Virginia Tech tight end Ja'Ricous Hairston catches a pass in the end zone for a touchdown in the second quarter against Georgia Tech on Oct. 17 in Blacksburg.
Virginia Tech tight end Ja'Ricous Hairston catches a pass in the end zone for a touchdown in the second quarter against Georgia Tech on Oct. 17 in Blacksburg.
Franklin County Public Schools Superintendent Kevin Siers speaks to attendees at a community meeting held Oct. 19 evening at Rocky Mount Elementary School discussing the referendum on the proposed 1% sales tax.
Franklin County joined several localities in Virginia in rejecting a proposed 1% sales tax for education infrastructure on on Tuesday.
The measure was on the ballot in nearly 50 localities on Tuesday. It looks as though voters in less than a third of those localities voted for the 1% sales tax. Nearby, voters in Floyd, Pulaski and Wythe counties rejected the proposal.
More than 60% of voters in Franklin County chose not to adopt the 1% sales tax Tuesday. Rocky Mount resident Sharon Boros said she voted against the referendum due to concerns she has with the school system.
Boros said the school division would get her money when they "get the kids under control."
Curtis Sheets of Rocky Mount said he wasn't prepared for the question concerning the sales tax Tuesday. He decided to vote no on the three statewide constitutional amendments on the ballot and continued by voting no on the sales tax.
"I was just on the no path to be honest," Sheets said.
There were some voters Tuesday who said they favored the 1% sales tax. Jamie Holliman of Rocky Mount said she voted for the referendum even after voting no on the three constitutional amendments. She said local schools needed more funding.
The measure was added to the ballot following a vote by the Franklin County Board of Supervisors in July. Virginia legislators approved and Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a budget bill earlier this year that included giving localities the authority to impose a 1% sales tax to address educational infrastructure needs if approved by voters.
Voters were against the ballot measure in each of the voting districts in the county. Only one voting precinct, Rocky Mount West, had less than 60% of voters against the tax. In that precinct 57.84% of voters were against the tax and 42.16% voted in favor.
The highest concentration of no votes in the county came in the Endicott precinct with 77.68% votes against the tax. The second highest was Hodgesville with 77.17%.
Jason Dunovant (540) 981-3324
U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-9th District, watches election results with supporters during an election night victory party at the Holiday Inn in Roanoke on Tuesday evening.
Virginia's 9th Congressional District Democratic candidate Joy Powers talks with her supporters during her election night watch party Tuesday in Abingdon.
While many of his Republican colleagues had a more difficult challenges, U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith easily won reelection against Bedford County's Joy Powers on Tuesday.
Griffith thanked a crowd of supporters at the Holiday Inn Tanglewood in Roanoke County on election night shortly after the Associated Press called his victory in Virginia's 9th Congressional District race. With all but one locality reporting its results, Griffith led with 65% of the vote to Powers' 34%.
"It's good to be going back to Washington to take the conservative values of the 9th Congressional District to Washington, D.C., once again," Griffith said during his victory speech just before 8 p.m.
Griffith told his supporters in his brief speech that he would continue to fight for those conservative values when returning to Washington. Those values includes the ability to use America's natural resources, honoring the Second Amendment and keeping taxes low, he said.
This will be the ninth term in Congress for Griffith, a lawyer from Salem. He was first elected in 2010 during the midterm election in President Barack Obama's first term.
Powers, a cattle farmer from Bedford County, held an election watch party at the Jubilee House Retreat Center in Abingdon on Tuesday evening where she thanked supporters.
Griffith will likely be returning to a much different U.S. House of Representatives with the start of the next congressional session in January. Democrats are poised to take control of the House and the U.S. Senate based on early polling Tuesday.
Griffith said he was still optimistic that Republicans could maintain control of the House. If there is a change in leadership, he said it is something he has already faced in the past.
"I've been in the minority and in the majority," Griffith said. "So it's not new territory. I'm hoping that we will still pull up as the majority, but whichever way it goes, I'm prepared to serve the people of the Ninth Congressional District."
