CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Over 3.3 million Virginians voted in this year’s election, the most in the Commonwealth’s history for a non-presidential election year.

Tuesday’s turnout, plus early and mail-in voting, checked in a 3,377,129, according to the Virginia Department of Elections website, a number that isn’t final and could still go higher.

“I think people were both inspired by Abigail Spanberger, and wanted to send a message to Donald Trump,” Sen. Creigh Deeds told Cville Right Now on Wednesday. “And the message reflected broad disappointment and anger.”

Tuesday’s turnout was far more than the last non-presidential election – in 2023 – when 2,544,881 voters cast ballots. It’s also about 100,00 more voters than the last governor’s election, when Glenn Youngkin topped Terry McAuliffe in 2021.

Turnout that year was 3,276,572 2021.

The turnout trends were true locally in Albemarle County and Charlottesville, as well.

In the county, 54,526 voters turned out this year, far more than the 41,785 that came out in 2023, but not reaching the 2024 presidential election number (67,514).

In the city, 17,556 voters cast ballots, more than the 12,398 from 2023 but again, not reaching the level of the 2024 presidential election (23,494).

The large turnout statewide helped Democrats sweep statewide races for Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General, with Abigail Spanberger, Ghazala Hashmi and Jay Jones winning those posts.

It also carried the party to decisive control of the Virginia House of Delegates, moving what had been a narrow margin with 51 seats, to a controlling hold on at least 64 seats.

The gains included, notably, Lily Franklin flipping the seat in Blacksburg that had been held by Republican Chris Obenshain.

Polling leading up to Election Day indicated a deep dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump had a trickledown impact on Republican candidates in the Commonwealth, where federal workers have been impacted both by Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts and, now, the federal government shutdown.

Federal influence over the University of Virginia, including the forced resignation of former president Jim Ryan amidst Department of Justice investigations also was a major topic locally.

According to a Roanoke College poll released Oct. 30, Trump’s approval rating among Virginians was at just 40%, and Democratic candidates all over the Commonwealth focused their advertising on the need to elect officials who would stand up to the federal government.

That poll had Spanberger leading Republican Winsome Earle-Sears by 10 points. Tuesday, Spanberger won with 57.2% of the vote to Earle-Sears’s 42.6%.