City of Fredericksburg Office of Voter Registration & Elections: Construction work to build the new Visitor Center on the 1st floor of Executive Plaza is underway.
Early Voting starts Friday, May 3, 2024.
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Early voting for the June Primary Elections in Stafford County begins on Friday, May 3, 2024. The election is on Tuesday, June 18, 2024.
Voters wanting to vote in the Republican Primary will be voting for the US Senate and the 7th Congressional District. Voters wanting to vote in the Democratic Primary will be voting for the 7th Congressional District. You may request a mail-in ballot from the General Registrar until June 7, 2024.
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Eugene Vindman has apologized for posing for a photo while holding the Virginia State Flag adopted by the Confederate state government during the Civil War.
Potomac Local was the first to report on the photo on Monday, April 15, 2024. Vindman asked the person who posted it to X, formerly Twitter, to remove it from the social media platform.
According to the Democrat, a congressional candidate who seeks to replace Abigail Spanberger in Virginia’s 7th District (Prince William, Stafford, Spotsylvania, and Fredericksburg) in a June 18, 2024, Primary Election, he posed for the photo after delivering a keynote speech at the Ukrainian Action Summit in Washington, D.C.
“Unbeknownst to me, in one of these pictures was a flag of Virginia spanning the Civil War era. When I glanced at the flag, I did not link it to the Civil War era. When I realized this mistake, I directed my team to reach out to this attendee to ask him to take the picture down, as it in no way aligns with any of my core values and background. I apologize,” Vindman wrote in a statement on X.
Democrats and Republicans were quick to criticize Vindman today on social media. The most notable, Virignia State Senator Louise Lucas, posted on X, “How could someone who wants to represent us be so ignorant of our history?”
Other Democrats seeking the party’s nomination in the 7th District race chimed in, too.
“One thing you’ll never see me do is pose for a picture with a Confederate flag,” said a former Virginia House of Delegates member, Elizabeth Guzman.
“It’s disheartening to see that someone who wants to represent so many people of color pose behind a confederate flag,” said Andrea Bailey, another Democrat seeking the nomination and a Prince William County Board of Supervisors member.
Republican Derrick Anderson, who’s in a race of multiple Republicans seeking that party’s nomination, said, “Yet another reason why this newcomer isn’t fit to serve Virginia’s 7th District.”
Vindman has raised more than $1.7 million in the race to replace Spanberger, more than any other Democrat or Republican seeking the congressional seat. Much of that cash has come from out-of-state contributors from places like California and New York.
The 25-year Army veteran, originally from Ukraine, was a crucial witness in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. He continues to campaign on that fact, all the while facing criticism from members of his party for being a political newcomer and from residents who question his intentions of being a white man running against a field of black female Democrats.
During a Democrat voter forum at the Dr. A.J. Ferlazzo Government Building in Woodbridge on March 27, 2024, a white man asked Vindman, “Currently, our Congressional representative is a white woman. Do you think it’s time to pass that torch to someone of color? And considering we have so many strong women of color running for this seat.”
“I’m an immigrant, and I’m Jewish, fleeing a bigoted communist regime. So I understand those perspectives,” Vindman responded.
Vindman has also been criticized for not being active locally in the Democratic Party. Delegate Joshua Cole asked, “I’m sorry – who is this? I’ve never seen this person in our area. At. All.”
During the March 27 forum, Vindman, currently a Prince William County resident, defended himself, saying he has lived in the 7th District since 2016. “My kids have gone to school here. I think for Northern Virginia, I qualify as a long-term resident since I’ve been here since 2016 in this transitory community,” said Vindman.
The three-term incumbent Spanberger announced her run for governor of Virginia in 2025. She seeks to replace Glenn Youngkin (R), whom the Virginia State Constitution prohibits from seeking a second term.
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A photo of Eugene Vindman holding a confederate state flag of Virginia appeared on X, formerly Twitter.
Vindman, a Democrat and a 25-year Army veteran was a key witness in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. He is running to replace Abigail Spanberger (D) in the U.S. House of Representatives in Virginia’s 7th District, which includes Prince William, Stafford, and Spotsylvania counties and Fredericksburg.
Vindman and others are holding the flag used by the Confederate Virginia State Government from 1861 to 1865. The flag is similar to the Commonwealth flag used today, with a few noted differences. There are some color variations, the woman representing Roman virtue is fully clothed, and the king tyrant on the ground is looking up at the woman.
