Trump carries 65 of 89 precincts in Fredericksburg area
Former President Donald Trump won the nation on Election Day — as well as the majority of votes in the Fredericksburg area.
While Vice President Kamala Harris took Virginia and outpaced Trump soundly in the city and by a narrow margin in Stafford County, Trump received the most votes overall in Fredericksburg and the counties of Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania and Stafford.
The local total was 103,772 votes for Trump to 96,125 votes for Harris, according to unofficial results by the Virginia State Board of Elections at elections.virginia.gov . Trump won 65 of the region's 89 voting precincts.
The breakdown of local votes was:
The vote difference in Stafford was closer than any other locality in the region as Harris bested Trump by only 285 votes. But the tally in the precinct at Stafford's University of Mary Washington campus, off U.S. 17, was razor thin: 633 votes for Harris to 632 for Trump.
The blue block for Harris started in Fredericksburg and extended north through Prince William, Fairfax and Loudoun counties. There were other blue clusters around the populated urban areas of Richmond, Virginia Beach and Charlottesville, but the map of the state was overwhelming red in Trump's favor.
Virginia has been on a blue streak for the last five presidential elections, voting Democratic since President Barack Obama was elected in 2008.
Some local presidential patterns prevailed as well.
There have been seven presidential elections in the 21st century, and King George and Spotsylvania have voted Republican in all of them. On Tuesday, all five of King George's precincts turned red while 25 of Spotsylvania's 29 precincts did the same.
Fredericksburg has done the opposite, voting for the Democratic presidential nominee every election since 2000. All five of its precincts voted blue on Tuesday.
Stafford had been choosing Republican candidates for the first decade and a half of the 21st century but that changed in 2020, when 50.5% of registered voters picked Joe Biden for president over Trump. That trend continued on Tuesday, with 49.1% of voters selecting Harris compared to 48.8% for Trump.
Even though Harris won the total vote in Stafford, Trump carried 23 of 27 precincts.
Caroline has divided its vote between the two major parties since 2000. Four times it's chosen the Republican nominee and three times, the Democratic one. On Tuesday, voters in 12 of Caroline's 13 precincts picked Trump.
Across Virginia, the voter turnout was 71%, according to the state election board. That's on par with turnout in other presidential elections this century, which have ranged from 67.2% in 2000 to 75% in 2020.
Local turnout rates were:
Cathy Dyson:
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