(The Center Square) — Clear winners and losers emerged from Tuesday’s state Senate primaries, except for Virginia Senate District 29, where Democratic and Republican candidates are locked in races too close to call.
With more than 95% of votes in and only provisional and mail-in ballots left to be tallied, the races of Democrats Sen. Jeremy McPike and challenger Del. Elizabeth Guzman, and Republicans Maria Martin and Nikki Baldwin are headed toward a recount.
McPike only has a 0.2% lead over Guzman, and Martin and Baldwin hold an exact tie, each with 50% of the vote. Virginia’s recount law states that the race is eligible for a recount if a candidate does not win by more than 1%.
McPike is competing for his third term as state Senator and has never had an opponent come so close to stealing his seat. Guzman, one of the first Hispanic women to be elected to the commonwealth’s House of Delegates, is known for her progressive record.
The two contenders led cordial campaigns, but McPike still plans to fight until the bitter end.
“This is a close race; it’s fascinating to see,” McPike told local news source InsideNoVa. “We’ve talked to so many communities and neighbors and friends to get out the vote, so we’re going to pursue this aggressively as a campaign and make sure that every vote is counted, recognized and acknowledged.”
Martin ran for public office once before, unsuccessfully, against Democrat Luke Torian for a seat in the House of Delegates. In her Senate race, she campaigned for school choice, bringing God back into schools, higher salaries for teachers, lowering taxes and developing renewable energy sources to better steward the environment.
Education was also prominent in Baldwin’s platform, as she advocated for more parental involvement and oversight of children’s education and against race-based school admissions. She also expresses on her website that she wants to help undo some of what was done in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic, as she claims that “Virginia was at risk for executive overreach.”
Whichever candidate advances, she will face an established incumbent Democratic opponent in an area that has historically shown more support for the Democratic party.
Mail-in ballots that arrive by Friday will be added to candidate tallies.
