Good morning, FXBG.
Six days until Election Day, four days of early voting left, and one Saturday that has to hold Halloween, the last early-voting shift and a haunted hangar. Last night's council and supervisor votes came in after our deadline, so we'll have those results for you Thursday. Today's job is simpler: what's actually on your ballot, and where to cast it before Saturday at 5.
In today's Rundown:
Your ballot, past the top of the ticket: a Stafford sales tax, $400 million in Spotsy bonds and more
Last call for early voting: where and when in all four localities
Halloween weekend, part two: a haunted hangar, a hayride into the woods and scary organ music
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🗳️ What's actually on your ballot
Everyone in the region gets the same top of the ballot. That's the U.S. Senate race (Mark R. Warner, D, and Bert Mizusawa, R) and the 7th District House race, which has six names on the sample ballots in the city, Spotsylvania and Caroline. Then come three proposed amendments to the Virginia Constitution, each a separate yes-or-no question:
Question 1: protect personal decisions about prenatal care, childbirth, birth control, abortion, miscarriage management and fertility care, while allowing restrictions on abortion in the third trimester with health exceptions.
Question 2: remove the state constitution's ban on same-sex marriage and require all legally valid marriages to be treated equally.
Question 3: make voting a fundamental right and automatically restore voting rights to people with felony convictions when they're released from incarceration.
Those are paraphrases. The full wording is long, so read it before you're standing in the booth. Below all of that is the local stuff, and it's different depending on where you live.
Stafford: a school sales tax. Stafford voters will decide whether the county can add a local sales tax of up to 1%. The money could only be used to build new schools or do major renovations. It couldn't pay for salaries or day-to-day operations. A "yes" vote doesn't turn the tax on by itself. Supervisors would still need to hold a public hearing and adopt an ordinance, and the county's timeline puts a possible start in mid-2027. County staff estimate it would raise $13 million to $20 million a year. Potomac Local reports that groceries, prepared food and personal hygiene products would be exempt. The tax would end once the related school debt is paid off, or on June 30, 2046 for projects that aren't financed with debt. For scale, the School Board's capital plan lists more than $1.7 billion in major projects. Supervisors put the question on the ballot in a 5–2 vote in July.
Spotsylvania: four bond questions, about $400.6 million total. Each question gets its own yes or no:
Schools, $237.3M: mostly maintenance, additions and a new elementary school ($184.5M), plus buses ($24.2M) and technology ($28.6M).
Transportation, $67.6M: includes widening Harrison Road ($18.9M) and Route 2 ($16.6M), extending Germanna Point Drive ($14M), $10M for rural road safety, and a roundabout at Old Plank and Andora.
Public safety, $62M: mostly fire trucks and ambulances, plus a new Shady Grove fire station and a fire training center.
Environmental and solid waste, $33.7M: required closures and a new cell at the Livingston Landfill, plus upgrades at convenience centers, including the busy Chancellor site.
What does that mean for your tax bill? The county says that if it borrowed the full amount, debt payments would equal about 13.7 cents on the real estate tax rate. Counting older debt that's being paid off, the net figure is about 6.5 cents. The county also says these numbers aren't an annual tax increase. A "yes" vote lets the county borrow up to each amount. It doesn't require it to. There's a calculator on the county's site if you want your own number. Spotsy voters will also see a special election for Commissioner of the Revenue, for the term that ends in 2027: Shellie Marcellous Bowman vs. Chris J. "Yak" Yakabouski.
Fredericksburg: No council races this year. There's a special election for an at-large School Board seat, for the term that ends in 2027, and Justin Michael Carter is the only candidate on the ballot.
Caroline: There's no county referendum. Town voters do have races: Bowling Green has three candidates for three council seats, and Port Royal has five candidates for five.
The fastest way to see your exact ballot is to look yourself up on the state's voter portal, then check your registrar's sample ballot.
Your voter info → https://vote.elections.virginia.gov/VoterInformation
Amendment and referendum text → https://www.elections.virginia.gov/casting-a-ballot/candidate-list/november-2026-proposed-constitutional-amendments/
Stafford sales tax → https://www.staffordcountyva.gov/residents/projects_and_programs/school_construction_and_renovation_sales_tax_referendum.php
More on Stafford → https://www.potomaclocal.com/2026/09/29/stafford-voters-to-weigh-1-percent-school-sales-tax/
Spotsy bonds → https://www.spotsylvania.va.us/3255/2026-Bond-Referendum
Spotsy tax calculator → https://www.spotsylvania.va.us/3302/Potential-Impact-on-Tax-Bill
⏰ Last call for early voting
Early voting ends Saturday, Oct. 31, at 5 p.m. everywhere in the region. There's no early voting Sunday or Monday. On Election Day, you have to vote at your assigned precinct. You can only vote early in the locality where you're registered, so pick yours:
📍 Fredericksburg: 601 Caroline St. · Wed.–Fri. 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
📍 Stafford: Registrar's Office, 124 Old Potomac Church Rd., Suite 205. That's not the Gordon Government Center. · Wed.–Fri. 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
📍 Spotsylvania: Early Voting Office, 4810 Southpoint Pkwy. It's a new location, so don't go to the old office. · Wed.–Fri. 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; Sat. 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m.
