Tag: Virginia 5th District

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Webb wanes: Democratic candidate comes up short in red district

In Virginia's 5th Congressional District, Dr. Cameron Webb fell to Bob Good in a highly contested race. PC: Eze Amos

President-elect Joe Biden swept to an easy victory in Virginia last week, carrying the state with 53.9 percent of the vote to Donald Trump’s 44.2 percent, according to data from the Virginia Department of Elections.

In the 5th Congressional District, Democrats weren’t so successful. Dr. Cameron Webb, UVA’s Director of Health Policy and Equity, fell to Bob Good, a Liberty University athletics administrator and Campbell County Supervisor. Observers around the country noted that Webb ran a sharp campaign while Good fumbled through multiple comical scandals, including a committing a potential campaign finance violation by auctioning off an AR-15 rifle at a rally. Heading into election night, FiveThirtyEight called the district a tossup.

Ultimately, however, Good earned 210,986 votes (52.4 percent) to Webb’s 190,313 (47.3 percent).

The huge, largely rural 5th District has voted for a Republican by a comfortable margin ever since it was drawn into its current form in the last round of redistricting. Four different Republican candidates have run in the 5th since 2012, carrying between 52.4 and 60.9 percent of the vote each time.

The map above shows the margin of victory for Cameron Webb and Bob Good in each of the 5th District’s localities.

Though Webb lost to Good by 5.1 percent, there’s evidence to suggest Webb’s campaign did swing some voters into his camp. Webb outperformed Biden, earning around 7,000 more votes than the president-elect in the 5th District.

Still, that wasn’t enough to overcome the challenges presented by the gerrymandered district.

Two years ago, Democrat Leslie Cockburn lost to Republican Denver Riggleman by 6.6 percent in the 5th. In 2020, Webb managed to flip two of the district’s 23 localities, turning Nelson County and Fluvanna County from one-point losses into one-point wins. Webb also expanded on Cockburn’s 2018 performance in Albemarle, the district’s largest locality, winning 68.2 percent of the vote, compared to Cockburn’s 64.6.

Overall, Webb improved on Cockburn’s 2018 vote share in 15 of 23 localities—but he didn’t improve by more than 3.6 percent in a single locality, and he lost ground in some places.

Webb wasn’t able to make serious inroads into the district’s most populous red localities. In Pittsylvania and Fauquier counties, the district’s two largest localities outside of Charlottesville-Albemarle, Webb won 32.2 percent and 42.1 percent of the vote, respectively. For comparison, in 2018 Cockburn won 30.8 percent in Pittsylvania and 42.4 percent in Fauquier.

“It has truly been an honor to run to represent this district in Congress,” Webb wrote in a statement conceding the race on Tuesday. “This campaign has been a battle of ideas about how to best serve the people of our district and I cannot give enough thanks to everyone who made it possible.”

“Tonight is a victory for the conservative values that founded and sustain this nation, for biblical principles, the sanctity of life, religious liberty, free market capitalism and the importance of faith and family,” Good wrote after his victory.

Democrat Mark Warner also ran ahead of Biden, winning re-election to the U.S. Senate with 55.9 percent of the vote. Two Virginia Dems who flipped red seats in 2018 hung on to their districts this time around. In the 2nd, Elaine Luria beat Republican Scott Taylor for the second time in two years, widening her margin of victory to 5.4 percent, and in the 7th, Abigail Spanberger beat Delegate Nick Freitas by about 8,000 votes.

Virginia Republicans have now lost four straight presidential elections, four straight senate races, and two straight governor’s races. (Not that we’re counting.) Last time Republicans won statewide office was in 2009, when Bob McDonnell was elected governor, and he wound up being charged with a felony and narrowly avoiding prison. This year, the party ran Freitas—last spotted losing to far-right Confederate enthusiast Corey Stewart in the 2018 senate primary—in a winnable congressional race. Republicans don’t have much time on their hands if they want to right the ship before the next governor’s race next November.

Further down the ballot, Virginians overwhelmingly voted to pass an amendment to the Virginia constitution that will reform the way the state draws U.S. congressional and state legislative districts. The amendment places the responsibility for drawing district lines with a bipartisan commission comprised of citizens and legislators of both parties, rather than allowing the majority party to draw lines however they prefer. Some House of Delegates Democrats opposed the measure, claiming that it wasn’t a strong enough reform, but the proposal passed with the support of 65.8 percent of voters.

