A guide to the competitive races on the Virginia primary election ballot
After months of speculation, tens of millions of campaign dollars spent, and 45 days of early voting, Virginia's 2024 primary elections will take place on Tuesday.
All of Virginia's contested House of Representatives seats—six Democratic and three Republican—and a Republican primary for the U.S. Senate—are up for election, but only a handful of primaries are competitive.
Early voting concluded on Saturday, and 110,044 Democratic voters and 72,857 Republican voters across the commonwealth cast their ballots ahead of June 18, according to Virginia Public Access Project data.
U.S. Senate Republican primary
Five Republican candidates are on the June ballot, seeking their party's nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Senator Tim Kaine. The Republican primary race has seen approximately $5.7 million in spending, including funds from independent groups and withdrawn candidates. Despite the Democratic stronghold label from the Cook Political Report, Republican hopefuls continue to pursue Kaine's seat.
The top three contenders are Hung Cao, a retired Navy captain who ran unsuccessfully in 2022 and launched a super PAC in 2023, Edward "Eddie" Garcia, a combat Army veteran, and Scott Parkinson, the Vice President for Government Affairs at the conservative non-profit, Club for Growth.
U.S. House District 5
In the solidly Republican 5th Congressional District, Trump-endorsed state senator John McGuire has challenged incumbent and head of the Freedom Caucus Representative Bob Good. The race has been fiercely fought, with 14,125 Republican voters casting early ballots. An estimated $12 million has been spent, and the primary winner is expected to win the seat in November.
U.S. House District 7
Following Representative Abigail Spanberger's decision not to seek re-election to Congress in favor of running for Virginia governor in 2025, over a dozen candidates have entered the race for U.S. House District 7. Six Republicans and seven Democrats are on the ballot for the June election. Early voting saw 15,310 Democrats and 9,461 Republicans cast their ballots. The region leans Democrat, but Republicans are aiming to win the seat.
About $4.3 million has been spent on the Republican primary. The top contenders are Derrick Anderson, a former U.S. Army combat veteran, and Cameron Hamilton, a retired Navy SEAL pledging allegiance to the House Freedom Caucus if elected.
In the Democratic primary, approximately $6.5 million has been spent, and five out of seven candidates remain competitive. These candidates are Eugene Vindman, Briana Sewell, Elizabeth Guzman, Margaret Angela Franklin and Andrea Bailey.
U.S. House District 10
In U.S. House District 10, more than a dozen candidates are running after Wexton chose not to seek re-election due to health reasons. Four Republicans and 12 Democrats will be on the June ballot. 18,453 Democratic voters and 8,455 Republican voters have cast their early votes in the northern Virginia district. District 10 is considered "solidly Democrat" by the Cook Political Report, but some Republicans are hoping to win the seat.
Approximately $746,200 has been spent on the Republican primary. The leading candidates are Mike Clancy, a senior executive and lawyer at a global tech company, and Aliscia Andrews, a Marine Corps veteran who previously won the Republican primary for the 10th Congressional District in 2020. Andrews currently serves as Virginia's Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, appointed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2022.
Around $11.1 million has been spent on the competitive Democratic primary in Virginia, with five out of 12 candidates vying for the nomination. The contenders include Eileen Filler-Corn, Suhas Subramanyam, Dan Helmer, Krystle Veda Kaul, and Jennifer Boysko.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: In Virginia primary election, congressional seats to watch
