Dr. Sebastian Gorka, a conservative radio and TV host with over 3 million listeners, came to Woodbridge to stump for Mike Van Meter, who was running for State Senate in District 33 against Jennifer Carroll Foy, vying to return to the Virginia Capitol.
Gorka said Van Meter is running in the strongly-leaning Democrat district, which includes portions part of southern Fairfax County, and Woodbridge Prince William County, in hopes to counteract ideological changes ushered in under Democrats, who controlled the House, Senate, and Governor’s office until 2021.
“The real power is in the state house,” said Fairfax County resident Gorka. “It’s the school board; it’s the sheriff. We know America is not just a nation. It’s a republic with towns, counties, and villages.”
Gorka said people nationwide are concerned about crime and the rise in drug deaths. More than 100,000 people died from fentanyl overdoses in 2022. Both button topics will be critical issues in the November 2023 General Election, he said.
Crime has been up in all categories in Virginia in the past year. In Prince William County, 70% since 2019, where the county is on track to exceed the number of homicides (14 so far in 2023).
Van Meter is an addiction counselor who works with recovering addicts. During his campaign event, which attracted about 50 people to the Harbor Grill, he sold screen-printed t-shirts with the message “fentanyl kills.”
“Democrats are not equipped to deal with this problem, and they’re doing nothing about it,” said Van Meter. “Fentanyl is a synthetic drug, and trying to get people off of it is hell.”
Gorka worked in the Trump White House in 2017 and praised his former boss and the state’s current Republican Governor, Glenn Youngkin, who became the first Viriginia’s GOP governor since 2009. Gorka said Youngkin only won his race against former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who served from 2014 to 2018 when McAuliffe said parents shouldn’t have a say in their child’s public school curriculum.
Afterward, Youngkin began campaigning on the phrase “parents matter.” “Glenn Youngkin won in the last minute because he engaged the culture wars,” said Gorka.
Trump came to the Prince William County Fairgrounds in 2015 in his run-up to the White House. The next time he visited the commonwealth was a stop at an airport in Hampton Roads in 2020, to primarily reach the northeastern North Carolina residents via local TV stations. I asked Gorka, who has a direct link to the 45th president if Trump should stop ignoring Virginia and campaign here and whether or not he thinks Youngkin should join him on stage should Trump hold a rally in the commonwealth.
Historically, Youngkin has distanced himself from the former president.
“I’m not to answer a loaded question about Trump ignoring Virginia, but yes, Glenn Youngkin needs to get his act together,” Gorka replied. Trump lost Virginia by six points and 10 points in 2016 and 2020, respectively.
Both Gorka and Van Meter disparaged both political parties. “Rs and Ds beside a candidate’s name are irrelevant. It comes down to do ‘do you love America, or do you hate America,” said Gorka. “Trump won [the presidency] despite the GOP, not thanks to the GOP.”
Van Meter said there had been a lot of fighting among Virginia Republicans in the days leading up to the June 20 Primary Election. Senate District 27 in Stafford and Fredericksburg is an example. Tara Durant, endorsed by Youngkin, defeated political outsider Matt Strickland for the GOP nomination, and Strickland has yet to concede.
“Our time for choosing candidates is over, and our job is to elect Republicans by hook or by crook,” said Virginia National Republican Committeewoman Patti Lyman, who attended Van Meter’s fundraiser.
House District 33 has no incumbent and was created by the Virginia State Supreme Court as part of the state’s 10-year redistricting process. Van Meter is a retired FBI agent who later taught the FBI Academy.
Carroll Foy served a term-and-a-half in the House of Delegates, representing Woodbridge and northern Stafford County. She stepped down to run for governor in 2021.
Carroll Foy has raised $1.5 million for her senate race, compared to Van Meter’s $18,500. The General Election is Tuesday, November 7, 2023. Early voting begins Sept. 23, 2023.
Gorka said Virginia’s 45-day early voting policy lends itself to fraud.
“Virginia has 45 days of voting. It’s insane,” said Gorka. “Do you vote again and again until the communists win?”
Gorka’s daily nationally-syndicated radio show is distributed by the Salem Media Group. He also hosts a weekend TV show, “Reality Check,” on Newsmax.
Voter turnout in Manassas declined when compared to last year.
John Snider of the city's electoral board reports 10,600 voters cast their ballot before, on, or after Election Day, Tuesday, November 8, 2022. Last year, the city collected 11,300 ballots, according to state records.
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Despite some major changes – including the addition of several new voting precincts and a lawsuit that resulted in last-minute staffing changes at polling places – the recent midterm election went smoothly in Prince William County and turnout topped 51%, according to Eric Olsen, the county’s director of elections.
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.
In August, President Biden announced he would unilaterally provide debt relief for college students for up to 20% of what they borrowed to attend school. [See our report on the Virginia universities sitting on billions of dollars of endowment funds]
On Wednesday, the day after the 2022 Mid-term Election, a federal judge struck down Biden's student debt relief plan.
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By Mel Kent
Manassas
Friends and neighbors, I sent this message a bit ago to my email list and thought I'd share it with you.
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By Meghan McIntyre
Capital News Service
All but one incumbent across Virginia’s 11 congressional districts will return to the U.S. House of Representatives after races were called in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Republicans picked up one seat and now hold five seats in the U.S. House compared to the six seats Democrats hold. All races have been declared by multiple news outlets, although election officials are still counting some remaining absentee and provisional ballots.
Republican challenger Jen Kiggans unseated Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria, a two-term incumbent, by almost 12,000 votes in District 2.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., a two-term incumbent, defeated Republican challenger Yesli Vega in District 7 by just over 11,000 votes.
“It seems to me overall in Virginia and around the country, this was a good night for incumbents from both parties,” said Stephen Farnsworth, director of the University of Mary Washington Center for Leadership and Media Studies and a political science professor.
Republican candidates pushed messaging around the economy and inflation, while Democratic candidates focused on abortion access and reproductive rights and threats to democracy, Farnsworth said. Read More
Mayor Derrick Wood will keep his seat in Dumfries, winning his re-election bid for a second term.
Wood won the race against challenger Ebony Lofton by 149 votes. Both candidates ran without political affiliation. However, Democrats endorsed Wood.
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Updated noon -- Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D) hung onto Virginia's 7th Congressional seat, fending off Republican Yesli Vega from Prince William County.
Spanberger won the race with 52% of the vote, getting 10,300 more votes than Vega, who conceded the race about noon today.
