Hours before the two presumptive nominees were slated to hit the debate stage for the first time in the 2024 presidential race, First Lady Jill Biden stopped in Virginia Beach on her way to Atlanta to support her husband, President Joe Biden.

“You all know that there’s two visions for America and you’ll see them tonight when you watch the debate,” she told the crowd that had gathered inside of the Biden-Harris campaign office in Virginia Beach for a sign-making event.

“You’ve already chosen your vision, or you wouldn’t be here,” she said to the crowd of Biden supporters. “The vision you’ve chosen is for strong, steady leadership versus the other vision, which is chaos and corruption.”

Earlier, another crowd had gathered near the entrance to parking lot of the strip mall where the campaign office was held. They wore red hats with “make America great again” embroidered on them, held signs in support of former President Donald Trump, the GOP presumptive nominee, and wore shirts with slogans on them like “Joe and the hoe got to go.”

The First Lady’s visit, announced Tuesday, underscores Virginia’s standing as a battleground state during the 2024 presidential election. Her visit came after Trump had announced his plan on Saturday to visit Chesapeake for a campaign rally on the day after the first presidential debate.

“I want you, tonight when you see them debating, I want you to hear Joe’s words but most of all, I want you to listen to his heart,” the First Lady said, as she rallied the group to help get out the vote efforts in the largely active and retired military community.

The pro-Trump demonstration had cleared out of the area by the time the First Lady left in her motorcade.

Democratic voters on the pending debate

Barbara Nesbitt, a retired teacher, said she is happy there won’t be an audience at tonight’s debate.

“It won’t be such a clown show,” she said. She’s a little nervous, ahead of the 2024 rematch in November, but she said she hopes Biden wins overwhelmingly. “To let them know we’re not stupid in America,” she said.

Maurice Hawkins, a Democratic voter in Virginia Beach, noted that the commonwealth has voted for a Democratic president since 2008, when former President Barack Obama won his first term in office. The last Democratic presidential nominee to win in Virginia before Obama was former President Lyndon B. Johnson. Biden won Virginia by 10 points over Trump in 2020.

“In Virginia, we know that we’re a battle ground state, year-in, year-out. All our races are tight. This area is going to be a strategic region in regards to voter turnout, to determine how Virginia will go out,” he said, referring to the Hampton Roads region – which includes both Virginia Beach and Chesapeake.

Sandra Brandt, chair of the Second Congressional District Democratic Party, said she feels confident Biden will perform well in the debate.

“I feel good, I think the president has been looking at all of the issues,” she said. “I think he’ll do an excellent job.”

She noted that the Democratic Party has a lot of work ahead, between June and November, but she feels confident in Biden’s chances of winning the election.

“Tonight will be historic,” Charles Stanton, 69, chair of the Norfolk City Democratic Party said, in the parking lot of the strip mall after the event had wrapped.

He called himself an “optimist on America” and said he hoped the 10% or 15% of undecided voters will shift to the Democratic camp after the debate.

“We are going to have one candidate on the stage with a historic record of accomplishment and another candidate on the stage with a historic record of being indicted 88 times, convicted 34 times,” he said. “It’s just not a choice, I mean it truly is decency versus debauchery.”

Virginia placed fifth in the final standings for the 2023-2024 LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup, a competition between all Division I schools that compares each athletic program’s finishes in NCAA Championships across all sports. UVA finished with 1,066.25 points, good for fifth place nationally and first among schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

1. Texas – 1,377.00
2. Stanford – 1,312.75
3. Tennessee – 1,217.00
4. Florida – 1,189.00
5. Virginia – 1,066.25
6. Texas A&M – 1,059.25
7. North Carolina – 1,035.75
8. Michigan – 1,030.00
9. Alabama – 1,028.88
10. UCLA – 1,017.50

Click here to see the complete final 2023-2024 LEARFIELD Division I standings.

As a note for the scoring of the event, Directors’ Cup points are awarded bases on a school’s NCAA finish in 19 sports, four of which must be men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, and baseball.

Powered by a fourth-consecutive NCAA women’s swimming & diving championship, Final Four appearances in both field hockey and men’s lacrosse, a fifth-place finish in men’s golf, and another trip to the College World Series in baseball, Virginia placed in the top five for the second year in a row (4th in 2022-2023) and for the fourth time in the 31 years the LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup has been awarded. UVA is one of only 10 schools in the country to rank in the top 30 in every year of the Directors’ Cup’s existence.

“We had another incredible season in competition and in the classroom,” said UVA director of athletics Carla Williams. “Our student-athletes, coaches and staff continue to perform at the highest level while representing themselves and this wonderful university with honor and integrity. Our continued excellence is a tribute to their hard work and dedication. We are so grateful for the opportunity to represent the University of Virginia.”

Here is a list of the sports in which Virginia scored points towards the LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup:

For the second year in a row, Virginia was the highest-ranked ACC school in the LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup:
5. Virginia 1066.25
7. North Carolina 1035.75
10. Notre Dame 1008.50
12. Florida State 998.88
17. Duke 928.50
21. NC State 853.50
31. Clemson 675.75
44. Syracuse 538.00
48. Louisville 515.50
50. Virginia Tech 499.25
56. Wake Forest 421.00
67. Miami (FL) 368.25
68. Boston College 360.00
74. Georgia Tech 316.50
80. Pittsburgh 277.00

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WFXR) — The 2024 Virginia Commonwealth Games are just around the corner, with the weekend taking place from July 19-21 set to ignite the City of Lynchburg and Liberty University with a celebration of sportsmanship and talent.

Athletes from across the state are gearing up to showcase their skills in a wide range of sports.

For details on registering and volunteering, log on to https://www.commonwealthgames.org/