In a perfect world, new lines will be drawn in time for the 2021 House of Delegates elections. It’s possible, though, that a census delayed by coronavirus could mean new data isn’t available until the 2022 congressional races.

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In brief: Black at STAB, a win for Webb, and more

Black alumni and students at the St. Anne's-Belfield School have anonymously shared their experiences online, including microaggressions from teachers and uses of racial slurs by other students. PC: Skyclad Aerial

Private protests

For decades, students in collared shirts and plaid skirts have strolled across St. Anne’s-Belfield’s well-manicured lawns. But even this historic bastion of prep has felt the effects of our transformative moment, at least in a small way.

After the murder of George Floyd, a group of STAB alumni, led by Sophia Hunt, created a petition with a list of demands for the administration, including publicly condemning racial violence, acknowledging the presence of racism in the community, hiring a full-time global diversity and inclusion officer, and diversifying the faculty, board of trustees, and student body.

Meanwhile, students have begun calling for change on the Instagram page @blackatstab. On the account, Black alumni and students have anonymously shared their experiences, including microaggressions from teachers and uses of racial slurs by other students.

When asked for a statement, STAB did not address the Instagram page, instead directing C-VILLE to an email in which the school says it’s “launching a series of dialogues within our entire community.”

STAB declined to release a detailed breakdown of its student body’s demographics, only sharing the statistic from its website that 32 percent of students are “of traditionally under-represented groups.” Elsewhere in town, The Covenant School’s student body is 87 percent white, and Tandem Friends School is 78 percent white. The city public school district is 42 percent white.

(The phenomenon isn’t unique to Charlottesville: Nationally, 69 percent of private school students are white, though just 51 percent of the country’s school-aged population is white, according to research from the University of California Los Angeles.)

Piper Holden, one of the STAB alums who started the petition, says she felt like the message was received. “But obviously this isn’t over,” she says. “I’m really hoping to see those changes. But we’re going to have to wait and see.” — Claudia Gohn

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Quote of the week

“November Cook Political rating: Lean R. But if
you’re looking for an upset, this is one to watch.”

—Election forecaster Dave Wasserman, on the race for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District

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In brief

Fireworks frenzy

People have been launching fireworks around town for weeks—and it’s not just happening in Charlottesville. In New York City, the fireworks have been so prevalent that conspiracy theories have started circulating about their origins. If you haven’t had your fill of fireworks, the city’s annual Fourth of July show hasn’t been canceled. But instead of gathering in McIntire Park, you’re advised to stay socially distant and look toward Carter Mountain, where the show will go on, beginning at 9:15pm on Saturday.

Dr. Cameron Webb PC: Supplied photo

Webb wins big

In case you haven’t heard, UVA doctor B. Cameron Webb picked up a landslide victory in last Tuesday’s primary for the Democratic nomination to represent the 5th District in the House of Representatives. If Webb beats Bob Good in November, he’ll be the first Black physician to serve in Congress. 

Absentee action

With the pandemic keeping people away from the polls, 49 percent of primary voters in Charlottesville cast absentee ballots last week. (In the March presidential primary, just 7 percent of local votes were absentee.) This election could be a valuable test run for a November contest that might see large numbers of absentee votes—in this election cycle, Virginians requested 118,174 absentee ballots and submitted 87,052 a return rated of 74 percent.

Johnny Reb on the run

Legislation allowing localities to remove or recontextualize Confederate monuments goes into effect today, July 1, and Albemarle County is wasting no time—the Board of Supervisors will discuss the removal of the Johnny Reb statue outside the county courthouse at its meeting this evening. The statue could legally come down as early as September. More hurdles still remain before Charlottesville can begin the same process.

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Meet the candidates: The 2020 5th District ballot is already crowded

Clockwise from top left: Kim Daugherty, RD Huffstetler, Cameron Webb, and John Lesinski have all expressed interest in running for the 5th District seat. (Daugherty photo: Ralph Alswang, Huffstetler and Webb: provided, Lesinski: Ray Boc)

Labor Day has traditionally represented the start of the presidential and congressional election seasons, providing candidates a window of one year and two months during which they campaign, meet with voters, and raise money. With the federal holiday now in the rearview mirror, that season is underway in the 5th District of Virginia.

