State Del. Scott Taylor easily defeated U.S. Rep. J. Randy Forbes in the 2nd Congressional District primary Tuesday, ousting a longtime incumbent who chose to switch districts rather than face a Democratic challenger in his newly redrawn 4th Distict.
According to complete unofficial returns from the State Elections Department, Taylor won the race with 21,403 votes, or 52.55 percent. Forbes came in second with 16,553 votes, or 40.6 percent. Virginia Beach attorney Patrick Cardwell received 2,773 votes, or 6.8 percent.
Forbes collected the most votes in Hampton, York County, James City County, Poquoson and Williamsburg. In Taylor’s home of Virginia Beach, where most of the district’s voters reside, Taylor defeated Forbes by almost 5,800 votes.
Forbes, who has represented the 4th District since 2001, decided to run in the Republican-leaning 2nd District after a court-ordered redistricting shifted more Democratic voters into the 4th District.
Taylor will likely face Newport News Democrat Shaun Brown, a community activist, in the November election. The winner will replace retiring Rep. Scott Rigell.
Forbes and Taylor did not respond to requests for comment.
The redistricting caused some confusion at the polls.
Bruce Gudorf showed up to his regular voting place at Sandy Bottom Nature Park in Hampton, only to find a sign on the door from the Hampton Electoral Board that read: “No voting here today. This precinct is now in the 3rd Congressional District. There is no primary for either party here today.”
“I guess I’ll go home now,” said Gudorf, a Yorktown Naval Weapons Station Yorktown employee who had planned to vote for Forbes. “I’ve been voting here for 20 years.”
Bob English, a York County resident, showed up to the polls unsure who to vote for but after speaking outside Tabb Elementary School with Kristen Nelson, York County-Poquoson Circuit Court clerk, he decided to cast his ballot for Forbes.
“I wanted to come early to talk to someone to get a better hold of what’s going on. I like what I see here,” English said, looking at a campaign flyer. “I like that he is endorsed for being right-to-life, and if the NRA (National Rifle Association) like him, I might like him.”
York County Supervisor Thomas G. Shepperd Jr. was also working the polls for Forbes.
“Aside from where he lives, he knows Hampton Roads,” Shepperd said. Forbes has taken hits for his Chesapeake residence, which is outside the district, though he has rented an apartment in Virginia Beach.
At Tabb High School in York, 441 out of 4,136 registered voters had cast their ballots with one hour left to do so.
That’s only 10 percent, but more than the poll workers there expected.
“We all wrote down a number at the beginning of the day of how many voters we thought would come,” said Hebb Greenwell, who’s been working the polls more than 15 years. “I had 165. The highest someone had was 330.”
Greenwell suspected a higher turnout could be partly because of the upcoming presidential election.
“Everyone is fired up about Trump and Hillary,” Greenwell said. “I think everyone is thinking about the electoral process more, so it’s carried over to other elections.”
Clift can be reached by phone at 757-247-7870.
