Yesli Vega will not seek the Republican nomination for the 7th District Congressional race.

Vega was the party nominee in 2022 for the seat now held by Abigail Spanberger. She told Potomac Local News that she endorsed Hamilton at the Prince William County Republican Committee meeting.

Vega began a second term on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors this month.

It’s the latest in a series of endorsements for Hamilton, including the backing of Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

Hamilton is married, a father of three, a Navy SEAL combat veteran, and a former Homeland Security division director with a military and public service background.

During his military career, he served in SEAL Team Eight and completed four overseas deployments supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Following an honorable discharge after 10 years, Cameron worked at the U.S. Department of State, supporting crisis response teams and the Bureau of Counterterrorism. His responsibilities included protecting congressional delegations and Ambassadors at U.S. Embassies and Diplomatic Missions. Later, he joined the Department of Homeland Security as the Director of the Emergency Medical Services Division, overseeing EMTs, First Responders, and Operational Medical Programs.

With a bachelor’s degree in health science, Cameron has extensive international experience, serving in over 35 countries under four different Presidential administrations. He and his family live in Orange, Virginia.

Virginia’s 7th Congressional District includes all or part of 10 counties, including Prince William, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Culpeper, King George, Orange, Madison, Greene, and Albermarle. It also includes Fredericksburg.

It’s an open seat this year after incumbent Democrat Abigail Spanberger announced she would not seek reelection and instead will run in 2025 to become Virginia’s next governor at the end of Glenn Youngkin’s term (Virginia is the only state in the union that does not permit incumbent governors from serving consecutive terms).

Spanberger, who worked as a federal law enforcement officer and a CIA officer before entering politics, was first elected to the 7th District seat in 2018.

In her 2022 matchup with Vega, Spanberger won 53% of the vote. Vega won eight of the 10 counties in the district, including Stafford and Spotsylvania. But she lost Prince William County, the most populated county in the district. Prince William voters are credited with giving Spanberger the win.

Hamilton is one of eight Republicans vying for the seat.

Eight Democrats- Yevgeny “Eugene” Vindman, Margaret Franklin, Brianna Sewell, and Elizabeth Guzman, from Prince William County, and Clifford Heinzer, of Stafford County- also seek the seat.

Virginia’s Presidential Primary is on March 5, 2024. Early voting by mail and in-person is now underway. You can find your polling place here.

Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D, Va. 7th) press release: “U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger today voted with a bipartisan majority of the U.S. House of Representatives to authorize U.S. Department of Defense funding levels, increase troop pay, and help set the nation’s defense priorities.”

“The House-passed fiscal year 2024 (FY24) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes a 5.2 percent pay increase for U.S. servicemembers. Additionally, the bill includes two Spanberger-led provisions to crack down on dangerous fentanyl trafficking by transnational criminal organizations and modernize the United States’ security classification system.”

Spanberger represents Stafford and Spotsylvania counties, the eastern portion of Prince William County, and Fredericksburg. She is running in 2025 to become Virginia’s next govenror, and won’t seek relection to congress in 2024, a seat she’s held since 2018.

Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D, Va. — Prince William, Stafford, Fredericksburg): “Across Virginia, USPS serves as a vital lifeline. Virginians rely on a strong USPS to deliver not just seasonal cards and heartfelt gifts, but also lifesaving medications and important customer orders. Since we relaunched our USPS survey last week, more than 1,200 Virginians have shared stories — of essential medicines getting lost in the mail, payments to business owners or goods to customers not arriving, late fees being charged when bills arrive past-due or payments are delayed in transit, and so much more.”

Two elected officials in our region - Senator Jeremy McPike (D-Prince William, Stafford) and Stafford County Board of Supervisors Garrisonville District Supervisor Dr. Pamela Yueng (also serving as board chair this year) won't seek higher office.

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Woodbridge District Supervisor Margaret Franklin is running for Congress.

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Military Times: “Yevgeny “Eugene” Vindman, one of the twin Army officers targeted by former President Donald Trump for their roles in his impeachment scandal, is launching a Democratic congressional bid that could put him on the same ballot as the former commander-in-chief.”

