The 2024 Virginia primary will take place on June 18. This election day will see a number of battles for the House, in a state that may hold the keys to the majority.
Virginians voted in their presidential primary on Super Tuesday, March 5. However, June 18 will see Congressional races play out in a competitive state. In the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans gained a seat under new district lines, while the Democrats fended off challenges in several other key races. New challengers will be lined up in these House seats as well as in the Senate contest.
2024 Virginia Primary: US Senate
Democrat Tim Kaine is running for a third term in the Senate. He has no Democratic opposition, but on the GOP side, there are five candidates running against him.
Among the Republican candidates is Hung Cao, who ran for the House in the northern 10th District in 2022 but lost to Jennifer Wexton by a 53 to 47-percent margin. Cao, a US Navy veteran, has Donald Trump’s endorsement. Scott Parkinson, a rank-and-file Republican who worked on Capitol Hill, has many endorsements from GOP elected officials. The other candidates are activist Jonathan Emord, Army veteran Eddie Garcia, and another Navy vet, Chuck Smith.
Kaine will have a significant advantage in the general election over whichever candidate emerges. As we noted in our recent first look at the Senate video, Kaine is likely to run ahead of Joe Biden in November, while Biden is expected to carry Virginia again. Democrats have held both Senate seats in the Commonwealth since 2009.
2024 Virginia Primary: US House
VA-02
Jen Kiggans had the lone seat flip in Virginia in 2022, snatching the seat for the GOP from Democratic incumbent Elaine Luria. Democrats are targeting the 2nd District of Virginia in 2024, a seat which contains areas such as Virginia Beach, much of Chesapeake, Isle of Wight County, and the Eastern Shore.
Kiggans is unopposed for renomination. Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, Navy veteran Missy Cotter Smasal and attorney Jake Denton are running. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) named Cotter Smasal to their “Red to Blue” program earlier in 2024, meaning they intend to go all-in on winning this competitive seat.
VA-05
Bob Good, a staunch right-wing GOP congressman from central Virginia, faces a primary challenge as he runs for re-election. John McGuire, a state senator who represents a number of counties north and west of Richmond, is giving Good a serious run and stands a real chance of unseating the congressman.
Both candidates come from the right, but Donald Trump waded into this race to endorse McGuire over Good. The congressman successfully primaried a GOP incumbent, Denver Riggleman, back in 2020. Good endorsed Ron DeSantis for president over Trump, who no doubt wanted to return the favor in this 5th District primary. This race has split the MAGA movement, with some Republicans following Trump’s lead to endorse McGuire, while others, like Steve Bannon and Matt Gaetz, stuck with Good.
The GOP nominee will have a strong edge in November. Blue Charlottesville, the home of the University of Virginia, is cancelled out by all the other red in this district, which also includes Lynchburg, home of Liberty University.
VA-07
The departure of Democrat Abigail Spanberger in the 7th District has left the field wide-open, and Republicans are dreaming of a gain. Spanberger is running for Virginia governor in 2025, but will the Democrats hold her seat?
There are eight Democratic and six Republican candidates trying to be the next member from the Seventh. The district is mostly in what is considered Northern Virginia and includes Fredericksburg, Culpeper, and Dale City. Among the most notable Democrats in the race is Eugene Vindman, who, along with his brother Alexander Vindman, blew the whistle on Donald Trump’s “perfect” phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which led to the former getting impeached the first time in 2019. Another notable Democrat in the race is Briana Sewell, a state delegate and cousin of Alabama congresswoman Terri Sewell.
As for the GOP side, most of the endorsements have gone to Cameron Hamilton, a Navy veteran, and Derrick Anderson, an attorney.
The 7th District tilts Democratic. It is a seat the Democrats need to hold if they are to have any chance of retaking the House in November.
VA-10
Another Democratic open seat in Northern Virginia will make for a very busy primary election.
The 10th District, which includes Leesburg, Sterling, and Manassas, will see Democrat Jennifer Wexton step aside. A dozen Democrats are in the race to replace her – too many to mention by name. Among the major candidates are Jennifer Boysko, a state senator who ironically replaced Wexton in the Senate when the latter was elected to Congress, Eileen Filler-Corn, former House of Delegates speaker, and four other current members of the House of Delegates, Virginia’s lower house. It is anyone’s guess who will come out ahead there.
By comparison, the GOP primary will be quiet, as just four Republicans are running. Three of them have run for elected office in the past, as recently as 2022, while the fourth candidate, Army veteran Alex Isaac, has not previously run for office.
The 10th was considered a reach goal for the GOP in 2022 which they did not capture. Democrats are confident of a win here in November.
Simplified Summary
The 2024 Virginia primary will take place on June 18. Several Republicans are running for US Senate, with the winner taking on Senator Tim Kaine (D) in November. There are four US House races to watch: the 2nd, 5th, 7th, and 10th Districts. Three of them are currently held by Democrats, but in the 5th District, a Republican congressman is in danger of losing his primary.
