received 54% of Surry’s votes versus Republican Leon Benjamin Sr., who received 45.7%. Benjamin is a military veteran and senior pastor of a Richmond-based church.

On the redistricting amendment, 65.3% of Surry voters supported the measure; 34.6% opposed, while 87% of Surry voters supported the amendment for the tax exemption for vehicles owned by military veterans.

Final vote tallies are subject to change, as mail ballots that arrive at the registrar’s office before noon on Nov. 6 will be counted as long as they were postmarked on or before Election Day.