By Heather Michon
The nationwide “blue wave” reached Fluvanna County on Nov. 3, where voters backed Democratic candidates and all three proposed amendments to the Virginia constitution by wide margins.
Fluvanna County voters backed Democrat Tom Perriello by more than 1,100 votes on Nov. 3, reversing the county’s result from two years earlier–even as Republican Rep. John McGuire won a second term in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District.
An 18-point shift
Perriello received 7,411 votes in Fluvanna, or 53.4%, while McGuire received 6,230 votes, or 44.9%.
In 2024, McGuire carried the county with 54.4%, to Democrat Gloria Witt’s 45.1%. The county went from a 9.4-point Republican margin to an 8.5-point Democratic margin, a swing of nearly 18 percentage points.
Districtwide, McGuire won reelection by 7,444 votes, a margin of just over 2 percentage points, compared with about 15 points in 2024.
In the Nov. 9 unofficial tally, McGuire received 181,494 votes (50.12%) to Perriello’s 174,050 (48.07%). Independent Cooke Harvey received 5,826 votes (1.61%), and write-ins accounted for 716 votes (0.20%).
The Associated Press called the race for McGuire on Thursday, Nov. 5. Perriello called McGuire that day to congratulate him and conceded that evening. He said provisional ballots should still be counted, though he acknowledged they would not change the outcome.
In a statement, Perriello said he was “grateful to the voters and more than 1,000 volunteers who helped us build a grassroots campaign that moved all 24 counties in the district in our direction, helped to flip the Lynchburg City Council, and almost defied the odds to flip a district that was 15-point ruby red, just two years ago.”
Local outreach and the next test
Jennifer Richardson, president of the local progressive group Lefty Lunch Ladies, credited Perriello’s outreach in Fluvanna and the work of local Democratic volunteers.
Richardson said she was speaking only for herself and that her views did not represent any other organization.
“They ran a unique campaign that was issue-driven instead of party-driven,” she said. “Instead of attacking his opponent for ties to Trump, Tom acknowledged and validated the financial uncertainty voters are experiencing, the looming threat of data centers and Valley Link, and ever-rising health care costs.”
Richardson said Fluvanna County Democratic Committee volunteers drove from house to house to canvass rural areas and sent postcards to residents in precincts the committee had often overlooked.
Richardson said she was encouraged by Perriello’s showing in Fluvanna but was cautious about reading too much into a single election.
“If broader and more permanent change is happening in Fluvanna County, I think the evidence will appear in the 2027 local elections, and the 2028 presidential and congressional elections,” she said.
The Fluvanna County Republican Committee did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
In the committee’s newsletter, Chair Barbara Haines thanked volunteers and said that, while they may have fallen short of some of its goals, the committee’s “focus now turns to next year’s elections for School Board, Board of Supervisors, and constitutional officers as we remain committed to our cause.”
Warner, amendments win
Longtime incumbent Senator Mark Warner won 54.6% of the Fluvanna vote to Republican Bert Mizusawa’s 45.1%.
Warner won reelection statewide with about 61% of the vote.
All three constitutional amendments passed statewide and drew majority support in Fluvanna.
The reproductive rights amendment received 58.8% support in the county, and the marriage equality amendment received 55.8%.
The amendment restoring voting rights upon release from incarceration drew 51.8% support, the narrowest local margin of the three.
School sales tax falls short
Fluvanna was one of 32 Virginia cities and counties where voters rejected a local sales tax for school construction.
The measure passed in only 15 of the 47 localities where it appeared on the Nov. 3 ballot, according to the Virginia Elections Collaborative.
Fluvanna voters rejected the referendum by 970 votes. The unofficial tally showed 7,325 votes against the measure (53.55%) and 6,355 in favor (46.45%).
The measure would have authorized a local retail sales tax of up to 1%, with proceeds reserved for school construction or major renovations.
