Vote Little Richard 'exhilarating' (8)
I believe the answer is:
electric
'exhilarating' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'vote little richard' is the wordplay.
'vote' becomes 'elect'.
'little richard' becomes 'ric'.
'elect'+'ric'='ELECTRIC'
(Other definitions for electric that I've seen before include "Tense" , "Mains-powered or thrilling" , "Relic etc charged with current" , "Thrilling (potentially shocking?)" , "Form of energy for lighting" .)