Primary Election Day in Virginia

August 4, 2026

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Below, I report what I heard and saw at three voting locations in Fairfax County today.

And, I share my thoughts on visiting the historic site of Woodstock and seeing a concert there.

Want to get in touch, or have stories you want me to cover? Reply to this email or reach out to me directly at michaeloconnor@couriernewsroom.com.

Michael O’Connor

Reporter, Dogwood

Tables inside a Fairfax County polling location at Sleepy Hollow Elementary School on August 4, 2026. (Michael O’Connor/Dogwood)

I spent this morning driving around Fairfax County to visit three voting locations as people made their way to support the different candidates running in today’s Democratic and Republican primaries.

As you’d expect for a primary in the middle of summer, voter turnout was low but steady.

Some voters declined to speak with me (totally understandable), but I ended up chatting with four people casting ballots in Virginia’s 8th Congressional District.

One of them supported incumbent Democratic US Rep. Don Beyer because she thinks he’s doing a great job. The other three struck a more progressive chord in their desire for change and, as one of them put it to me, candidates who pique her interest.

I also spoke with a volunteer for one of Beyer’s challengers.

Read what they had to say to me here

Henrico US Post Office workers and retirees joined a nationwide rally for funding and protections for vote-by-mail, reports Dina Weinstein for the Henrico Citizen.

Tyler Layne at WTVR reports on the struggles that nursing home staff and residents face.

Republican US Rep. Rob Wittman of Virginia’s 1st Congressional District is hosting a job fair in Midlothian next week.

(GoFundMe screenshot)

Unionized workers at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden have started a strike fund in the event they go on a “prolonged strike.”

As of my last check, they’ve raised over $7,000 toward their goal of $20,000.

This comes after last week’s one-day strike and calls for a boycott of the garden that led to singers Jesse Welles and Graham Nash canceling their shows at Lewis Ginter.

The workers posted a message today that they say is in response to an email sent out by Lewis Ginter CEO Brian Trader: “We want respect on the job and a fair paycheck.”

(Matt Frazier/YouTube)

I had the good fortune to spend Saturday night at the historic campgrounds of the Woodstock Music & Art Fair in Bethel, New York.

I was there with my dad to see bluegrass all-star Billy Strings perform at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.

Strings has his roots in the traditional guitar picking of artists like Doc Watson. But Strings also carries the torch for legendary jam bands like the Grateful Dead that performed at Woodstock in 1969.

It was an amazing show and all the more special given where it was happening.

I’d highly recommend seeing either Strings if you ever get the chance, or visiting the museum and ground where Woodstock took place.

Having done both, I do feel a bit more peace, love, and art in my soul.