ROANOKE, Va. – Virginia’s primaries are right around the corner on June 18. If you don’t know who is seeking reelection or running, 10 News is working for you with everything you need to know.
In Roanoke County, there’s a Republican Primary for the Board of Supervisors in Vinton. Two people are running, including incumbent Tammy Shepherd. There’s a Democratic Primary in Roanoke City. There are three open city council seats. Meanwhile, in Lynchburg, there’s a Republican Primary for the Ward 4 seat.
There are also two state-wide elections that you could vote for in June. Congressman Bob Good, who represents District 5, is up for reelection in the U.S. House of Representatives. John McGuire is challenging him.
“Bob Good is actually being primaried, which normally does not happen to a very conservative Republican member of Congress, but John McGuire, [an] ex-navy seal, has been raising a lot of money. He’s been running a lot of television ads, and he clearly is quite serious about this run,” said 10 News Political Analyst Ed Lynch.
Also, five Republicans are challenging Senator Tim Kaine. He is up for this third term.
“It’s possible that one of the motivations for the Republicans who are running against him is to make a really good showing in the hopes that this will be an open seat six years from now and the winner of this year’s primary even should he lose, this time, will have good credibility to run the next time when Tim Kaine may decide to retire,” said Lynch.
Resident Karen Jones said she will make sure her voice is heard in the primary elections in June. She said several issues are driving her to the polls.
“Inflation, immigration, the border, just being able to save money again, not living from paycheck to paycheck and being able to get by,” said Jones.
Meanwhile, Lynch said it’s important to cast your vote because national and even international concerns are being talked about on the local level.
“National issues: immigration, abortion, foreign policy, all of these things are likely to come up. Along with traditional local issues like funding for schools, safety, and police work, where the fire stations are going to be. All those local concerns. Look if you’re going to skip voting, skip voting for the big elections. Don’t ever skip voting for the small ones,” said Lynch.