FREDLINES
Claire Marshall Watkins, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Fredericksburg Free Press
Stafford voters reject 1% sales tax for school construction
By Adele Uphaus 11/4/2026
Stafford County voters on Tuesday narrowly rejected a measure to implement an additional 1% sales tax to support school construction projects. About 50.5% of voters rejected the measure, and 49.5% approved it, according to unofficial results from the Virginia Public Access Project.
Stafford was among 47 localities statewide — and the only one in the Fredericksburg region — that asked voters whether they wanted to adopt the additional tax. Fifteen localities approved the measure, and 32 rejected it.
Advisory committee: Make special education ‘a division-wide priority’ in city schools
By Adele Uphaus 11/4/2026
Students with disabilities “are among the populations requiring the most attention,” concludes the 2026 annual report of the Fredericksburg School Board’s Special Education Advisory Committee.
Committee members presented the annual report at Monday’s regular school board meeting.
“The central conclusion is straightforward: Fredericksburg has caring educators and areas of strong practice, but outcomes and family experiences show that the system is not yet consistently delivering the level of support students with disabilities need,” the report states.
The Free Lance-Star
Justin Carter elected to Fredericksburg School Board (paywalled)
By Keith Epps 11/4/2026
Justin M. Carter says he’s anxious to start doing his part to make the Fredericksburg school system the best that it can be.
Carter, a 2007 graduate of James Monroe High School, got more than 73 percent of the vote to take over the at-large seat that was vacated in July when longtime board member Jarvis Bailey retired. Current board member Stan Jones ran a write-in campaign that fell short.
Carter will take his seat at the beginning of 2027 and serve at least until the end of the year, when Bailey’s original term expires. Another election is scheduled for November 2027 for a new four-year term on the board.
Port Royal and Bowling Green vote on town councils (paywalled)
By Scott Shenk 11/4/2026
Residents in the town of Port Royal selected four of five council members for another term, according to unofficial results from the Virginia Department of Elections.
Angela Golden led the council election with 42 votes (22.95 %), followed by Nathanael Ulfers (37 votes), Robert Giles (35 votes), Monica Chenault (34 votes) and Alexander Long IV (31 votes). Giles is the lone newcomer to the council.
Orange, Gordonsville candidates win “can’t lose” elections (paywalled)
By Keith Epps 11/4/2026
According to the state Board of Elections website, Zachary M. Ashworth and incumbent Jeffrey L. Crane were the only candidates on the ballot for the three available seats. Crane, the current vice mayor, received 928 votes or 35.58 percent, while Ashworth netted 741 votes or 28.41 percent.
Ironically, write-in candidates got 938 votes, more than either candidate on the ballot. It was not immediately clear how those votes were split up or how the third available seat would be filled.
Registrars report higher voter traffic on Election Day (paywalled)
By Pilar Davis, Scott Shenk, Keith Epps 11/4/2026
Steady is the way many election officials describe the flow of voters on Tuesday at polling locations across Fredericksburg and the surrounding counties of Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline and King George.
Corey Ashford, chief election official for precinct 504 at Gayle Middle School in Stafford County, said election officials saw more voters earlier in the morning but continued to maintain a steady flow through the lunch hour.
“We’re at 487 right now,” Ashford said. It’s about normal for a midterm. We had a little bit of a line earlier, but not out the door.”
ADVANCE READS
Lauren Bock, Donnie Johnston
Please Pass (On) the Salt
Lauren Bock, ADVANCE CONTRIBUTOR
I met Kaye and Dave a few years ago when Dave begrudgingly joined one of my group Lifestyle Medicine classes. Kaye is a retired middle school art teacher and mother of two children, one of whom lives in a far off land with the couple’s grandkids. She’s also a breast cancer survivor, honest, passionate, charismatic, a strong advocate for herself and those that she loves—especially Dave, a retired Marine.
They dutifully attended together, Kaye nodding along while Dave sat quietly through six weeks of classes, skeptically soaking up bits of knowledge with distant hopes of shortening his medication list, just like a handful of others with similar stories:
High blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Statin-weary and medication-averse.
Make and Model? Who Can Tell These Days?
Donnie Johnston, ADVANCE COLUMNIST
When I was a child I could tell you the make, model, and year of almost any car that passed.
A friend even swears that there was a boy in his rural elementary class who could sit at his desk and tell the make and model of any truck that drove by the schoolhouse.
Teenagers of my generation had a fascination for cars and trucks, a feeling they inherited from their parents. Many, like Goober in the classic Andy Griffith Show episode, could take a car apart—especially the motor—and put it back together.
