(The Center Square) — Winners have emerged in Tuesday’s primary for the highly contested Virginia congressional district 7, where Democrat retired Army Col. Eugene Vindman will square off against Republican and former Army Green Beret Derrick Anderson in November.
The two candidates will battle it out for retiring Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s seat, who announced that she wouldn’t be seeking reelection due to a run for governor.
Vindman, whose whistleblowing led to former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment, raised over 15 times as much as most of his competitors in the seven-person race, capturing nearly 50% of the votes as of Tuesday night, per the Virginia Department of Elections. Former Del. Elizabeth Guzman followed with 15%, and Del. Brianna Sewell came after with 13.4%.
Anderson also out-fundraised his opponents, though not as drastically as Vindman. He received 45.2% of the vote as of Tuesday night, according to the Virginia Department of Elections, with a comfortable near-8% victory over his closest competitor, former Navy SEAL Cameron Hamilton.
Hamilton pitched himself as the further-right candidate, and had the endorsements to show for it, with statements of support from the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, Virginia Rep. Bob Good, and a slew of other Freedom Caucus members, as well as Sen. Rand Paul.
Anderson, however, received endorsements from heavy-hitting party leaders like Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, and from Virginia, Rep. Jenn Kiggans, among others.
Anderson released a statement shortly after being declared the nominee Tuesday evening.
“This is the greatest honor of my life, and I do not take it lightly. I have fought for this country for years, and I will fight for the people of my home district in the same way,” Anderson wrote on X.
He compared Vindman and himself, describing their differences as he sees them.
“Vindman is running to continue his revenge tour against Donald Trump; I’m running to help the people I grew up with have better lives,” he said.
Vindman’s victory was clearer as he swept the competition earlier in the night.
“The stakes of this election couldn’t be higher, the passion behind my campaign comes from voters wanting integrity, moderation, and professionalism in a government that works for them; and our grassroots movement is coming for the extreme MAGA agenda,” Vindman said in a statement.
The race for the 7th-District seat should be interesting, as election tracker The Virginia Public Access Project has labeled it as one of two competitive House districts in the commonwealth. Spanberger has occupied the seat since 2019, but she was preceded by Republican David Brat, who held the office for four years.
