The election in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District is shaping up to be a tight contest, with two political newcomers vying for the support of swayable voters in one of the state’s most competitive districts. 

Democrat Eugene Vindman is taking on Republican Derrick Anderson in a race to succeed U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Prince William, who announced last year that she is not seeking reelection in favor of a 2025 gubernatorial bid.

The district, anchored in Prince William County and stretching west to Madison County and south to Caroline County, has a history of narrow victories in past elections. With this being Vindman’s inaugural run for office and Anderson’s second foray into the 7th District race, both are working hard to connect with undecided voters who may swing the election.

In addition to their shared ambition to represent the district in the U.S. Congress, both candidates bring a strong record of military service to the table — a key theme in their respective campaigns. 

Vindman, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and attorney, has emphasized his commitment to defending democracy and advocating for national security. Anderson, also a veteran, served as a Green Beret in the Army Special Forces and has focused his campaign on conservative values, including strengthening national defense and supporting law enforcement.

“I was a troop leader paratrooper in the 82nd, and when we jumped out of airplanes, it didn’t matter who was to the left or right of us, who was Democrat, Republican or independent, or whether you’re Black, Hispanic, what part of the country you came from,” Vindman told The Mercury in a recent interview. “We’re focused on the mission, and that’s my mindset in everything that I do.”

Anderson did not respond to repeated interview requests for this article. 

The Republican has aligned himself with former President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again agenda and has expressed his support for at least some proposals in the conservative policy roadmap known as Project 2025, which outlines plans to reshape government and policy under a future Republican administration.

Energy policy has also emerged as a significant point of debate between the two candidates, with each offering contrasting visions for the future of Virginia’s energy sector.

Additionally, both have taken clear stances on abortion and immigration. Vindman has emphasized the need to protect reproductive rights and seek comprehensive immigration reform, while Anderson has focused on more restrictive immigration policies and has voiced support for overturning federal protections for abortion.

Candidates’ backgrounds 

Vindman’s family immigrated to the United States from Ukraine in 1979 when he was 3. He joined the Army’s 82nd Airborne division as a paratrooper before rising to lieutenant colonel and Judge Advocate General,,the highest-ranking uniformed lawyer in the military. He later joined the White House’s National Security Team. 

Vindman’s twin brother, Alex Vindman, became nationally known as a whistleblower who leaked details about a phone conversation betweenTrump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine during his presidency, which led to Trump’s impeachment. 

Vindman was fired by Trump in 2020. He was investigating war crimes in Ukraine when Spanberger announced her gubernatorial bid last year. Vindman dominated the Democratic nomination contest, garnering more than 50% of the vote in a seven-way primary. 

“I thought to myself, I really care about which direction this country is going in,” Vindman explained as his primary reason for running.

Anderson, who traces his beginnings to working at his mother’s restaurant, served in the Middle East in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon.

He went on to work at the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy during the Trump administration and became a lawyer, before witnessing the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which he said was “botched.”

“I was upset with the lack of accountability for this administration,” Anderson said during an Oct. 2 candidates debate with Vindman at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg. 

District profile

Spanberger has represented the 7th District since 2019, after ousting U.S. Rep. Dave Brat, D-Henrico, by 50.3%-48.4%

A recent Cook Report analysis has moved the district from “lean Democrat” to “toss up.” 

By June, Vindman had raised $7.4 million — over five times as much as Anderson, who raised $1.4 million. The Democratic National Committee recently backed Vindman’s effort with another $50,000. 

The national support for candidates in the 7th District underscores the race’s significance in the broader political landscape. With Republicans holding a narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives — 220 to 211 over Democrats — the outcome of this race could have far-reaching implications. Control of Congress will be pivotal in advancing or obstructing the agenda of the next president, whether it’s Trump or Harris.

The economy

A September Pew Research poll revealed that the economy is the top issue on voters’ minds this election season, and both candidates offer contrasting approaches to addressing economic concerns. 