I have passed many a country home at which a motor, suspended with a chain, hung from the overhanging limb of a front yard oak tree. It had been removed by a 16 or 17-year-old boy who was preparing it for more power and speed. Almost every kid was a mechanic of sorts.
STATE OF THE STATE
VaNews/VIRGINIA PUBLIC ACCESS PROJECT
Complete Virginia Election Results
The Virginia Public Access Project
VPAP provides the complete list of results for Virginia elections, including congressional offices, state constitutional amendments, and local elections and referenda.
Luria unseats Kiggans in bellwether congressional rematch
By KATE SELTZER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Former U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria will reclaim her old seat in Congress after a strong Election Day showing. The Democrat held a roughly 5 point lead over incumbent Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans with more than 80% of the vote in, according to unofficial results late Tuesday night. ... At the Holiday Inn Virginia Beach-Norfolk, a crowd of about 200 Luria supporters gathered to watch results come in. Among them were former Gov. Ralph Northam and Democratic U.S. Rep Bobby Scott, who had come from his own victory party after a decisive win that was called shortly after polls closed.
Taylor holds slim lead over Wittman in 1st District congressional race
By BEN SWENSON, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
The race for the 1st Congressional District remained too close to call Tuesday, with unofficial figures from the state Department of Elections showing Democrat Shannon Taylor with a thin lead over incumbent Republican Rep. Rob Wittman. Both campaigns coincidentally held watch parties on Election Night at side-by-side event venues in the Henrico County community of Glen Allen — Taylor’s at The Place at Innsbrook and Wittman’s at the restaurant Atlas 42. Wittman arrived to greet supporters about 90 minutes after polls closed at 7 p.m. He acknowledged that the race was a tight one, but felt confident he would prevail. He said there were still votes that would trickle in from rural communities and mail-in ballots. “We will push hard to get every vote counted,” he said.
Griffith, Cline win reelection; McGuire declares victory over Perriello in still-close race
By ELIZABETH BEYER, Cardinal News
Republicans won reelection in Virginia’s two most conservative congressional districts, but the race is still too close to call in the 5th District, where incumbent Republican Rep. John McGuire is fighting off a challenge from former Democratic Congressman Tom Perriello. ... “Welcome to overtime,” Perriello said. The response he got was a roaring cheer from a few dozen supporters who still remained at Kardinal Hall in Charlottesville just after 11 p.m. ... Across town, McGuire told reporters that he won the election, however. After thanking God, his wife, children and staff, he said, “we won this race.”
Virginia voters etch reproductive rights, same-sex marriage and voting restoration into constitution
By HUGH LESSIG, Cardinal News
Virginia voters on Tuesday approved three amendments to the state constitution that enshrine the right to reproductive health, including abortion, remove the ban on same-sex marriage and restore voting rights to formerly incarcerated felons. With nearly all localities reporting, supporters outpaced opponents by the following margins, according to state election figures: Reproductive health: 62%-38%; same-sex marriage: 57%-43%; voting rights: 55%-45%. The General Assembly in January gave final approval for the amendments to appear on Tuesday’s ballot. The approval was largely along party lines, with the Democratic majority spearheading the push.
Warner cruises to 4th Senate term, promises ‘an untethered Mark Warner’
By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner cruised to reelection to a fourth term on Tuesday with a double-digit victory over Republican Bert Mizusawa, who didn’t have the money or name recognition to compete against the popular former governor in an election seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump in a political environment favoring Democrats. ... “This is my last campaign, but it’s not the end of the road,” Warner told a roaring crowd, promising to show “an untethered Mark Warner” in his final term.
Dominion, NextEra accept some proposed protections in merger case, reject rate and staffing freeze
By SHANNON HECKT, Virginia Mercury
In the final days before the Dominion Energy and NextEra merger case is set to begin at the State Corporation Commission, the companies are responding to a list of recommendations and conditions that staff members at the SCC and the Attorney General’s Office laid out as critical changes needed before commissioners approve the merger. The all stock trade of the two companies is valued at $67 billion and would create the largest regulated utility in the country. In pre-filed testimony for the case, SCC staff suggested that the companies had not met their burden of ensuring “that adequate service to the public at just and reasonable rates will not be impaired or jeopardized by granting the prayer of the petition” as mandated by the Utility Transfers Act.
Less than a third of localities approve new sales tax to fund school construction
By MEGHAN MANGRUM, Cardinal News
Voters in more than 40 communities across the state went to the polls this election cycle to determine whether to increase their taxes to fund school construction and major repairs. As of 11:15 p.m., voters in 14 of those communities were projected to have approved measures to implement an additional 1% sales tax dedicated specially for school construction. In 29, voters rejected the measure ... Results were still pending in five other localities.
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