Voters in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District voted Yevgeny “Eugene” Vindman to his first term in Congress, bringing the former Army lawyer — and key figure in former President Donald Trump’s 2019 impeachment proceedings — to the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Tonight is a testament to the power of the American experience that an immigrant who escaped the Soviet regime and came to this country with his family, a great nation, with less than $800 in our pockets would now stand here, congressman-elect of the United States House of Representatives,” Vindman told supporters Tuesday.
Virginia's 7th District was the last congressional race The Associated Press called, coming in at 6:24 p.m. on Wednesday. Vote tallies from the state department of elections put Vindman at about 51% of the vote to Anderson's 49% — putting it outside the commonwealth's margin of error for a recount to be requested. All results are unofficial until certified by the state.
The Republican nominee, Derrick Anderson, also an attorney and Army veteran, had said Tuesday night he was waiting for more results to come in. He conceded to Vindman Thursday afternoon.
“It’s time to let our leaders get to work,” he told supporters. “Eugene Vindman immigrated to this country and then served our country in the U.S. Army, and I'm grateful for his service. But we have different visions for the 7th District and the United States of America. I respect his willingness to serve, and I expect he'll do everything in his power in Congress to make life better for the people of the district.”
Like Anderson, whose only other run for office was a 2022 loss in a congressional primary, Vindman is a newcomer to electoral politics. He came to the race with considerable national star power — and a record-breaking amount of cash — after he and his twin brother, Alexander, helped blow the whistle in Trump’s first impeachment inquiry. Vindman’s campaign focused on abortion rights and protecting the federal civil service from drastic changes contemplated by Trump and other prominent Republicans.
The sprawling district includes eastern Prince William County; all of Caroline, Culpeper, Greene, King George, Madison, Orange, Spotsylvania and Stafford counties; the City of Fredericksburg; and a sliver of Albemarle County.
It is one of two highly contested Virginia seats that will play a role in which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives come January. It was up for grabs after incumbent Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a moderate Democrat with a history of winning tight races in the commonwealth, decided to not run for re-election to focus on her 2025 gubernatorial campaign.
Vindman leaned heavily on reproductive rights and abortion in his campaign, and attempted to associate Anderson with Project 2025, a collection of conservative policy proposals from the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank. Vindman spoke frequently about his family and daughters in campaign speeches — and at the Fredericksburg debate in October — emphasizing his background as a suburban dad concerned about rising costs.
“I spent 25 years in the Army defending Americans' rights and freedoms, and frankly, they're under attack in the context of abortion,” he said at a September debate in Prince William County. “I understand the high price of housing and I understand the high price of child care. These are things that my family has had to deal with”
Anderson focused his message on so-called kitchen table issues, presenting himself as a business-friendly conservative eager to tackle inflation, promote U.S. energy production and support law enforcement and the military. On the campaign trail, he talked about growing up in Spotsylvania County and joked about receiving frustrated phone calls from his mother about grocery prices.
“I can barely afford to live right now,” said Prince William voter Rich Reuter, who added he is on a fixed income as a retiree. “I don't hear much from the Democrats other than ‘Trump's bad.’”
Anderson and Vindman attacked each other relentlessly on the campaign trail, calling into question each others’ integrity and commitment to serving the district.
Anderson hammered Vindman for months about what he called “stolen valor” — accusing Vindman of using an inflated military title in his retirement. Vindman was a colonel when he left the military, but had not served the three years required to retain the rank’s pay grade in retirement and retired as a lieutenant colonel, according to Military Times.
Anderson also questioned whether it was accurate to say Vindman had served in combat — Vindman served in a combat zone in Iraq, but Anderson has claimed he did not come under fire. Anderson also frequently referenced Vindman’s history in the Trump administration on the campaign trail, accusing Vindman of running for office as part of a “revenge tour” against the former president rather than a sense of public service.
Vindman attacked Anderson for being filmed in family-style footage that he used in independent advertising, with the candidate posing alongside a friend’s wife and her children. Vindman and national Democrats pounced on the story, first reported by The New York Times, calling out Anderson for pretending to have a “fake family.” (Anderson is engaged to be married and has no children.)
The attacks were off-putting for Dana Tawiah, who voted in Fredericksburg on Tuesday.
“I don't know if its just because of TV, but the discussion points aren't really talked about,” she said. “It's just more like trying to personally attack each other, which I don't think is productive. Especially when we're trying to figure out who we want to vote on.”
In Prince William County, Edwin Gonzalez said he was excited and enthusiastic to vote for Democrats.
“I think this election is very crucial for this country's future, and being a young Hispanic man is one of the reasons why I came to vote, for those who can't vote,” said Gonzalez, who said education was the most important issue to him. “The risk of eliminating the Department of Education is big … if one of the candidates were to win, [Individualized Education Programs] would be at risk.”
Late Tuesday night, outgoing Rep. Abigail Spanberger issued a press release congratulating Vindman and promising a smooth transition between the Democrats: “In Congress, Eugene will bring the values, work ethic, and commitment to public service that the Seventh District deserves.”
