Eugene Vindman won the Democratic Party’s nomination for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District on Tuesday.
The race between Democrats comes after incumbent Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger announced she would not seek re-election to run for governor of the former Dominion next year.
Seven Democrats competed for the nomination in a crowded primary. Among them: Prince County Supervisor Andrea Bailey; Prince County Supervisor Margaret Franklin; former state representative Elizabeth Guzman; Virginia House Representative Briana Sewell; Carl Bethel; Clifford Heinzer; Retired Army Col. Eugene Vindman.
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Eugene Vindman, Democratic candidate for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, attends a press conference Wednesday, March 13, 2024, urging the House to pass the Senate national security assistance package that includes aid to Ukraine. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc (via Getty Images))
Vindman and his twin brother, retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, gained national attention during former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment in 2020. Both brothers served on the National Security Council during the Trump administration, and the congressional candidate helped his older brother blow the whistle on eldest son Hunter Biden’s domestic business dealings during Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. helped.
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Alex Vindman and Eugene Vindman stand outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., March 13, 2024. VoteVets held a press conference with senators and representatives pushing the aid bill for Ukraine. (Photo credit: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for VoteVets)
Alexander Vindman testified before Congress against the president during his impeachment, and Eugene Vindman helped his brother raise concerns about Trump’s phone call with Zelenskyy. The congressional candidate filed a complaint alleging the White House retaliated against him for his role in raising concerns about a phone call to the Pentagon’s inspector general in August 2020 after he was fired from the National Security Council.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) speaks during an interview at her congressional office in Washington, Feb. 8, 2023. Spanberger announced that she will run for governor of Virginia in 2024. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)
Vindman benefited from large campaign donations during the primary, raising more than $5 million, far more than the Democrats and Republicans fighting for the seat, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Vindman outscored his closest rival, Bailey, in the Democratic primary by about 15 times.
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“The advantage of having the support of top Democrats, the fundraising advantage in terms of fundraising ability, and the fact that he has a well-known name puts him in a position to be better known than his Democratic counterparts,” said Stephen, a political analyst at the University of Mary Washington. Farnsworth spoke to NBC Washington about Vindman ahead of the primary.
Elizabeth Guzman is running for re-election to the Virginia House of Representatives for District 31 on Friday, September 20, 2019 in Fairfax, Virginia. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The 7th Congressional District stretches from central Virginia to northern Virginia and includes counties such as Orange, Culpeper, and Spotsylvania, as well as part of Prince William County outside Washington, D.C. Various election evaluations.
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Andrea O. Bailey, a newly elected member of the Prince Williams County Board of Supervisors, listens during a news conference in Woodbridge, Virginia, on November 6, 2019. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Vindman’s fellow Democratic challengers have criticized him as unfamiliar with the region, noting that he has never held public office.
“He doesn’t understand the community. He’s not very engaged in the community. He’s not involved in the community as an advocate,” Bailey told the Associated Press.
Vindman defended his lack of political experience and claimed that if elected, he would face “no learning curve at all,” the outlet reported.
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“People who are attracted to my campaign are attracted to the values I bring to this job: the fact that I will fight for priorities, the fact that I risked my military career to risk my prepared career to run against Donald Trump,” he said.
