Northern Virginia Republicans chose retired Navy captain and political newcomer Hung Cao to face Democratic Rep. Jennifer Wexton in the race for the 10th District.
Cao is a refugee from Vietnam and an immigrant to the United States, according to his campaign website.
He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School before attending the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. Cao served in the Navy for 25 years.
Voters had to choose from 11 candidates using ranked choice ballots, and counting went late into Saturday night.
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Cao led through every round, but multiple candidates were eliminated before he achieved a majority over his closest competitor, Prince William County Supervisor Jeanine Lawson.
The redrawn 10th District leans Democratic but Republicans see it as competitive; Republican Glenn Youngkin won 49 percent of the vote in the district in last year's gubernatorial race, according to data from the Virginia Public Access Project.
Cao raised less money than Lawson, but concentrated his campaign in the region's immigrant communities.
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He is one of three congressional nominees selected by Republicans Saturday. In the 5th District, Rep. Bob Good overwhelmingly won re-nomination at a district convention In the heavily Democratic 8th District, Ukrainian immigrant Karina Lipsman won the party's nominating convention and the right to challenge Democratic incumbent Don Beyer.
Polling locations saw long lines of voters Saturday. At Broad Run High School in Ashburn, lines snaked down the sidewalk and continued inside the hallways.
GOP leaders said they were encouraged by the turnout in the newly redrawn 10th District that covers Loudoun, Fauquier and Rappahannock counties, along with parts of Prince William and Fairfax counties.