“In an interview with Military Times, the 48-year old retired Army colonel said he’s ready for that fight.”

Derrick Anderson For Congress: “Today, Derrick Anderson announced he is running for the Republican Nomination for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.”

“Derrick Anderson is a native of Spotsylvania County, was in the Corps of Cadets at Virginia Tech, and received his J.D. from Georgetown Law.He is a former Special Forces ‘Green Beret’ with 6 tours of duty overseas.”

“In a six-way race during the competitive 2022 VA-07 GOP primary, Derrick came in a close second place and was the only non-elected official running. Watch Derrick’s announcement video here.”

“Fox News featured Derrick’s announcement for Congress. Learn more here. Learn more about Derrick’s campaign for Congress in Virginia’s 7th District by visiting: DerrickAnderson.com.”

Abigail Spanberger (D) currently holds the seat.

By Natalie Barr
Capital News Service

U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., stayed busy on Election Day, meeting voters at polling locations across Virginia’s 7th District in a closely watched race.

Voter Janet Evans did not expect to run into the congresswoman at Lewis and Clark Elementary school in Caroline County. Months earlier, she did not even know much about Spanberger, but redistricting had put Evans on the campaign team’s call list.

“I’m going to be 100% honest with you,” Evans said. “I was totally fangirling when I saw her.”

The elementary school where Evans votes is in Ruther Glen, a rural area between Fredericksburg and Richmond, or “a half an hour from everything,” she said.

Spanberger was very friendly, Evans said. She smiled a lot and talked with voters.

“It was very refreshing to see,” Evans said.

Although Spanberger did not win Caroline County, her vigorous outreach and her bipartisan appeal ultimately brought home a victory.

District 7 was the closest congressional race in Virginia, with Spanberger winning by a little over 11,000 votes, according to the Virginia Department of Elections. Republican challenger Yesli Vega won all counties in the district except for the one with the most voters: Prince William County.

Evans has voted previously for candidates she felt most aligned with, but rarely is she totally aligned with one candidate, she said. Evans felt tightly aligned with most of Spanberger’s policies, she said.

“Her belief on abortion rights,” Evans said. “Education is always a big one for me because I have a young son — and even her stance on police reform.”
Evans hopes Spanberger will continue to be a bipartisan member in Congress and work with empathy.

“I hope Spanberger will protect women’s rights to choose in Virginia and that she does not get complacent on that issue,” Evans said. “I hope she continues to support education and police reform.”

The congresswoman’s priorities will continue to be banning members of Congress from trading stocks, working across the aisle and serving as vice chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, according to Spanberger’s communications director Connor Joseph.

Spanberger will have new constituents for her third term due to redistricting.
Jatia Wrighten, assistant professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, said Spanberger promotes policies for the Democratic base that some Republicans can also support.

“I don’t think there’s any need to change the types of policies she proposes or really much of anything because she has had a successful run to date,” Wrighten said.

Even though Vega did not win, she did well throughout the campaign, Wrighten said. Former President Donald Trump’s influence helped Vega’s campaign, and she fell in line with many “Trumpian” talking points, Wrighten said. Vega, who was endorsed by Trump, did try to distance herself from him after the Republican primary, according to multiple news reports.

Vega received backing from voters who still support the former president, Wrighten said. Vega’s background and focus on crime and justice appealed to many voters, she said.

“I think those three things really made it where she was a very strong candidate and why we saw her do so well against a pretty popular incumbent,” Wrighten said.

Vega was also endorsed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

A few hours after polls closed, Spanberger bounded onto a stage to declare victory as a crowd of supporters chanted her name. She noted it was a night for celebration and a time to remember the purpose of politics.

“Humility and empathy guided me into politics in 2017, and it has been humility and empathy that has sustained me through these years,” Spanberger said.

The congresswoman thanked Vega and said there is a need to support communities and constituents, regardless of political party alignment.
“I ask that you reflect on how we can serve our communities, how we can bridge divides and how we can show, through our actions, commitment to each other and the future that we want to create for our country,” Spanberger said. “I look forward to serving you all again these next few years.”