Today’s Virginia flag shows the woman’s exposed breast and the king tyrant lying dead on the ground.
A total of 11 Confederate states adopted state flags during the Civil War. The original X post with the photo of Vindman holding the flag has been deleted.
“Colonel Vindman served our country abroad and by standing up to Donald Trump’s corruption, so the notion that he would stand by any sort of Confederate flag is absolutely absurd,” Jeremy Levinson, a campaign spokesman, told Potomac Local News.
Vindman, a Lake Ridge resident and political newcomer, has raised $1.75 million in campaign contributions — more than any other Democrat or Republican in the race. A Primary Election on June 18 will decide which Democrat and Republican candidate will compete for the seat during the November 2024 General Election.
The majority of Vindman’s campaign donations have come from outside of the state. The Federal Election Commission sent a letter to Eugene Vindman’s campaign last month asking for clarifications on his end-of-year finance report about many unitemized donations, reports the Virginia Scope.
Levinson told Potomac Local News that Vindman is focused on the 7th District, has participated in multiple Democratic voter candidate forums, and has attended numerous fundraisers inside the homes of supporters who live there.
The three-term incumbent Spanberger announced her run for Virginia Governor in 2025, seeking to replace Glenn Youngkin (R), whom the Virginia State Constitution prohibited from seeking a second term.
Derrick Anderson formally kicked off his campaign for Congressional Senate of the 7th district on Friday, April 5, 2024.
Speaking to a crowded room at Highmark Brewery in Stafford, Anderson was introduced by US House Majority Whip Tom Emmer. Delegate Tara Durant also spoke to the crowd.
Anderson is from Spotsylvania, graduating from Courtland High School before attending Virginia Tech. He is a former Special Forces Green Beret and received a J.D. from Georgetown Law. Anderson received endorsements from Stafford County Sheriff David Decatur, Spotsylvania County Supervisors Jake Lane and Gerald Childress, and every GOP member of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors.
In the crowded race for the 7th District, Anderson leads Republicans in funds with over $328,000 cash on hand. Yevgeny “Eugene” Vindman leads the Democrats with over $1 million on hand. The district (map here) includes eastern Prince William County, Stafford, Spotsylvania, King George and Caroline counties, and Fredericksburg.
Incumbent Abigail Spanberger (D) will not seek re-election to the seat, instead running for Virginia Governor in 2025.
The primary election is June 24, 2024 and the Virginia Department of Elections plans to list the candidates on or about April 15, according to its website. The deadline to register to vote or update an existing registration is May 28, 2024. (Voters may register after this date, through Election Day, and vote using a provisional ballot.)
The deadline to apply for a ballot to be mailed to you is June 7, 2024. Your local voter registration office must receive your request by 5 p.m.
The first day of in-person early voting at your local registrar’s office is Friday, May 3, 2024. Voter registration offices open for early voting on Saturday, June 8, 2024. General elections will be on Nov 25, 2024.
The Federal Election Commission sent a letter to Eugene Vindman’s campaign last month asking for clarifications on his finance report about many unitemized donations, reports Virginia Scope Political Newsletter.
Vindman is a Dale City resident and has raised more cash than any other Democrat seeking the party nomination to run in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District to replace Abigail Spanberger, who is running for governor. A Primary Election will be held on June 18, 2024.
Donald Trump won his first victory in Prince William County during a dual Presidential Primary on Super Tuesday, March 5, 2023.
The presumptive nominee won handily in the county, with 60% of the vote, 18,768 votes. His Republican Primary opponent, Nikki Haley, won just three of the county’s 84 election precincts, 11,313 votes.
Republicans, or those who voted in the Republican Primary (Virginia law allows anyone, from any party, to vote in a Republican or Democrat Primary Election) in Precinct 615, dubbed “Commons,” at the Neabsco Commons neighborhood flanked by the Northern Virginia Community College Woodbridge Campus and Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center, thought the former South Carolina Governor would be a better choice.
Voters in the Antietam Precinct, number 514 in Lake Ridge, and the Potomac Shores Precinct near Dumfries also supported Haley.
Trump’s win in Prince William County marks a shift in the country’s electorate. In 2016, the U.S. Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio, won the county with 15,540 votes to Trump’s 15,348.