Three (potentially four) Democrats are seeking the nomination to challenge Republican Denver Riggleman for his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. So far, only one other Virginia district has at least four candidates running, making the 5th one of the most highly contested seats in the commonwealth. Here’s a look at the Dems who’ve either announced or are actively considering challenging incumbent Riggleman.

Kim Daugherty

Lawyer, Fauquier County

Daugherty, the only woman in the race thus far, is making her first run for office. Raised in Stafford after moving around a lot with her military family, Daugherty attended Longwood University for her undergraduate degree, graduated from the Florida Coastal School of Law, and has spent her entire professional career practicing law in Virginia.

A family law attorney in private practice, Daugherty says she doesn’t have a “cushy” job. “I work [what feels like] 80 hours a week advocating for families…and on top of that I make time to be with my own family,” she says. “This is the type of lifestyle and these are the types of challenges that so many people in the 5th District face, and I understand it.”

Focused on serving working-class citizens, Daugherty believes many in the 5th haven’t felt economic success and she hopes to advocate in Congress for people who have to work countless hours a week.

“In traveling the 5th District and talking with voters, it’s clear to me that they are really one step away from financial ruin,” she says. “We need to make sure that we’re working for working-class families and working-class people, and not so much giving tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy and the elite.”

Roger Dean “RD” Huffstetler

Entrepreneur, Charlottesville

Huffstetler is making his second bid for the 5th District seat after conceding the Democratic nomination to Leslie Cockburn in the 2018 election. The former owner of a startup tech company who grew up in a rural family, Huffstetler spent four years in the Marines before attending the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University with help from the G.I. Bill.

“My campaign is not going to take a dime of corporate PAC money; we don’t believe in that,” Huffstetler says. “And if you have a business in my district, I’ll meet with you, you just don’t have to pay me to do that. That’s literally the job of a congressman to try and meet with their constituents.”

Huffstetler says the three distinct issues most important to voters are: health care, education, and infrastructure.

“People just really want to know that they’re going to be able to have quality, affordable health care in their hometown…they want to know why their young people are going away—they’re not getting the skills they need at their local high school or community college to compete in the changing economy—[and] if you go to Buckingham County, 90 percent of the residents do not have broadband internet,” he says.

Cameron Webb

UVA physician, Charlottesville

Another first-timer like Daugherty, Webb graduated from UVA before obtaining a medical degree from Wake Forest and studying law at Loyola University. He was a White House fellow from 2016-17 and now works at UVA, where he’s an assistant professor of medicine and director of health policy and equity.

“It’s a critical time, it’s a critical year, there are critical issues, and there’s just a lot of need for good representation,” Webb says. “I think people remain very motivated to vote for folks who are going to help press for change that’s going to help improve lives.”

Webb’s biggest area of concern is health care, having talked to patients who say the current system hasn’t helped them obtain the coverage they need. He plans to advocate for combating climate change and racial prejudice, but says health care is the top issue on the minds of district voters he’s spoken with since launching his campaign.

“As a physician, I see every day in that role how critical health care is,” Webb says. “I hear every day from my patients how [the healthcare system] is not serving them well.”

John Lesinski

Real estate broker, Rappahannock County

Lesinski hasn’t officially announced, and says he is “still exploring” the idea of putting together a campaign.

Currently an executive vice president at the Northern Virginia branch of the real estate services organization Colliers International, Lesinski’s resumé includes 26 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, chairman of the Rappahannock County Public Schools’ Board of Education, and a spot on the county’s Board of Supervisors.

“In addition to being an elected official and a businessman, I’m also a veteran,” Lesinski says. “I [did] four years of active duty in the reserves. I currently serve on the Board of Veterans Services and the Veteran Services Foundation Board, and I still remain active in trying to support our veterans in a lot of their needs, from mental health to homelessness to suicide prevention.”

Lesinski says he’d focus on expanding broadband internet access to the entire district, boosting employment, and supporting local military veterans.

“Being a businessman and having some experience working with companies that are creating jobs, I think those are the issues that if I was running, we’d give a lot of attention,” he says.

CORRECTION (9:15 a.m., September 5): A previous version of this article said Huffstetler is the owner of a startup tech company. He sold the company and no longer owns it.