Stephen Farnsworth, director of the University of Mary Washington Center for Leadership and Media Studies and a political science professor, said it is tough to beat an incumbent, especially during congressional elections. All Virginia congressional incumbents won except for District 2.

“Incumbents have more name recognition, greater ability to raise money and it creates a very difficult environment for a challenger in the 7th District,” Farnsworth said.

The close results in District 2, 7, and 10 show Virginia is still very much up for grabs, Farnsworth said.

“We may be on the list of purple states in 2024,” he said.

Spanberger faced pressure as a Democrat, Farnsworth said. Voters generally use midterms to express any frustration with the president’s party. President Joe Biden had only a 43% approval rate going into the election, according to a Nov. 7 Reuters poll.

“The headwinds against the Democrats in the midterm cycle weren’t as great as usually is the case,” Farnsworth said. “That created challenges for Republicans in these close races where they fell short.”

The concern over abortion access energized young voters to the polls, Farnsworth said. Spanberger, whose platform included women’s rights, worked in the House to protect the right to contraception and also backed a bill to ensure the right for women to interstate travel for an abortion.

Republicans ran on economic insecurity but did not consider other issues that would bring voters to the polls, Farnsworth said. Democrats seized on the issue of abortion access in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling.

“That was very helpful for Democratic candidates in suburban districts like Virginia [District] 7,” Farnsworth said.

Vega did not issue a concession speech on Election Day. The day after, she posted a statement on Twitter.

“We gave it our all, but came up a little short last night,” Vega stated.
Vega called the loss “heartbreaking,” and stated that she remains committed to serving Prince William County through her work on the county’s Board of Supervisors.

Vega thanked citizens for their support, congratulated Spanberger on a “hard fought win,” and stated she looks forward to working with Spanberger.

Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Robertson School of Media and Culture. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia.

President Donald Trump gave an unsolicited endorsement to Yesli Vega, prompting now a response from her campaign.

Trump urged voters to elect Vega, a Republican from the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, to Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. Trump posted the endorsement onto his Truth social media platform and called her a “strong Republican voice against violent crime and all other things destroying our nation. He also wrote, “Vega is a warrior for America First,” and tied to Spanberger to voting to support President Biden’s agenda 100% of the time, despite campaigning as a moderate.

On Friday, a Vega campaign spokesman said Trump’s endorsement appeared after Vega appeared on the Fox News Channel. She didn’t ask for it.

Here’s a statement from the campaign.

“President Trump joins the thousands of Virginians who have been supporting our campaign here in the 7th District, because they are discouraged with the failure of leadership they see from Joe Biden and Abigail Spanberger.

“Virginians are demanding lower cost of living, better schools, and safer streets. We started a movement last year here in Virginia and I am so excited to take this movement to Washington and deliver on those demands.” – Yesli Vega, Republican Nominee for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District

Republicans in Virginia are cautious about cozying up to Trump, as Democrats took over both houses of state government during his term in the White House. Last year, Gov. Glenn Youngkin kept Trump at arm’s length during his successful campaign for governor.

Trump is widely seen as a front-runner in the 2024 Presidential Election and never conceded his loss to Biden in 2020.

Meanwhile, in a new statement released today, Spanberger ties Vega to State Senator Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield). She says she’ll introduce the “Life Begins at Conception Act to ban abortion in Virginia during the January 2023 General Assembly session. Chase said the bill mirrors legislation introduced in congress by Rep. Bob Good (R-Va., 5).

“The unborn child is a human person from the moment of conception. Abortion was never mentioned in the United States Constitution. But you know what was mentioned? The right to life,” Chase states in a video posted to Facebook.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, a 40-year precedent on abortion, sending the issue back to state legislatures to decide whether or not to permit abortion.

Earlier this year, Washington, D.C.’s NBC4-TV reported that Vega supports the right to life.

The last day to vote early in person is this Saturday, November 5. Election Day is Tuesday, November 8.