Isle of Wight and Surry Democrats picked a different candidate as their choice for lieutenant governor than the one who won the crowded June 17 statewide primary election to determine the party’s nomination.

State Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, one of six candidates on the ballot for lieutenant governor, carried Isle of Wight with 1,033 votes, or 54.28%, which was more than double the 410 votes, or 21.54%, former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney received. Rouse also carried Surry with 347 votes, or 59.62%, to Stoney’s 137, or 23.54%.

State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, who clinched the statewide race after narrowly defeating Stoney by a margin of 3,799 votes, or just under 0.8%, finished third among Isle of Wight voters with 195 votes, or 10.25%. Hashmi also finished third in Surry with 38 votes, or 6.53%.

Attorney and former union president Alex Bastani of Falls Church, physician Dr. Babur Lateef of Prince William County and former federal prosecutor Victor Salgado of Arlington finished fourth through sixth, respectively, in Isle of Wight and in Surry.

Former Del. Jay Jones, D-Norfolk, won the Democratic nomination for attorney general with 50.59% of the statewide vote, defeating challenger and Henrico County Attorney Shannon Taylor by a margin of 9,021 votes, or 1.89%. Jones was also the preferred candidate locally, receiving 1,293 votes, or 67.8% to Taylor’s 614, or 32.2%, in Isle of Wight, and 380 votes, or 65.53%, to Taylor’s 199, or 34.37%, in Surry.

“Tonight, Virginians made history. We didn’t just win a primary, we sent a clear message that we won’t be bullied, broken, or dragged backward by the chaos in Washington. I’m honored to stand alongside Abigail Spanberger, Jay Jones, and our Democratic ticket to fi got for the future of this Commonwealth,” Hashmi said in a social media statement.

Stoney conceded the race on June 18.

“I’m incredibly proud of the campaign we ran and the many Virginians who supported our efforts to fight for a fair shot for all Virginians. Unfortunately, in this primary we came up a little short. But the fight for a fair Virginia continues. I ask all my supporters to rally behind Senator Hashmi and the entire Democratic ticket so we can continue the fight back against the Trump administration and complicit Republicans like Glenn Youngkin, Winsome Sears, and John Reid,” Stoney said in a campaign news release.

There was no Republican primary in Isle of Wight or Surry counties for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general or the 100 House of Delegates seats that will be on the ballot Nov. 4. Virginia will elect its first female governor this fall. Former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who secured the Democratic Party’s nomination on April 3, is running against Republican Winsome Sears, the current lieutenant governor, whom the Republican Party of Virginia announced on April 8 as the sole GOP candidate to meet the requirements to be on the ballot. 

Reid, a former Richmond area television anchor and conservative radio host, became the party’s nominee for lieutenant governor after his challenger, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors member Pat Herrity, dropped out of the race in April. Incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares is also running for reelection unopposed within his party.

Turnout in Isle of Wight and Surry was lower this year than in 2021, when, in addition to a seven-way race for the lieutenant governor Democratic nomination, there was a six-candidate gubernatorial primary.

Isle of Wight saw 1,921 ballots cast in this year’s primary, which amounts to 6% of 32,371 registered voters.

That’s a 13.3% drop in the number of ballots from the 2,217 cast in Isle of Wight’s 2021 gubernatorial Democratic primary.

Surry cast 586 ballots in this year’s primary, accounting for 10.23% of the county’s 5,731 registered voters. That’s down 14.3% from the 684 ballots cast in Surry’s 2021’s Democratic gubernatorial and down-ballot primary races.

This year saw 484,769 ballots cast statewide, down 2% from the 494,932 ballots cast statewide in the 2021 Democratic gubernatorial primary, though the 2025 total reflects a 0.7% increase from the 481,365 ballots cast in the Democratic lieutenant governor race in 2021.