Vindman has expressed worries about Trump’s policies and the potential impact of Project 2025 on the district’s workforce, which includes nearly 60,000 federal employees. In contrast, Anderson has focused his campaign on energy policy, emphasizing the need for a strong energy sector to bolster the economy.

Trump’s own policy plan, Agenda 47, would remove about 100,000 of those jobs. George Mason University professor Terry Clower estimated that the eliminated positions would equal a $27-28 billion loss from Virginia’s economy annually.

Anderson, like Trump, publicly denies supporting Project 2025, which calls for major overhauls of the federal government.

“Folks, I did not know what Project 2025 was until this individual kept talking about it over and over again. But I can tell you that it’s not my plan,” Anderson said at a recent candidate’s forum at a Manassas middle school, referring to his opponent   

Vindman has said he opposes Project 2025 because he doesn’t want to see it replace about 50,0000 “Schedule F” non-partisan federal employees with loyalists to whichever political party is in power.

“Eliminating those jobs would literally devastate the economy in this area. It’s profoundly unfair, and it’s also damaging to national security,” Vindman said. “These are people that have spent decades in government, understanding threats, understanding Russia, China, or law enforcement, and (Project 2025 calls for) replacing them with partisan political hacks.”

To help people’s pocketbooks, Vindman suggested building off the work of Democratic President Joe Biden to cap medication prices, including insulin, by placing limits on a broader range of medications.

Meanwhile, Anderson, who said he understands that “there is climate change,” underscored that businesses have named electricity bills as their top expense, and that the economy could get back on track by prioritizing domestic production of energy. Anderson falsely claimed about 35 minutes into the UMW debate that the country is a “net importer rather than a net exporter of oil.” According to the Energy Information Agency, a federal government tracker of energy trends, the U.S. in 2023 imported about 8.51 million barrels per day of oil from 86 countries, compared to exporting about 10.15 million barrels per day of oil.

Abortion

Abortion rights are another major issue for voters nationwide, and the candidates in the 7th District reflect opposing views. 

Vindman has called for restoring Roe v. Wade, advocating for federal protections for abortion rights. Anderson, on the other hand, has stated that while he does not support a national ban on abortion, he believes the decision should be left to individual states, allowing them to determine their own abortion laws.

“There are two fundamental questions in this race: Will you restore women’s right to reproductive health care, as it was under Roe v. Wade?” Vindman asked. “And will you stand against a national abortion ban? I will restore Roe v. Wade, and I will stand against the national abortion ban.”

Anderson, in the UMW debate, denied supporting a federal abortion ban, or taking away reproductive rights to in vitro fertilization.

Anderson also said he would support over the counter contraceptives, but in a previous forum for both the 7th and 10th congressional districts, he stopped short of saying if he would support a woman’s right to choose.

“I support the states to be able to make those decisions that best fits those states,” Anderson said at the time.

Anderson has falsely stated that former Gov. Ralph Northam supported infanticide, which is illegal in all 50 states. Northam was talking about palliative care for babies born with complications during a 2019 interview that has been widely misquoted in every election cycle since.

Immigration

On immigration, both candidates acknowledge issues at the U.S. southern border, but their approaches differ.

Vindman has proposed reviving the Border Act of 2024, a federal measure aiming to address border security and immigration reform that nearly passed before being blocked by congressional Republicans. 

In contrast, Anderson has emphasized the need for strong immigration and foreign policies to enhance community safety, but he has not offered a specific plan or proposal to address the issue.

Along with several other measures, the Senate proposal would have given the Department of Homeland Security emergency authority to shut down the border if daily migrant encounters reached 4,000 over a one-week span. 

If those crossings rose to over 5,000 on average per day in a given week, DHS would be required to close the border to migrants crossing through ports of entry. Some migrants could stay if they proved they were escaping torture or prosecution.

Vindman said he would have supported the bill, which “would have been the toughest bill in decades, and we’re badly in need of comprehensive immigration reform.” 

Visit the Virginia Mercury’s voter guide to see what other congressional and U.S. Senate candidates had to say on other key issues, including abortion, education, inflation, immigration and more.