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Where’s Denver?: Riggleman refutes claims he hasn’t been accessible

Denver Riggleman hasn’t hosted an in-person town hall since taking office, but says he’s made himself accessible in other ways. (Photo courtesy of Denver Riggleman)

Amid complaints from local residents that he hasn’t made himself available to constituents, Congressman Denver Riggleman has scheduled his first in-person town hall meeting for August 28—in Danville.

The Republican representative of Virginia’s 5th District in the U.S. House of Representatives took office in January, when he published a pledge that said he would “conduct town halls throughout the district” once he was settled in. Seven months into his term, Riggleman has only held one town hall, by phone, but says he’s met with constituents in other ways.

“I don’t know if you want to call them town halls, but we certainly have been doing listening tours with every type of constituency we have, so I think the town halls, listening tours, roundtables, all those are pretty much the same thing,” Riggleman says. He says he plans to hold a town hall in Charlottesville “in the next four to five months.”

Craig DuBose is a Charlottesville resident who grew disgruntled with Riggleman’s lack of town hall meetings. The carpenter, who similarly pursued Riggleman’s predecessor, Tom Garrett, decided to organize a “constituent day” with other voters on August 26 at Riggleman’s office.

The event was promoted by Indivisible Charlottesville—an anti-Trump group that advocates for holding public officials accountable—with the idea that residents could visit Riggleman’s local office to voice their concerns about what’s going on in the district. The congressman says he wasn’t aware of the constituent day prior to it happening.

“How many times do we have to show and ask you to respond to this before you either respond to it or tell us you’re not going to?” DuBose says. He started making regular visits to the office in July with a group of fellow residents to try and speak with Riggleman, with no success.

Fourteen people marked on Facebook that they stopped by the office Monday, and 37 said they were interested. A Riggleman staffer confirmed multiple people had visited that morning but wouldn’t disclose a number.

As it turns out, the congressman was in fact in Charlottesville on Monday, meeting with local farmers and lawmakers at Roslyn Farm. He also attended a roundtable at the crop processing company Nutrien Ag Solutions in South Hill. Richard Fox, the owner of Roslyn Farm, says local farmers feel like their voices are heard by Riggleman, who co-owns a distillery with his wife Christine in Afton.

“Over the last couple years, building those relationships with local farmers has definitely helped him just hit the ground running,” Fox says. “At the end of the day, you can talk with Denver and he actually knows what you’re saying. He can talk some farm stuff and he gets it just because he’s at least had to be on the other end of the commodity industry.”

In his weekly newsletter sent to subscribers July 26, Riggleman wrote that he was “excited to visit with constituents” during Congress’ yearly August recess. He spent a majority of the first two weeks of the month visiting facilities at the U.S.-Mexico border and taking a congressional delegation trip to Israel before making a business tour across the district.

“It’s just not true, I mean that’s ridiculous,” Riggleman says of those claiming their voices aren’t being heard. “Instead of screaming all the time, just maybe look at what I’m doing…I think most of the people complaining are just specifically in Charlottesville with a certain group of people, and that’s fine. But don’t be disingenuous. That’s just absurd.”

Paul Bostrom is a Charlottesville resident who visited Riggleman’s office as part of the constituent day. He hoped to ask Riggleman about his stance on some of President Trump’s recent comments. Although he can’t attend Riggleman’s town hall in Danville on Wednesday, because it’s two hours away, Bostrom wants to hear from Riggleman directly about Trump and some of the issues pertinent to the district.

“I want to hear more from his mouth about what’s going on in the district and what’s going on in Congress,” he says.

With no firm date set for a town hall in Charlottesville, Riggleman invites city residents to follow him on social media and subscribe to his newsletter in order to stay informed on what he’s doing in Congress. DuBose, who is an active commenter on Riggleman’s Facebook page, claims some of his comments have disappeared from the congressman’s official Facebook page, an allegation Riggleman denies. He stresses that constituents can schedule meetings with him at his local offices, but that representing such a large district pulls him in many different directions.

“I think what people need to understand is we have a district that’s 10,000 square miles, 21 counties, and Charlottesville specifically is 1/1,000th of the district geographically,” Riggleman says. “So it’s great that they’re planning a constituent day, but I’m meeting with constituents in multiple counties every month. It’s a challenge with a district bigger than New Jersey [and] hopefully people understand that.”