Dave Brat, Republican congressman in Virginia's 7th District (Photo by Jay Paul)
Republican Dave Brat easily won reelection to Congress in 2016, fending off Democratic nominee Eileen Bedell by more than 15 percentage points. But his path to a third term in Virginia’s 7th District could prove more contentious.
Two well-funded Democrats — former CIA officer Abigail Spanberger and Marine Corps veteran and military advisor Dan Ward — are vying in a June 12 primary to oppose Brat in November. Another candidate, business owner and veteran Helen Alli, withdrew from the Democratic field and won the nomination of Virginia’s recently formed Whig party, and Joe Walton, a senior IT auditor at Virginia Commonwealth University, is running as a Libertarian.
Although Brat lost a conservative piece of Hanover County as part of a court-ordered 2016 redrawing of Virginia’s 3rd congressional district, the 7th District’s geography (stretching from Culpeper through Richmond’s western outskirts to Blackstone) still favors Republicans. Donald Trump won it in 2016 and Ed Gillespie topped Democrat Ralph Northam in the governor’s race that Northam ultimately won. Brat is unopposed in the GOP primary.
“You can’t say, ‘I’m more conservative than Dave Brat.’ It just doesn’t work,” says Richard Meagher, political science associate professor at Randolph-Macon College. A more moderate Republican would likely fare no better, he adds.
According to The Washington Post, Brat told Republican donors in a recent fundraising appeal that he expects a tough fight: “The Democrats will be out for political blood, and they will throw everything they have at me.”
Though Democrats have been emboldened by gains in the state legislature, Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington, notes, “It would take a substantial tidal wave of anti-Trump sentiment to dislodge Brat.”
Photo by Jay Paul
Helen Alli
Whig
As the only African-American ever to run for the 7th District seat, Alli hopes to be a voice for minorities and women.
“I signed up to make a change, not fight and play party politics which is why we’re not getting anything done in Congress now,” Ali says of her switch from Democratic candidate to independent to Whig party. “We have to get back to working for the people and together.”
Photo by Jay Paul
Joe Walton
Libertarian
A doctoral student at VCU’s Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs and former Powhatan County Board of Supervisors chairman, Walton believes in limiting the government’s scope and expanding personal freedoms.
“Congress has an oversight role with respect to the executive branch and Virginia ... needs somebody that is going to hold the executive branch to a little bit more account than has been done over the last couple of years,” he says.
Photo courtesy Abigail Spanberger
Abigail Spanberger
Democrat
Since announcing her run last summer, Spanberger has focusedon public outreach, holding more than 68 meet-and-greets.
“My background is really one of doing strong and significant deep dives into information. So what it is that I bring to the table is a true interest in policy with a commitment to serving this district,” she says. “I think it’s important to be accountable to people including those who don’t vote for you.”
Photo courtesy Dan Ward
Dan Ward
Democrat
After working in Washington as a military advisor and airline pilot, Ward decided to return to his roots. Having grown up in Madison County, he wants to focus on rural areas of the district that tend to suffer economically.
“If we don’t bring educational standards up and bring the infrastructure up to the 21st century, we’re going to be left behind,” Ward says. “We need federal help to do that.”
