MANASSAS, Va. — Voters in three northern Virginia suburbs outside Washington hit the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots in the 2020 presidential election, with widely diverging views on who should be president for the next four years.
Manassas County historically has been a conservative pocket of Northern Virginia, but swung dramatically in favor of Barack Obama in the 2008 election. Since then, it has supported Democratic candidates in the last three presidential elections. It has a large Latino population, with 31.4% of residents identifying as Hispanic or Latino in the 2010 Census.
Meanwhile, Prince William County was Virginia’s first majority-minority county, with 41.5% of residents identifying as white, 22.2% Black or African American and 24.5% as Hispanic or Latino. Prince William County voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, with 57% of voters casting their ballots for the Democratic nominee.
Fairfax County, the largest of the three suburbs, skews more white, but more than 15% of Fairfax residents identify as Hispanic or Latino and about 10% identify as Black. Like Prince William County, Fairfax went to Hillary Clinton in 2016, but by an even bigger margin – giving her 62% of the vote.
While some voters interviewed Tuesday declined to reveal who they voted for, others readily voiced support for either President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden. Each voter had a different reason for choosing to vote in person on Election Day.
Linh My Collier, a 51-year-old Vietnamese-American who has volunteered with the GOP for years, was at her local precinct out to support voters on Election Day.
I’ve seen a different attitude this time around than 2016. As you know, we lost the legislature. And a lot of people didn’t come out to vote, and now they want their Second Amendment rights protected. So they’re gonna come out to vote this time…
For Virginians, I think that’s one of the most pivotal [issues], the Second Amendment. I mean, it’s not that people want to go out and shoot everybody. They like their guns to hunt. And they’d like to exercise their right to have a gun and protect themselves.
Let’s be honest — with the rioting and the looting, and then coming into our neighborhoods, whether they’re left or right, I don’t care. But they’re coming into our neighborhoods. And we have families. We want to protect ourselves. And it’s not like anybody wants to shoot anybody. We have a right to own our guns so I think we’re very blessed to be in this country. And I don’t want to see it turn into a communist country because I fled from a communist country. Yes, I’m Vietnamese. And I was born in Vietnam. And I came here for a reason. And I didn’t come here for communism.
Shannon, 45, voted for the second time in her life Tuesday because “she didn’t like the way things were going,” but is sure she will never miss another election now that she knows how important voting is. She declined to provide her last name.
My main thing is we need balance, and this is very much a loss. So yeah, if we can give politicians short terms I think that would be really good. But that’s not what we’re doing right now.
My little vote, it matters. I learned that in the several years that I did not vote. And, you know, having the last election be my first vote impressed upon me the fact that, regardless of what side you’re on, it’s a problem …
I don’t believe in the lesser of two evils. We don’t have the best candidates. We didn’t have the best ones before… It’ll be very interesting to see the direction things go.
[Will you vote in the future?]
Oh, definitely, definitely. One way or another, we get our voices heard.
Tom Johnson, 63-year-old Democratic poll volunteer and Barack Obama delegate at the 20208 Democratic National Convention, said racial injustice and climate change are his biggest concerns this election.
For me right now, I am so troubled by the racism that the White House is fomenting. And I just can’t believe I live in America in 2020 where it’s acceptable. So I’m surprised that race relations is the number one thing, but it is right now.
[How do you feel about Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris?]
I thought it was good. I liked the idea of getting women on the ticket, first of all, and then with all the issues we’ve had with the police going after African Americans, I thought that was very, very appropriate.
Larry Suggs, 69, and Nayel Suggs, age 21, are grandfather and granddaughter with opposing views. While Larry is a Republican and Nayel is a Democrat, they’ve learned to find a middle-ground.
Nayel: We’re able to talk about it and not just call each other stupid and influence each other.
Larry: Even though we’re different, we’ve learned some things that we wouldn’t have known. And that’s what we want. We want people to just talk about it, even if we’re different. We want to discuss it. And I think we end up in a better place able to make better decisions as a result. With her, she defends her position really well. It doesn’t change my mind, but I don’t change hers. There’s some issues, though, that we have come more to the middle on because of our discussions with each other.
Nayel: I went from like a full-on liberal Democrat to now I label myself as an independent with left-leaning tendencies. So we can kind of see like eye to eye on some things instead of me just agreeing with whatever the left says.
