NORFOLK, Va. — According to the Virginia Department of Elections, nearly 950,000 people have voted absentee for the 2022 midterms in the Commonwealth as of Monday night.
That is nearly three times the number of absentee ballots in the 2018 midterm election in Virginia.
With all 11 of Virginia’s House seats on the ballot, voter interest is spiking.
So, we wanted to look back at some of the biggest midterm turnouts since the 1980s. We’ve narrowed it down to the top three since 1985, using the percentage of total registered voters as our criteria.
For reference, about 45% of voters usually turn out for midterm elections in the Commonwealth.
Coming in at number three is the 2018 midterm, where 59.5% of registered voters filled out a ballot that year, and of the main drivers, like this year’s midterm, was the 2nd Congressional District.
It was a heated race featuring Republican incumbent Scott Taylor and Democrat Elaine Luria. Luria would win the seat with 51% of the votes.
Coming in at number two is the 1989 midterm election. That year, 66.5% of registered voters showed up at the polls.
Abortion was one of the top issues for voters in 1989, following a Supreme Court decision that gave states more freedom when setting abortion policies.
It was also a history-making gubernatorial election for a couple of reasons. It was one of the closest elections in Virginia history, and Democrat Doug Wilder became the first African-American governor in the country when he topped Republican Marshall Coleman with 50.1% of the vote.
Finally, the top spot goes to the 1994 midterm.
Topping the turnout of some presidential elections, 69.3% of voters went to the polls that year.
There was a highly publicized battle in a Virginia Senate race: Democrat incumbent Chuck Robb barely defeated Republican Oliver North, following one of the tightest races in the country.
That year, Democrats lost control of both the House and Senate for the first time since 1952 in what was called the "Republican Revolution."