Democratic turnout nearly doubled in Virginia, and Virginia Democrats are gloating a bit

Virginia Democratic voter turnout surged
(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/MSNBC)

Turnout in Virginia's Democratic primary surged to more than 1.3 million voters, from about 783,000 in 2016 and 986,000 in 2008. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who won the state decisively, said Tuesday night that "the turnout turned out for us" in Virginia, and "there is some evidence he is correct," The Washington Post reports. "Of the voters who sat out the 2016 primary and cast ballots in 2020, Biden won nearly 60 percent, according to a Washington Post statistical model."

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As in South Carolina on Saturday and other Southern states on Tuesday, Biden's win was fueled by black voters and self-described moderate white Democrats, especially in the northern Virginia suburbs, as MSNBC's Steve Kornacki explained.

The surge in Democratic voters is "a great sign of Democratic engagement, but it also shows how much bluer the state has become," former Deputy Labor Secretary Chris Lu tweeted. The Virginia Democratic Party agreed, snapping back at the Virginia Republican Party.

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Peter Weber

Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.