Virginia voters turn out to cast ballots in contentious race After two decades of dwindling voter turnout for governor's elections in Virginia, this year's contentious race drew a slightly higher number of registered voters than in 2009, according to early estimates. Some of the nearly 2.2 million people who voted in Virginia's elections Tuesday said they were drawn to the polls by divisive issues such as abortion or lingering anger over the partial government shutdown. They were largely educated by millions of dollars worth of television attack ads and media coverage of the stark differences between the two leading candidates, Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Ken Cuccinelli II. Virginia's estimated turnout of 37 percent of eligible voters was still well below where it stood decades ago. In 1989, when L. Douglas Wilder (D) beat J. Marshall Coleman (R) in one of the closest races in state history, nearly 67 percent of registered voters cast ballots. Every year since then, the percentage has fallen, hovering for the past few races in the 40s. When Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) beat state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D-Batj) in 2009, just more than 36 percent of Virginia's eligible voters participated. There's often a sharp drop-off in participation between presidential elections and those for governor. In the past three presidential elections, state turnout has been higher than 60 percent, with 66 percent of eligible voters casting a ballot. That drop-off held true for the 2013 gubernatorial election, and many polling locations in Washington's suburbs and exurbs reported an expected flow of voters throughout the day. But several precincts in Arlington were surprised by bursts of voters Tuesday morning. The precinct captain for the Charles Drew Community Center marveled: "This is extremely busy for a non-presidential year." The captain at the Thomas Jefferson Community Center reported: "Turnout is surprisingly heavy." Many Virginians said they were well informed on this election. Cuccinelli's campaign and party spent $8.6 million on television ads, while McAuliffe's campaign and party spent nearly $13.9 million, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, which tracks spending. A bump in turnout was no surprise to Michael P. McDonald, an associate professor of government and politics at George Mason University who studies voting behavior. Going into Election Day, the state had already seen an increase in early voting, especially in areas that had previously voted for President Obama. "It makes a lot of sense: When there's an intense race going on, that draws people's interest," McDonald said. Both campaigns had massive canvassing operations, which McDonald said was unlike anything the state has seen since the days of machine politics. Democrats have boasted that supporters have knocked on 1.5 million doors for McAuliffe's campaign. A Washington Post-Abt SRBI poll in late October found that 95 percent of likely voters had been "closely" following the governor's race, up from 89 percent at the same time before the election in 2009, 87 percent in 2005 and 60 percent in 2001. The same poll asked likely voters how much they knew about the candidates; 81 percent said they knew "a lot" or a "fair amount" about McAuliffe, and 86 percent said the same for Cuccinelli.