Jason Dunovant (540) 981-3324
Morgan Griffith thanks supporters during a speech to supporters at the Holiday Inn in Roanoke on Tuesday following his reelection to Virginia’…
RICHMOND — On Tuesday night, Virginia approved all three constitutional amendments proposed to them, finishing off the last step of the multi-year process to amend the Virginia Constitution.
The new amendments to the state constitution will add rights concerning reproductive care, including abortion, marriage equality and voting rights for felons. They will become effective Jan. 1 once certified.
As of 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, about 1.5 million votes had been counted in favor of Ballot Question 1, the abortion amendment, and 929,267 votes had been cast against it. About 1.4 million votes had been cast for Ballot Question 2, the same-sex marriage amendment, and just over 1 million votes had been cast against it. On Ballot Question 3, the felon voting rights amendment, about 1.3 million votes had been cast in favor of the amendment, and just over 1 million had been cast against it.
The first constitutional amendment will enshrine reproductive rights, including the right to an abortion, into the state constitution. State law currently permits abortions during the first and second trimesters and, under limited circumstances, during the third trimester. Having the right to abortion care enshrined in the state constitution will protect that right even if a future legislature decides to change the law because the constitution supersedes state code and takes years to amend.
“Virginians have made their voices heard. They said loud and clear that reproductive freedom is a fundamental right that belongs in our state constitution," said Del. Marcia "Cia" Price, D-Newport News, who carried the House bill for the amendment this year. "Patients, families, and the providers who care for them can now be included in protections for generations to come, and people across the Southeast will know Virginia remains a place where they can get the care they need. This victory belongs to every Virginian who organized, volunteered, and voted.”
The second constitutional amendment will remove the defunct ban on same-sex marriage from the state constitution and reaffirm that two adults may marry regardless of sex, gender or race. Virginians voted 20 years ago to add the ban on same-sex marriage to the state constitution, but it has been unenforceable since 2014 following a federal court decision striking down the state’s ban.
The third amendment will automatically provide felons the right to vote after they are released from incarceration. Virginia’s state constitution says that anyone convicted of a felony automatically loses their right to vote unless their civil rights are restored by the governor, but federal court rulings have limited enforcement of that provision.
Shawn Weneta, a criminal justice reform advocate, credited the work of the late Sen. Yvonne Miller, D-Norfolk, Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, and “countless other advocates who refused to give up.”
“In 2021, (then-)Gov. (Ralph) Northam restored my right to vote. In this election, I used that very right to help take that power away from every governor to come,” he said. “This is a victory decades in the making, and I'm profoundly grateful to have played a small part in it.”
The process to add these amendments to the Constitution began in 2025, when the General Assembly passed the measures for the first time. The rules require a House of Delegates election between two legislative approvals; that election happened last year. The legislature passed all three amendments again earlier this year before the questions were put before voters to approve or reject. The governor cannot veto a constitutional amendment.
Anna Bryson (804) 649-6922
New River Valley residents explain their motivation for voting in the 2026 midterm elections.
Rocky Mount Town Council member David Clements, right, speaks to voters on Tuesday.
It was an easy election night for candidates in Franklin County on Tuesday as none faced challengers in their bid for reelection.
Rocky Mount Mayor Holland Perdue was elected to a second term in office. He will be joined by Rocky Mount Town Council members David Clements, Ben Mullins and A. Ralph Casey who were also reelected.
Neither the mayor or the town council member faced opposition.
Perdue along with Clements, Mullins and Casey have pushed for term limits for the Rocky Mount mayor and council members, though the change to the town's charter has not been approved by the Virginia General Assembly. The have each voted to limit members to three terms in office.
Boones Mill Town Council members Rhonda McFalls and Peggy Steele were also reelected on Tuesday. As with the Rocky Mount candidates, neither faced any opposition.
Sandra Ingram will continue serving as the Union Hall District representative on the Franklin County School Board. She won her election, also unopposed, after being voted in by the school board in August.
With the election on Tuesday, she will serve the remainder of the term after former Union Hall District representative Scott Agee stepped down in June. The four-year term will end next year.
A proposal to fund school capital projects with a 1% sales tax failed on Tuesday. Franklin County was one of nearly 50 localities with the referendum on the ballot. A minority of those localities approved the tax.
Jason Dunovant (540) 981-3324
