Virginia’s Congressional Battlegrounds, Key 2024 Races

FAIRFAX, Virginia. – Two competitive U.S. Senate races in Virginia and a review of the Virginia Constitution are on the list. election results nationwide and in the DMV, which FOX 5 will be following closely on Election Night.

Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District

One of the most competitive races in Virginia is between two Navy veterans in the Virginia Beach area. Democratic candidate Missy Cotter Smasal is challenging incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Jen Kiggans. Virginia’s 2nd congressional district.

The area, which was redrawn following the 2020 consensus, includes the Chesapeake, Suffolk, Isle of Wight and the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and is home to largest naval base in the country. The county’s voting population consists of active duty and retired military personnel.

Cotter Smasal and Kiggans say they want to cut costs for coastal Virginians and see immigration as a major issue, but they differ somewhat on reproductive rights.

Access to abortion is a top issue for Kotter Smasal, who said it’s the “number one thing” she hears Virginians worry about.

Kiggans This is stated in a video on social network that abortion “is an issue that should be legislated at the state level.”

“I have always been an advocate for women choosing life, with exceptions in cases of rape, incest and life of the mother,” Kiggans continued in the video.

According to the latest reports, these two are in a very close race. survey conducted by the Watson Center at CNU, which showed Keegans’ five-point lead in the September poll narrowed to one point over Cotter Smasal in October, with a margin of error of +/- 3.9%.

Virginia’s 7th Congressional District

Republican Derrick Anderson and Democrat Eugene Vindman are vying for the seat vacated by Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a moderate Democrat who declined to seek re-election so she could run for governor.

Virginia’s 7th Congressional District has switched parties over the past decade, with Spanberger first elected to represent it in 2018, defeating then-Republican David Brat by a margin of less than 2%.

Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington, said this is the most competitive race in Virginia in 2024 and an indicator of the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“There is a lot of national interest in Virginia’s 7th District, and this is the district where congressional majorities are won and lost,” he said. “If you can’t win the suburban districts of America’s big cities, then you won’t be in the majority in the House of Representatives.”

Both candidates representing Virginia’s 7th Congressional District say democracy is in trouble.

Each candidate argued that the government had failed voters in the district and across the country because leaders embraced extremist policies. They say the future of the country will be at stake in this year’s elections.

For months, Vindman, 49, and Anderson, 40, have been locked in a get-out-the-vote battle in their fast-growing district, where veterans make up about 12% of the population. Neither of the two Army veterans had previously been elected to public office.

Vindman focused on the issue of abortion access throughout his campaign.

“It affects more than 50% of our population. Frankly, this is a freedom and privacy issue. A couple of years ago, before the Dobbs decision, this was a constitutional right. For me, I spent 25 years in the military defending the Rights and Freedoms of Americans, and I feel like they are under attack,” Vindman told FOX 5’s Jim Lockey. “I take the position that we need to ensure that Roe v. Wade becomes the law of the land. And I will support it in Congress and veto any attempt to pass a national abortion ban.

Also a major issue for Vindman: the economy.

“I am a father. I raised my family in Prince William County. So I’m very sensitive to gas and grocery prices,” Vindman said. “I mean, I was at the grocery store. A bag of Coke costs nine bucks now, right? It used to cost $2.50. I think it’s a little outrageous, to be honest.”

Anderson, a U.S. Army combat veteran and attorney, previously sought his party’s nomination in the 2022 primary, trailing the winner by about 5 percentage points. If Vega. Vega continued lose to Spanberger.

Anderson made the economy and border issues part of his recurring themes in his re-election campaign.

“The economy is at the forefront of problems. Right now, about a third of people in Virginia can’t afford their weekly expenses. This is food. This is gasoline. It’s rent and clothing,” Anderson told FOX 5’s Jim Lokey in September. “I support a balanced budget and make sure we cut spending, keep taxes low, support our small businesses and get energy, the U.S. energy industry is back up and moving.”

Anderson said security issues at the southern border affect Virginians “from a public safety and public health perspective.”

“We’re looking at what specifically impacts us as it relates to the southern border. Five Virginians a day overdose on fentanyl and die. So we really need to get the border under control,” Anderson said.

Virginia Senate: Kaine v. Cao

Republican candidate Hong Cao is seeking to unseat Democratic incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine in the Virginia Senate.

The two came face to face in a joint debate in October, arguing over issues illegal immigration To tariffs on foreign goods.

Kane served as a Commonwealth senator twice, seeking a third term. Throughout his election campaign, he placed great emphasis on the economy as a major issue.

“I’ve championed Virginia for 30 years and will continue to do so with vigor,” he said in a Final Five interview last month.

Kane is an advocate for expanding infrastructure and manufacturing in Virginia. Kaine also supports tax cuts for low- and moderate-income families, as well as veteran and military families.

Cao, a 25-year Navy veteran, has focused his campaign on protecting jobs from foreign “unfair trade practices,” drug shortages and tighter border security.

“If you came here illegally, you have essentially ruined the whole system,” Cao Cao said on stage at a debate in October. “You can’t cross the line. I mean, you go to Costco and you step over the line, what do you think is going to happen? You can’t come here and expect the American dream unless you are willing to submit to American laws and embrace American culture.”

Kaine, who has become a household name thanks to his tenure as governor, two terms in the Senate and a run on the national ticket in 2016, has been consistently ahead of Cao in the polls over the past few months.

In October, Cao trails Kane by 14 points. vote from the Schar School at George Mason University.

Kane’s lead is bolstered by a 24-point margin among women voters, while male voters in Virginia are “virtually split” between Kane and Cao, according to pollsters.

Virginia proposed constitutional amendment

All of the ballots in Virginia will ask whether to reformulate a section of the state constitutional amendment.

If passed, the ballot question would amend the language of Section 6-A of Article X. Taxation and Finance as follows:

“Exemption from property tax; certain veterans and their surviving spouses; surviving spouses of soldiers killed in the line of duty.”

Elections.virginia.gov explains the proposed amendment as follows:

“A yes vote would allow the surviving spouse of a soldier killed in the line of duty to claim the same property tax exemption on their primary residence that is currently available only to the surviving spouses of soldiers killed in action.”

A “no” vote would prevent such additional surviving spouses from claiming the estate tax exemption.”

The full text of the existing and proposed amendments can be read at choice.virginia.gov. Here.

Tracking and broadcast live, updated 2024 election results on Presidential Election Day, House and Senate balances, and local races in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia on the free FOX LOCAL app for smartphones and TVs, or fox5dc.com/election