(The Center Square) – With less than six weeks before Election Day, threats against Virginia lawmakers are fueling sharp exchanges on the campaign trail.
Republican Del. Geary Higgins said Monday he received a text threatening his life and the lives of his children. The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office confirmed a suspect has been arrested and faces felony charges.
“Let me be clear: threats of violence have no place in our political discourse. I will not be intimidated, silenced, or deterred from doing the job I was elected to do—fighting for my constituents in Western Loudoun and Fauquier, and standing up for common sense,” Higgins wrote in a statement.
“Unfortunately, this is the direct result of the nasty lies and constant demonization from the radical left that we’ve seen over the last few years. Abigail Spanberger is telling her supporters to ‘let their rage fuel them,’ and my opponent is up on TV right now calling me a crook and a treasonist, and blatantly lying about my record. The last two sessions in Richmond we’ve been called every name under the sun. It should be shocking to no one that continuing to call your political opponents names like ‘Nazis’ will ultimately lead to violence,” he added.
Republican Del. Kim Taylor, who last week reported receiving a politically motivated death threat by text message, also directed her criticism at Spanberger.
In a post Monday, Taylor wrote that Spanberger “told supporters to ‘let your rage fuel you’ and now she wants to pretend she didn’t mean it.”
In an email to The Center Square, Spanberger’s campaign linked the “let your rage fuel you” remark to a statement she made at a campaign event in June.
“And my mother just said ‘Let your rage fuel you.’ And so Mom, I love you, I thank you for the sage advice. And the rest of us, every time we hear a new story, we let it fuel us. Every time we turn on the news, we let it fuel us. … We write more postcards, we knock more doors, we make more phone calls, we tell more friends about the importance of this election,” according to her campaign.
Her campaign also said she condemns political violence.
“Abigail has condemned and will continue to condemn political violence, threats, and comments that attempt to make light of or justify political violence — full stop. Abigail has a long record of working across party lines to get things done, and she will continue to bring people together as Virginia’s next Governor,” a spokesperson told The Center Square.
As both parties trade accusations, the latest threats underscore how questions of safety and language are shaping the tone of the campaign less than six weeks before Virginians cast their votes.
