PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Portsmouth’s Director of Elections and General Registrar, Alexandra Abell, is stepping away from the job that helped define her career and helped make state history.
Abell has wrapped up what she calls her final governor’s race, one that resulted in the election of the first female governor in the history of the Commonwealth. For her, there’s no better moment to close this chapter.
“I’ve wrapped up my last governor’s race… and now we’ve elected the first female governor in the history of the Commonwealth. So if you’ve got to leave on a note, I feel like that’s a pretty good high note to leave on,” Abell said.
From Poll Worker to Portsmouth’s Election Leader
Abell’s path to leading Portsmouth’s elections didn’t start in a corner office. She began as an officer of election, simply looking for a way to give back to her community. That part-time role grew into a calling.
She later moved to Chesterfield County, a larger locality with more registered voters and more precincts. There, she saw how elections operate on a bigger scale, an experience she brought back to Portsmouth when she returned as registrar.
Her philosophy is simple: find the straightest line between two points and take it. That approach helped her turn the office into what one reporter described as a “machine”, organized, efficient, and ready for Election Day.
“My philosophy is always what we learned in school, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line,” Abell said. “My mission, my goal [was] to make it easy, to make sure the public was informed and answer any questions and just be accessible.”
Why She’s Stepping Away
Abell says elections are a world you can get “sucked into” with one election quickly rolling into the next. She’s now “on the other side of 40” and feels this is the moment to pursue the dreams that first led her to school.
“Elections are a world that you can get sucked into and just stay,” she said. “I went to school for journalism and film and television, and so I want to get back into that world before it’s too late.”
Even as she prepares to leave, the work continues. Portsmouth has a special election scheduled for April 21, with early voting beginning March 6. That tight timeline is part of why she chose to announce her departure now, to give the city time to find her replacement.
Abell says the job posting for the registrar’s position is already live, and the electoral board is working to fill the role as soon as possible.
A Job Built on Details, Deadlines, and People
For Abell, running elections has always been about two things: details and people.
She describes the registrar’s role as intensely detail-driven, from voter registration and early voting to Election Day logistics. She credits her time in different localities with helping her streamline processes so elections could be smoother for everyone involved: staff, officers of election, and voters.
“This whole job is about detail,” she said. “Be detail-oriented, deadline-driven, and have a plan and communicate that plan.”
Abell is quick to emphasize that elections are never a “one-person show.” She praises the officers of election as the public face of the office on Election Day and reminds the next registrar to rely on their team.
She’s also realistic about the demands of the job. While the days can be long, she encourages better boundaries for staff, telling them they should be out of the office by 5:30 p.m. during early voting unless they personally choose to stay later.
Her Advice to the Next Registrar: One Task at a Time
Abell’s advice for whoever steps into her role is rooted in single-tasking, not multitasking.
“People say you have to be a multitasker. Yes, I have multiple tasks, but I can only do one at a time,” she said. “I’ve been in situations where I’ve tried to complete this and then complete that, and something went wrong. So just one step at a time… check it off, move on to the next thing.”
Like many registrars’ offices, Portsmouth relies heavily on checklists to keep complex election operations on track. Abell says using those tools and constantly moving forward is one of the keys to success in the role.
Her personal motto, borrowed from the Disney movie Meet the Robinsons, guided her through some of the most intense election cycles:
“Keep moving forward.”
Looking Ahead
As she steps away from the registrar’s office, Abell is looking back to her original passions and the skills she honed in elections, planning, attention to detail, and a focus on giving people a voice, are ones she expects to carry into whatever comes next.
From part-time poll worker to Portsmouth’s Director of Elections, Abell leaves behind an office she helped modernize and a legacy marked by one of the Commonwealth’s most historic races.
And for the person who takes her place, her message is clear: respect the details, trust your team, and keep moving forward.
