From Trump to 'Free Palestine': What 393 Alexandria voters wrote in instead for governor and lt. governor
In races Democrats won by more than 60 points, hundreds still felt compelled to write in their own choices
In one of Virginia’s most reliably Democratic jurisdictions, where Abigail D. Spanberger cruised to victory with 83% of the vote and Ghazala F. Hashmi won with 81%, nearly 400 Alexandria voters still couldn’t bring themselves to vote for any candidate on the ballot on Tuesday, November 4.
Instead, they wrote in their own names.
The 393 write-in votes across Alexandria’s governor and lieutenant governor races — a modest 0.3% of all votes cast in the city— offer a window into voter behavior in a heavily Democratic city. The handwritten ballots reveal protest votes, joke entries, alternative candidates and write-in campaigns for various political figures.
The numbers
Out of 62,844 votes cast for governor in Alexandria, 190 were write-ins. Out of 62,410 votes for lieutenant governor, 203 were write-ins.
Democrat Spanberger defeated Republican Winsome Earle-Sears 52,230 to 10,424 in the city. Democrat Hashmi defeated Republican John J. Reid II 50,422 to 11,785.
Trump and Youngkin get write-in votes
Donald Trump appeared on multiple ballots for both governor and lieutenant governor, despite not being on the ballot or running for either office.
“DONALD TRUMP” appeared in all caps on at least one ballot. “Donald J. Trump” appeared on others. One voter wrote simply “TRUMP.”
Also appearing multiple times: Glenn Youngkin, Virginia’s current Republican governor. Several voters wrote in Youngkin for both governor and lieutenant governor.
In Alexandria, Trump lost to Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election by roughly 60 percentage points. Youngkin, who was elected governor in 2021, is not up for reelection until 2025 and cannot run for consecutive terms under Virginia law.
‘Free Palestine’ appears twice
Two separate voters wrote “Free Palestine” on their ballots — one for governor, one for lieutenant governor.
The identical phrase on separate ballots suggests either coordination or that multiple voters independently used their vote to register a protest about U.S. Middle East policy.
Virginia political figures
Many write-ins reflected knowledge of Virginia politics.
For governor:
Don Beyer (multiple votes) — U.S. representative for Virginia’s 8th Congressional District, which includes Alexandria
Sam Rasoul (at least two votes) — Virginia delegate from Roanoke
Kenneth T. Cuccinelli — former Virginia attorney general
For lieutenant governor:
Jerome Bryant (at least three votes)
Levar Stoney (multiple spellings, including “Lavor Stoney”) — Richmond mayor who ran in the 2021 Democratic gubernatorial primary
Beyer has represented Alexandria in the United States Congress since 2015. Rasoul represents the 11th House District in Southwest Virginia. Cuccinelli served as attorney general from 2010 to 2014 and ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2013.
Joke entries and protest votes
Several ballots contained humorous or protest entries:
“Cookie Monster” for lieutenant governor
“Kanye West” for governor
“NONE OF THE ABOVE” (in all caps)
“N/A”
“Whoever Else”
“Anyone who will uphold the Constitution”
One voter wrote what appears to be “Anyone Else” for lieutenant governor.
George Lincoln Rockwell write-in
One ballot contained the name George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party who lived in Arlington until his assassination in 1967.
The ballot was counted as a write-in. Virginia does not require write-in candidates to register in advance for statewide races, but write-in votes only count toward official totals if the candidate has filed the proper paperwork with the state.
Personal names
Many ballots contained names that do not match any known political figures, appearing to be friends, family, or local community members.
“Hunter Howard” appeared in both races. Other names included “Mary Su,” “Brent Blevins” and various others that could not be matched to public figures.
Cross-ballot patterns
At least a dozen voters wrote in the same person for both governor and lieutenant governor:
Glenn Youngkin (multiple voters)
Donald Trump (multiple voters)
Hunter Howard
Free Palestine (two different voters)
The breakdown
The write-in votes fall into several categories:
Republican alternatives: Voters who wrote in Trump or Youngkin rather than voting for Earle-Sears or Reid, the Republican nominees on the ballot.
Virginia political figures: Voters who wrote in current or former Virginia elected officials, including some from their own party.
Issue-based protests: Voters using their ballot to make a statement about a political issue, such as the Middle East conflict.
Humorous entries: Voters writing in celebrities, fictional characters or joke responses.
Personal choices: Voters writing in names of people they apparently know personally.
Rejection votes: Voters writing “None of the Above,” “N/A” or similar phrases to indicate dissatisfaction with all candidates.
Historical or controversial figures: Voters writing in names of deceased or extremist figures.
By the numbers
In the governor’s race, write-ins were cast across all voting methods in Alexandria:
43 in early voting
128 on election day
15 by mail
Three provisional
One post-election
In the lieutenant governor’s race:
52 in early voting
136 on election day
13 by mail
Zero provisional
Two post-election
The higher number of election day write-ins in both races suggests some voters made the decision to write in a candidate while at the polls rather than planning it in advance.
Context
Virginia allows write-in votes for all statewide offices. Voters must fill in the bubble next to the write-in line and write the candidate’s name in the space provided.
Alexandria reported these results with 32 of 32 precincts reporting as of about 21 hours after polls closed on Nov. 4, 2025.
The write-in ballots are adjudicated by election officials to determine the voter’s intent and whether the name can be matched to any registered write-in candidate. All write-in votes are counted in the total, but only votes for qualified write-in candidates count toward official candidate totals.
METHODOLOGY NOTE: This analysis is based on my review of Alexandria’s official write-in assignment documents from the Nov. 4, 2025, general election, which contain images of all write-in ballots that require adjudication. Some handwriting was difficult to decipher, and some names may be spelled phonetically. All totals are from official election results.
