Virginia's June primary is setting the stage for some key political races in the fall.
Hung Cao is projected to win Virginia's Republican U.S. Senate primary, NBC News projects. In Virginia's 10th District congressional race, Mike Clancy, R, and Suhas Subramanyam, D, are projected to win their parties' nominations, while in Virginia's 7th District, Eugene Vindman, D, and Derrick Anderson, R, will face off in this fall's general election after winning their parties' nominations, NBC News projects.
In one of the D.C. area's more high-profile local races, NBC4 projects Alyia Gaskins will win the Democratic nomination in Alexandria's mayoral race. Gaskins is virtually guaranteed to win the general election in what is a very liberal Alexandria.
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Polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the commonwealth. See all Virginia primary results here.
The projection of Cao's victory arrived less than 20 minutes after polls closed. He is now set to challenge the incumbent, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, in the general election this November.
“This whole failure of this country right now is because of Tim Kaine backing all of Joe Biden’s policies,” Cao said after his victory. “You know, we’re paying a billion dollars a day for illegal aliens. We’re being invaded by … 177 different countries through our southern border, and there’s no end to this. And now, we want to give amnesty.”
Decision 2024
"I've been a supporter of Hung Cao from the very beginning," GOP voter Phillip Martin said earlier Tuesday. "I saw a seriousness about him; I love his military record."
Cao's life story seemed to resonate with voters. As a child, he came to this country as a refugee from Vietnam. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy and then went on to a military career.
Every voter News4 spoke with at an Ashburn polling place Tuesday said they had chosen Cao.
"I appreciate his military service," voter Wendy Carter told us. "He's fiscally conservative, family man. Conservative values … just a steady person."
Cao was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, and GOP voters said they felt the momentum.
"There’s going to be Trump coattails," voter Gary Meredith said, calling the United States a "very divided country."
"I think where we are headed is a sea change," he said.
Two of Virginia's hottest open congressional seats drew large fields of candidates.
Virginia's 10th District
NBC News projects lawyer and tech executive Mike Clancy will win the Republican nomination in Virginia's 10th District, while state Sen. Suhas Subramanyam — who was endorsed by the incumbent — will win the Democratic nomination.
Republican voters who spoke with News4 at an Ashburn polling place Tuesday were in agreement on the candidates they preferred in both the 10th District congressional race and the Senate contest. In the four-person GOP congressional field, they said they were backing Clancy.
For Democrats, the focus was picking a new congressional candidate since incumbent Jennifer Wexton was not seeking re-election. Wexton was diagnosed with a degenerative brain condition that prevented her from seeking a fourth term.
Democratic voters chose from a wide 12-person field. Half the candidates were current or former General Assembly members.
Democratic voter Renee Jordan did not reveal her choice Tuesday, but she shared the issues she evaluated to make her decision.
"Gun laws and restrictions on that, fighting for our democracy which is huge coming up, and also women's rights, because they are being diminished completely, and I’m upset about that," she said.
A couple who spoke to News4 said they chose different candidates. Shirley Steele chose Del. Dan Helmer, a veteran.
"He served our country and cared about this nation," she said.
But her husband, Marcellus Steele, said he chose David Reid, the candidate who came to his door asking for his vote.
"I appreciate them coming around, coming out, taking the time to introduce themselves," he said.
Helmer had built a fundraising edge, but most of the voters in the 10th district live in Loudoun County, and Helmer lives in Fairfax. Subramanyam lives in Loudoun, and his campaign got a boost in mid-May with Wexton's endorsement.
Virginia's 7th District
The other key Northern Virginia race is another open congressional seat, this one in the 7th District, which includes parts of Prince William, Stafford and Spotsylvania counties.
This race will likely be the hottest in Virginia this fall, as the GOP hopes to flip the district back to red. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D, currently represents the district, but she announced she wouldn't run for re-election as she plans a run for governor in 2025.
Republican Derrick Anderson and Democrat Eugene Vindman won their parties' respective nominations Tuesday night, NBC News projects, setting them up to face off in this fall's general election.
Anderson served in the U.S. Army as a Green Beret, has a law degree and was born and raised in Spotsylvania County.
A vocal supporter of former president Donald Trump, Anderson says if elected, he'll focus on securing the border, reducing crime and improving the cost of living. And he didn't waste time going on the attack against his Democratic opponent.
"My opponent, Eugene Vindman, only moved to this district to run for office," Anderson said after claiming the GOP nomination Tuesday night. "He doesn't understand the struggles we face each and every day."
Anderson also said: "Eugene Vindman is only running for revenge. Revenge against Donald Trump and revenge against Republicans."
Vindman claimed victory early in the night, and unofficial results had him about 35 points ahead of the rest of the Democratic field. The first-time candidate emerged from a field of seven Democratic hopefuls, and he far outraised the others, although four of them have experience as elected officials, including three current office holders.
His twin brother, retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, made international headlines when he testified during Trump's impeachment hearings about Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. Eugene Vindman — who was a military officer at the time — said he, too, was involved as a whistleblower, which led to both brothers losing their government positions.
Vindman gave his victory speech before Anderson was projected as the winner in the Republican primary, but Vindman said that, regardless of who won, November would be a choice between him and a MAGA extremist: "a part of the MAGA extremist crowd who wants nothing more than to play politics with our classrooms and let politicians ban books on the Holocaust and slavery and throw them into the fire."
With the mudslinging already off to that kind of start, political analysts expect the race for Virginia's 7th District will be a very expensive and probably a pretty ugly campaign, as Republicans see this as a fair opportunity to flip a seat in Congress.
"The Republicans are looking at the 7th District as a more appealing opportunity to flip a seat in Northern Virginia," said Stephen Farnsworth, a political analyst at the University of Mary Washington, ahead of Tuesday's primary. "The amount of money that's going to be spent on the 7th District on the Republican side will be much, much greater than the 10th, regardless of who the nominee is."
CORRECTION (June 18, 2024, 8:28 p.m.): An earlier version of this article said Jennifer Wexton would not seek a third term. However, she is currently serving her third term and will not seek a fourth.