Larry: I’m the same way. I’m not totally right, but I tend to be more right. Again, I’ve grown and she’s grown. Because the answer is not at the extremes, the answer is in the middle. You don’t have to feel embarrassed around me, because I differ with you, and vice versa. And that’s what we’re trying to do and, and that’s why I started a lot of conversations. Maybe we can get somewhere together that we couldn’t get alone.
Jeremy Collier, a 24-year-old who recently was commissioned in the Army Reserve, said he voted Republican across the board.
Last election, everyone believed that Hillary (Clinton) would win. It was like, why even bother? It was kind of like that voter suppression thing that you’ve been hearing about in the news. Why bother voting if there’s no way Trump would win? And then he won.
Hillary was such a foregone conclusion that the fact that she didn’t win because enough people came out and voted really showed other Republicans our vote really does matter and we can beat ‘the swamp.’ That’s why people voted for Trump is because they were just tired of all these politicians’ promises, people who’ve been in office forever, and nothing changes. So that’s why I think Trump won in 2016, and that’s why I think he’s going to win now. 2016 to now, you see a lot more conservative voices popping up because they feel inspired by Trump’s victory.
I think Republicans are more passionate. I see here people not voting for Biden, but they’re voting for a not-Trump. Every time I see a guy go to the Democrats side, they always look angry and bitter. That’s hopeful for me, because that tells me that they’re nervous that Trump might win.
Dexter Toklas, a 50-year-old who emigrated from the Philippines, is a Bristol resident who feels strongly about voting Democratic.
This is probably like the fourth or fifth time that we have voted ever since we became U.S. citizens. You have to be able to provide what you feel if there’s any change that has to be made, you have to voice it out through voting. It’s a free country so you’re free to voice out your opinions and vote the way you feel like voting.
… Hopefully we can get people jobs and less people are unemployed. The social justice issue will be a big question mark.
Setarah is a 22-year-old college student who declined to provide her last name. She voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and this year, she cast her ballot for former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris with the idea of unity on her mind.
I think there’s not enough unity in this country. We’re just divided as a country, and like I feel like there’s a lot of people that don’t get their voices heard (and) that’s the most important aspect of this election.
I feel like maybe with (Biden) as president, there would be a little more unity. There’s a lot of other issues that are going on, like there needs to be more rights for African Americans (and) minorities, and I think that with this current administration they’re not really focusing on those rights. And there’s a pandemic going on and there’s not a lot of focus on that.
Deshane Jones is a 24-year-old first time voter. He said the severity of this year’s election highlighted the importance of each person’s vote.
I think it is really important to get your vote in. I feel embarrassed, as well as empowered, because I’ve legally been able to vote for six years now, but it’s an important time, so I definitely wanted to do so this year.
It’s life or death, to be quite frank with you. Circumstances are looking very bleak and drastic right about now. At the very least, if our voices are heard, we still have the power to make change in this country. You definitely want to make sure your voice is heard, and that you’re counted. Because that’s important not only to you, but the people who paved the way for you to be able to vote.
Why did you choose Election Day to vote?
Manassas Park High School Polling Place– Mike Heller, 60
“Tradition. November 3rd is a great privilege: voting in America. You don’t get to vote in a lot of countries or your vote doesn’t matter. It doesn’t really count.”
Manassas City Community Center – Silvia Bedoya, 58
“Because I don’t want to wait in line and have crowds. I know today is going to be ‘get in, get out’ right away.”
John Cookson, 25, and James Cookson, 29 – Not pictured.
“I voted today because today is the last day.”
Did you procrastinate?
“I mean, yeah, a little bit.” Laughs
Stephine Glover, 42 (with kids Jeremiah, 5, and Olivia, 2)
“I’ve been doing the home-schooling thing and so I’ve taken on other students as well. Today everybody’s going out to vote and they’re taking their kids with them. We’ve been talking about voting. With our kids’ (being) students, the parents are taking their kids with them and I had time to actually take mine.”
First Mount Baptist Church – Terry Jones, 75
“I got a ballot in the mail. I decided this thing was too crazy and waited until the last minute to find out. I wanted to make sure nobody was shot or anything before the election. I’ve never seen anything like this sort of stuff in my 50years… I found out that because I was mailed a ballot I can either go home and bring it here, or do a provisional ballot. I did the provisional ballot.”
Myrna, 86 (declined to give last name) – No photo
Myrna voted last week, but was canvassing at the polling site.
“I voted because I believe that Trump could leave the country better. They have me down as a Republican, but I’ve voted Democrat in the past. I vote for the individual.”
(Manassas photos by Madison Muller/MNS)