Despite his primary campaign mishaps, Eugene Vindman won his Democratic primary on Tuesday night for Virginia's 7th Congressional District. Current Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a fellow Democrat, announced last November that she is running for governor next year.
Decision Desk HQ projects Eugene Vindman wins the Democratic primary for Virginia's 7th Congressional District.#DecisionMade: 7:51pm ET
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) June 19, 2024
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As Spencer reminded earlier on Tuesday in his "LIVE RESULTS" post, Vindman "played a significant role in the first impeachment of then-President Trump" and has also made his opposition to the former and potentially future president a major part of his campaign. Should both Trump and Vindman be elected come November, it could get even more interesting.
Trump sees Virginia in play this time, and he does have a slight edge over President Joe Biden there, with RealClearPolitics putting Virginia in the "Toss-Up" column for the presidential race. Regardless as to if he's Trump's running mate or not, and he could end up being selected for the role, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin will likely be an ally for Republicans around the commonwealth.
When Vindman announced, his candidacy was met with skepticism and even opposition from fellow Virginia Democrats, who took issue with him not being local to the area for as long as other candidates and that he was running against women and minorities. Such issues came up during a candidate forum in April, as we covered at the time.
Nevertheless, the race was called less than an hour after the polls closed. With 90 percent of the estimated vote reporting, Vindman is over 30 points ahead of former Del. Elizabeth Guzman, with 49.2 percent of the vote.
Later in the evening, the Republican primary was called in favor of Derrick Anderson, a military veteran who served in the U.S. Army. Vindman served in the U.S. Army as well, with this race pitting Army veteran against Army veteran.
Anderson had also run in 2022, but lost to nominee Yesli Vega in a closely watched race that was at one point a "Toss-Up." Spanberger ultimately fended Vega off and won reelection.
The race was called close to 9:00pm.
Decision Desk HQ projects Derrick Anderson wins the Republican primary for Virginia's 7th Congressional District.#DecisionMade: 8:57pm ET
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) June 19, 2024
Follow live results here: https://t.co/6dFYq9Wrvt pic.twitter.com/9depqi6FGV
Close to 9:30pm, Anderson released a statement on his primary win, which also referenced Vindman in part.
"This is the greatest honor of my life, and I do not take it lightly. I have fought for this country for years, and I will fight for the people of my home district in the same way. The 7th District is my home. It’s the place that raised me, and I appreciate the thousands of my friends and neighbors here at home who cast their ballot for me. I also want to thank my primary election opponents for working so hard to make our country a better place," he said in part.
"Speaking of opponents, I’ll just say that Eugene Vindman and I are very different. I’m from here; he moved here recently to run for office. Vindman is running to continue his revenge tour against Donald Trump; I’m running to help the people I grew up with have better lives. Vindman is running to support Biden’s furthest-left failures; I’m running to secure the border, take on the crime and drug crisis, and get food, health care, and energy costs down. Vindman is so new here that he probably needs a map to find I-95; I know that I-95 is a nightmare for working people. We’ll have plenty of time to talk about these differences over the next few months, and I look forward to earning the votes of folks in the general election," his statement continued, also addressing Vindman's residency concerns brought up by his primary opponnets.
Anderson leads fellow Republican Cameron Hamilton by 45.3 percent to Hamilton's 37.2 percent reporting. The race is currently considered by forecasters to be "Lean" or "Tilt Democratic," giving Vindman a slight edge.
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