“There was little chance that the Republican Primary was going to be close, and Haley’s campaign was on life support going into Super Tuesday. The circumstances were good news for Donald Trump in northern Virginia’s outer ring suburban communities and elsewhere,” said Professor and Director, Center for Leadership and Media Studies at Mary Washington University Stephen Farnsworth. “Trump’s stronger performance in the suburbs in this primary, compared to his weaker performance in 2016, demonstrates that Virginia’s suburbs remain competitive.”
Prince William and Loudoun counties bucked the trend in Northern Virignia, which saw voters in Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax choose Haley over Trump. A total of 30,030 votes were cast in the Republican Primary in Prince William, compared to 18,608 votes cast in the county for the Democrat primary.
In 2017, one year into Trump’s presidency, Democrats came out in droves and flipped Prince William County’s reliably Republican Virginia House of Delegates and Senate seats from red to blue, electing a wave of new Democrats. While the trend has primarily contained, Republicans showed signs of life in the 2023 Elections, with wins for Delegate Ian Lovejoy (R-22, Bristow) and Erica Trendinnick, a Republican who flipped the Brentsville District seat on the county school board overseeing the second-largest school division in the state.
House Districts 21, held by Democrat Josh Thomas, and Distirct 22 held by Lovejoy, are considered competitive districts, according to VPAP.
“While only a sliver of Virginia voters participate in primaries Trump’s strong showing demonstrates that the most motivated Republicans continue to support him,” added Farnsworth.
South of Prince William in Stafford County, Trump won handily with 67% of the vote, winning 10,002 votes to Haley’s 4,488. Haley won zero precincts in Stafford County.
In the region’s cities, Trump won Manassas, Manassas Park, and Fredericksburg with 64%, 63%, and 50% of the vote, respectively.
Trump won Virginia, one of many states he picked up during the Super Tuesday contest. Haley is expected to drop out of the race.
“Voters are upset with the direction our country is heading in; for example, a recent Roanoke College poll showed that more than 60% of Virginians disapprove of the way Biden is handling the Presidency,” said Josh Quill, a 2023 candidate for the House of Delegates in Prince William County. “Republicans want lower taxes, safer communities, and stronger immigration enforcement, all things they experienced during the Trump Administration. President Trump enjoys an incumbent-like status that is difficult to overcome.”
Democrats came out in force for President Joe Biden, who won Virginia over primary challengers Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips, who won zero precincts in Prince William and Stafford counties, Manassas, Manassas Park, or Fredericksburg.
Expressing his gratitude, Anderson said, “I appreciate the support from these dedicated public servants. I look forward to fighting alongside them to improve the lives of Stafford County residents.”
Anderson, who grew up in Spotsylvania County, emphasized his commitment to addressing the challenges faced by the community, attributing them to what he referred to as “Biden’s failed presidency.” He outlined his campaign’s focus on taking on key issues, including securing the border and restoring America’s standing in the world.
Crystal Vanuch, past Chair of the Board of Supervisors and a former contender for the congressional seat in the 2022 GOP primary, voiced her full support for Anderson. Vanuch highlighted their discussions on federal issues impacting localities and taxpayers, endorsing Anderson as the candidate who understands the district and is poised to fight for its residents in Congress.
Meg Bohmke, the current Chair of the Board of Supervisors, joined the endorsement, emphasizing the need for a representative who will advocate for the district, secure the border, and strengthen the economy. Bohmke urged others to rally behind Anderson, noting his roots in the 7th District and his deserving support.
Darrell English, representing the Hartwood District on the Board of Supervisors, echoed the sentiment, calling on voters to support Anderson, a local figure dedicated to serving the community and the country.
This marks Anderson’s second run at the 7th District Congressional seat. In 2022, he ran in a crowded party Primary Election.
The race has become more complex with Vega endorsing Cameron Hamilton, a Navy SEAL combat veteran and former Homeland Security division director. Vega, the party nominee in the 2022 race, supported Hamilton at the Prince William County Republican Committee meeting this week. Her nod comes after similar endorsements from Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) and Rep. Bob Good (R-Virginia, 5th District).
The endorsements come amid a competitive landscape, with eight Republicans, including Anderson, and eight Democrats, such as Yevgeny “Eugene” Vindman, Margaret Franklin, Brianna Sewell, and Elizabeth Guzman, vying for the open seat in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. Notably, incumbent Democrat Abigail Spanberger has opted not to seek reelection, aiming to run for Virginia’s governorship in 2025.
As the candidates vie for the open seat, Virginia’s Presidential Primary is scheduled for March 5, 2024. Early voting is underway, both by mail and in person. Find where to vote early.
