Collegiate Times

Perhaps the single most distinguishing feature of Creigh Deeds is his rural upbringing.

Deeds is a product of Bath County, a county of under 5,000 residents known mostly for The Homestead, a luxury resort located within the county’s lines.

Touching the West Virginia line is far from the hustle and bustle that comes with touching the borders of the nation’s capital.

Unlike Brian Moran, he did not grow up in a legislative family. He did not gain fame from wrestling alligators and creating booming businesses, or helping the Clinton family reach national prominence as McAuliffe did.

Deeds graduated from Concord College in West Virginia, then from Wake Forest University School of Law before moving back home to start his career in 1984.

While Moran and McAuliffe each had unique ways of rising to the top, Deeds is the story of the night, and a story that apparently hits home with more Virginians.

He started out as Bath County’s Commonwealth Attorney and his first election campaign to win that position was nothing more than meeting and talking to people.

We’re not talking about crowds of people, with Bill Clinton and the Secret Service as wingmen.

We’re talking about the Greater Alleghany Highlands Hokie Club monthly meeting.

He didn’t inspire wonder and great expectations by any means. However, my father and other members of the club remembered that he made an appearance. And they remembered it fondly.

Today, I have to believe some of them repaid the favor.

Of course, McAuliffe and Moran have also made impacts on people’s lives during their careers, but Deeds has been a regular guy who happens to be running for office since 1984.

He isn’t famous, and didn’t have high-tension arguments during debates.

He brought in the least money, but also the least venom.

Deeds is an ordinary guy, with an extraordinary story unfolding tonight. Zc

All precincts in, Creigh Deeds won a commanding victory in Montgomery County en route to winning the Democratic Governor nomination.

Deeds took 1,992 of the 2,816 votes in the county, a 70.73 percent rout. Terry McAuliffe finished second with just over 16 percent of the vote, and Brian Moran tallied a little under 13 percent.

Turnout was 5.023 percent in the county, which is right in the ballpark projected for the entire state.

Deeds, of Bath County, is the only candidate with ties to the western part of the state. For more on Deeds roots, check back later. Zc

Creigh Deeds appears to have a firm hold on the Democratic Governor candidacy for Virginia.

Credit could be given to the Washington Post’s endorsement and a tendency to stay above the fray of Moran vs. McAuliffe.

His surge over the last week of the campaign has him winning Fairfax County, the Richmond suburbs and even several major counties in the Hampton Roads area, some in upsets that even the latest polls could not have predicted.

More on Deeds, and the results around Blacksburg coming soon.

Nearly 25 percent of the vote is in, and Creigh Deeds has taken the lead in some unexpected counties.

Deeds now has a seven point edge in Chesapeake City, with 44 percent of the vote. He is also leading handily in Fairfax County and in other large counties such as the Richmond suburb of Henrico and Arlington County.

The large Richmond suburb of Chesterfield is nearly completely tallied the results. Deeds took the county with over 51 percent of the votes, which will number at 10,000 when the returns are complete. That is around 5 percent turnout.

Moran appears to have clinched Alexandria, but that is about all the noise he is making.

Thunderstorms in McAuliffe and Moran territory give Deeds supporters more reason to feel close to an official victory. Here in Blacksburg, a thunderstorm just recently grumbled by, drizzling lightly as the sun kept shining. The weather has led Salon.com columnist Alex Koppelman to ask if Creigh Deeds was scarificing goats — “or maybe hokies” to use “a more state-appropriate critter.”

No word yet if Koppelman knows that Hokies are people, not animals, thus explaining why the mascot is called the Hokie Bird.

- Phillip Murillas

Well, since Twitter is the latest social site sweeping the Internet, I figured I would take a look at some of the ideas being thrown around about today’s primary. Some are insightful. Some are just amusing. All of the most interesting tweets from today’s Democratic primary are below, separated by the candidate’s name which yielded the response in Twitter search.

Enjoy.

The Creigh Deeds Search:

From the skeptical side of things:

“Buzz seems to be that McAuliffe will lose to Creigh Deeds in VA today, though when the buzz starts becoming unanimous I get suspicious.” -TwoYearSprint

From the ever-growing camp of weather-watchers:

“These storms in NoVa have to be good news for Creigh “I have no base in NoVa” Deeds, right?” -daveweigel

Somebody did some research:

“Fascinating to me: Creigh Deeds’ home of Bath County does not have a stoplight.” -jimgeraghty

No confirmation on the accuracy of this one:

“Creigh Deeds has a donkey named Harry S. Truman? DEEDS4GOV” -rickpuig

Somewhat depressing conversation on turnout:

“Are those percents or number of votes? RT @MatthewGagnon: Final prediction: Creigh Deeds 41% Terry McAuliff 38% Brian Moran 21%” -FrankCanzolino

Talk about the tortoise beating the hare:

“The Terry McAuliffe campaign has called me non-stop for 60 days despite the assurance of my vote. This is harrasment, vote for Creigh Deeds.” -Slalex54

At least one person is already thinking of the celebration:

“YouTube song thought: If Creigh Deeds wins VA Gov primary, music should be AC-DC Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” -HowardMortman

