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Nov. 8 Newsletter: Low voting turnout a surprise in Richmond

Weather: The start of the cooldown, but still warm. High of 74.

On this date in 1931, Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8 crashed while attempting an emergency landing at Richmond’s Byrd Field. The crash killed 77 of the 79 people on board, mostly Army recruits who were flying to their training.

What was behind Richmond’s low voter turnout?

Just 62% of eligible Richmond voters cast a ballot this year, the worst presidential cycle turnout in recent history, and well below the state average of 68%, as the chart above shows.

What happened? Some theories, from our reporters' travels around the city on Tuesday:

  • Too much time off: Richmond and Henrico students were given a five-day break, leading many families to leave town.
  • VCU apathy: Some state colleges had massive lines of same-day registrants. At VCU, that didn't happen.
  • Kamala Harris couldn't pull an Obama: The 2008 Barack Obama election brought a historic turnout to the polls as Richmonders voted for the first Black president. Harris didn't create a similar wave of enthusiasm among the electorate, particularly in Richmond's heavily Black districts.

Read more, including which of the five candidates was the only one conducting outreach in Spanish.

School Board race outcomes indicate Jason Kamras is safe for another four years

Richmond schools superintendent Jason Kamras may have a favorable board at long last.

Six of the nine new board members have been openly supportive of him, and have indicated they are likely to vote to retain him when his contract comes up for renewal early next year.

Kamras has fought off challenges from the board in recent years, leading outside groups to pour money into this year's races behind candidates who pledged to improve governance.

Read more from Sarah Vogelsong here.

Avula names transition team

If you missed it on Wednesday, make sure to read Graham Moomaw's piece on how Danny Avula won the mayoral election.

On Thursday afternoon Avula named his transition team, and thanked current Mayor Levar Stoney for pledging to assist with the transfer of power. Avula takes office on Jan. 1.

Read the names of his transition team members here.

In other news...

The editor's desk

The results are in, and The Richmonder had a big night at the polls, with readers raving about our at-a-glance results chart and on-the-ground reporting.

Richmonder web traffic. Can you tell which night was election night?

We appreciate you reading and following along. If you love what you see, please tell a friend to join our free email list at Richmonder.org. And from now until Dec. 31, all new memberships and donations count double thanks to a NewsMatch challenge from the Institute for Nonprofit News.

Make a one-time donation to support The Richmonder's work

We'll see you Monday. Until then, enjoy the nice weekend.

Michael Phillips, founding editor
mphillips@richmonder.org

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