NORFOLK, Va. — With it being an off-year election, with no President or Governor on the ballot, turnout is expected to be light on November 5.
Based upon data from past off-year elections, the numbers should be in the low to mid-thirties.
Meaning, that up to 70 percent of registered voters here in the Commonwealth may not bother to show up and cast ballots.
That would be a real shame, according to Old Dominion University political analyst Ben Melusky. He said the people who do get sent to Richmond will be deciding upon some really important public policy issues.
"I mean, everything from the equal rights amendment, gun control, marijuana, education spending, transportation spending, all those things. On top of all that, redistricting for the next decade in the state dealing with elections," Melusky said.
As for all those annoying negative campaign commercials, they will thankfully go away, they will be back next election cycle, said Melusky.
"They work. They're effective because they really play into the way Americans consume information," he said. "Negative ads focus on salient things, things that are at the top of our brain. They're important to you. They focus on fears. They focus on new information in many cases. When you have new information you can focus on, you're going to pay attention. That's the reason Americans don't tune in to watch the weather on sunny days. However, if there's a hurricane, you're going to tune in and watch the Weather Channel for 24 hours."
In Hampton Roads, there are 22 contested General Assembly races with 47 candidates running. Republicans currently have a one-seat advantage in the State Senate and a two-seat advantage in the House of Delegates.