The Terry McAuliffe Search:

Can’t deny his energy:

“McAuliffe GOTV e-mail says, ‘I just talked with Terry a few minutes ago, and he’s pumped.’ Will the next one say ‘Sun will set in west’?” -mikemadden

All about the green:

“I voted for McAuliffe. It takes money to beat McDonnell in Nov and no one can raise money like Terry. Plus: NO LOBBYIST DONATIONS.” -kostia

The McAuliffe camp has been going all out today:

“just got hit up for a Facebook chat by ‘Terry McAuliffe’. Today’s Democratic gubernatorial primary must be running pretty tight.” -killerpr

Nothing like a good recent history joke:

“Will Terry McAuliffe concede tonight or will he search for Virginia Democratic superdelegates?” -daveweigel (thats two for this tweeter)

Another weather related tweet:

“Massive storms in NoVa = bad for Terry McAuliffe. Surprised he didn’t spend some campaign cash seeding clouds to get the rain out earlier.” -mikemadden (two for him also)

The Brian Moran Search

Moran may be helping Deeds out:

“@joannegrace I never bothered trying to vote. I think I want Brian Moran but Deeds would be okay too. Just not McAuliffe, he’s nuts.” -amperjess

Apparently Moran’s camp has some “helpers” out there:

“There’s nothing quite like converting an undecided voter to Brian Moran & then having them thank you for your ‘help.’ #va-go” -csread61

A last second rush to the polls on the horizon?

“Leaving work soon. Going to my polling place and vote for Brian Moran! Checking with the wife to make sure she voted too. Go Brian!” -srhem

Could have sworn that was for the NHL playoffs:

“The rally beard’s magical power is working the good vibes for Brian. Vote for Brian Moran for Governor today!” -bhschenker

A rare sentiment:

“has told Friends of Terry 3 times that I voted for Brian this morning. Hope they keep calling me and not others. Go Moran!” -joestanley

One Hokie is not a fan:

“One of the best things about the end of this primary will be the end to the stream of 100′s of daily Brian Moran emails.” -hokiestone

There are probably better reasons to vote for a candidate:

“Two over 40 sisters said they are voting for Brian Moran! psst they said their maiden name is Moran! You go girls!” -IamBVM

Now all the tweeters have to do is wait for the results of their campaigning, or commenting. No matter what happens, you’ve got to admire the determination of this guy:

“last vote in Virginia snow, sleet, downpour, thunderstorm, apocalypse now, nothing stops me from voting.” -musicmatt

Polls close in a little under an hour. Check back for results as they come in. Zc

As of the 4 p.m, we have a 3.64 percent turnout for Montgomery County, which is 2,043 voters. The leading precinct is Margaret Beeks Elementary school off Airport Road, with a total of 240.

The day isn’t over and the county brought in a higher turnout rate than in 2005. As a frame of reference, though, Burruss Hall auditorium holds 3,003 people, so more people came to see Third Eye Blind perform last fall than people have come to the voting booths.

The numbes of voters in Montgomery County for the 2008 presidential election topped 40,000, which is like filling up the East and West endzones of Lane Stadium.

A little over two hours left to vote.

- Sara Mitchell

Over 10% of Arlington’s voters have made their way to the polls, according to this Associated Press article.

However, turnout is still expected to be around 5% of the total registered voters. Rural counties in the Western part of the state are hovering around 2% turnout.

While this would seem to be a major disadvantage for Creigh Deeds, the only candidate not from Northern Virginia, he surged into the lead in the Northern Virginia in the most recent polls.

Brian Moran definitely stands to benefit from the high turnout in the area, as he is a long time representative of the area.

Terry McAuliffe’s strategists are holding a press briefing at 4:45 p.m.

We are not totally sure what the strategy will be with just hours to go until polls close, but there will be an update coming. Zc

New information in from Lynchburg’s News and Advance.

As of 12:30 p.m. Lynchburg reported that 5.9% of registered voters had cast a ballot in the primary. Considering many had predicted 5% turnout for the entire day, that is a significant number.

Lynchburg and Charlottesville (as reported earlier, see below) have reported turnouts above projected levels.

However, as the News and Advance article mentions, many surrounding counties are still showing lower numbers, such as Bedford and Campbell counties, each reporting less than 1.5% turnout at noon.

Original Post: Albemarle County, home of Charlottesville, is perhaps the exception to the rule in today’s Democratic Primary.

According to this report, the county has pulled in 4.5% of registered voters as of 1 p.m.

That is already above the 3.5% turnout for the entire day in the last Democratic primary, granted it was for a Senate seat, not Governor.

Either way, Albermarle is far ahead of Montgomery County, and seems to be ahead of major areas such as Fairfax County and the Richmond area, which are reporting small turnouts in the Washington Post and Richmond Times-Dispatch.

More numbers to come as they are made available. Zc

According to Randy Wertz of the Montgomery County Registrar, there were 814 votes in the county as of 10 a.m. That’s 1.45 percent of registered voters.

If voters hit the booths at this rate, the turnout will be higher than in 2005, which would be fairly impressive for a one-party primary versus the 2005 dual primary.

- Sara Mitchell