Derrick Anderson won the Republican primary to flip Virginia Democratic Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger’s 7th District seat to the Republican Party.
When The Associated Press reported the election results on Tuesday, Anderson was leading his nearest opponent by about 10 percentage points.
The Republican primary fielded six candidates, including Navy SEAL combat veteran Cameron Hamilton, Army Special Forces Green Beret combat veteran Derrick Anderson, author and artist Maria Martin, Marine Corps veteran John Myers, entrepreneur John Prabudos, and Terrice Todd, who was appointed by the Trump administration to be executive director of the White House Initiative to Advance African-American Education.
Spanberger currently represents the district but announced last year that he would not seek reelection to run for governor of the Old Dominion in 2025. The Democratic primary for the state’s 7th Congressional District also took place on Tuesday, with seven Democrats vying for the nomination.
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Derrick Anderson, a former Special Forces soldier and Virginia Republican candidate for Congress; (Derrick Anderson)
The 7th Congressional District stretches from central Virginia into Northern Virginia, encompassing Orange, Culpeper and Spotsylvania counties, as well as parts of Prince William County outside Washington, D.C. The district is currently considered to be leaning or leaning Democratic, according to various election assessments.
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Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) speaks during a press conference at the Capitol in Washington, DC on April 7, 2022. (Getty Images)
Anderson raised the most donations during the primary, more than $1.1 million, according to data from the Virginia Public Access Project, followed by Hamilton, who raised more than $720,000. Anderson and Hamilton are both showing up as front-runners heading into Election Day, according to various polls.
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Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), current House Majority Whip, endorsed Anderson, calling her “a conservative leader who gets results for Virginia’s 7th District.”
Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), current House Majority Whip, has endorsed Derrick Anderson, who is running to represent Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. (Derrick Anderson, Getty Images)
“Derrick has garnered support from military veterans, local sheriffs and some of the most powerful voices in the conservative movement as he fights back against Joe Biden’s failed policies,” Emmer said in March.
Neither Anderson nor Hamilton have held public office before, and both have endorsed former President Donald Trump in his bid to retake the White House in 2024.
“I respect everybody in this race, but my opponent is supported by some people who don’t currently support President Trump. He’s our presumptive nominee, that’s the person. Meanwhile, I have a very large base of supporters, from Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to House leadership to Elise Stefanik to Ronny Jackson, who was President Trump’s physician in the White House,” Anderson told the Daily Progress this month.
Hamilton, meanwhile, described himself as the “most conservative candidate” in the race.
“I’m the most conservative candidate in the race because I stand for civil rights, I stand for conservative principles and sometimes I go against my own party,” Hamilton told the Daily Progress last week.
Trump and Youngkin meet for first time as Republicans aim to win Virginia in November
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin and former President Donald Trump meet ahead of the 2024 election. (Trump camp)
The Virginia primary came just after Trump met with Virginia’s Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, last week to discuss efforts to tilt the state toward the Republican Party in the 2024 presidential election. Virginia has always voted Democratic in presidential elections since President Barack Obama first ran in 2008.
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“I think Virginia is going to be a hot issue. Remember, Joe Biden won Virginia by 10 points in 2020. I won the following year by 2 points. What we’ve demonstrated is that common sense conservative policies work, and Virginians appreciate that,” Youngkin said in an interview with radio host and Fox News contributor Guy Benson last month.