📍 Caroline: the Annex behind the County Administration Building, 212 N. Main St., Bowling Green · Wed.–Fri. 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Got a mail ballot on the kitchen counter? You can drop it in a drop box at any polling place on Election Day until 7 p.m. If you mail it, it needs to be postmarked by Nov. 3 and arrive by noon Friday, Nov. 6. Registrars recommend taking it inside the post office and asking for a hand-stamped postmark. A blue box doesn't guarantee a same-day postmark.
Election Day itself: Tue., Nov. 3, polls open 6 a.m.–7 p.m. If you're in line at 7, you can still vote. Bring your ID. If you missed the Oct. 23 registration deadline, Virginia does allow same-day registration, but you'll vote a provisional ballot. Curbside voting is available for voters 65 and older and voters with disabilities.
Spotsylvania → https://www.spotsylvania.va.us/239/Office-of-Elections
🎃 Halloween weekend, part two
Yesterday we covered the downtown Saturday lineup. Here are three more options, from airplanes to organ pipes to the kind of scare that sends grown adults running through the woods.
Saturday: trick-or-treat, aviation style. Shannon Airport's 12th annual Harvest Festival Fly-In has candy drops for kids 12 and under in costume, a Haunted Hangar, display aircraft, food trucks, vendors and the Shannon Air Museum. Last year's festival had the C-54 Spirit of Freedom and the DC-3 Shannon Air Express on display. The county hasn't said whether they'll be back this year. Profits support the museum, which is a nonprofit.
📍 When / where / cost: Sat., Oct. 31, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. · Shannon Airport, 3380 Shannon Airport Cir. · Tickets from $10 on the event page (higher amounts are sponsorships)
Friday night: scary music, no jump scares. St. George's Episcopal holds its annual Scary Music for Organ concert, which the church calls its most popular of the year. Four of its organists will play spooky pieces by Bach, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Messiaen and Elfman. Costumes are welcome. It's a good pick if your crew likes atmosphere more than chainsaws.
📍 When / where / cost: Fri., Oct. 30, 7:30 p.m. · St. George's Episcopal, 905 Princess Anne St. · Free; donations to the organ fund accepted
Friday and Saturday nights: the Haunted Hill. Out in Partlow, a dark haywagon drops you off in the woods, and then you have to find your own way out. That's nearly a mile on foot past ghouls, zombies, clowns and mazes. It's not recommended for kids under 12. Tickets are sold only at the gate, so bring cash and save two bucks.
📍 When / where / cost: Fri., Oct. 30 and Sat., Oct. 31, 7:30–10:30 p.m. · 10400 Fox Creek Ln., Partlow · $25 cash, $27 card, at the gate only
Also worth knowing…
🏘️ Two-over-twos hearing is tonight. Fredericksburg's Planning Commission holds its rescheduled public hearing on stacked townhomes and lower parking minimums at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers, 715 Princess Anne St. Meeting notice
🚌 The Idlewild VRE bus ends Nov. 23. FXBGO! is ending the weekday commuter route between Idlewild and the downtown VRE station. Ridership was very low, and the new Spotsylvania VRE station has freed up parking downtown. Council approved the change Oct. 13. Questions: 540-372-1222. Free Press
🎬 Data centers, the documentary: UMW screens The New Data Center Alley, about data center growth in Fredericksburg, Stafford and Spotsylvania, on Wed., Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. in Seacobeck Hall, Room 145. It's free, with a Q&A with the filmmakers afterward. FXBG Advance
🏗️ Coming to Spotsy's planning commission: A rezoning on Hood Drive for 300-plus apartments, a 110-room hotel, a restaurant and retail is expected to go to the Planning Commission in November. Its traffic study projects about 4,000 more trips a day. Project page
Gee whiz: the landfill clock
Buried in Spotsylvania's bond paperwork: the Livingston Landfill has less than five years of space left unless a new cell gets built. That new cell, Cell II-C, would add about 10 more years. The county's Chancellor convenience center handles about 2,000 cars on a typical weekday and up to 3,500 on weekends. That's a lot of minivans full of pumpkin guts headed that way in November.
Before you go
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