About the Race
This congressional election occurs on November 3, 2020, in conjunction with the US presidential election. Incumbent congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D), a former operations officer with the CIA, is running for re-election against Nick Freitas (R), a US Army veteran.
About the District
The 7th congressional district spans most of Central Virginia. It includes all of Orange, Culpeper, Goochland, Louisa, Nottoway, Amelia, and Powhatan counties, as well as large portions of Chesterfield, Henrico, and Spotsylvania counties. The district went from Republican to Democrat in 2018, when Spanberger won her seat by just 2% and is considered one of the most competitive congressional districts in the state.
Recommendation
A former officer with the Central Intelligence Agency, Democratic Representative Abigail Spanberger was first elected to serve the 7th District in 2018 when she defeated incumbent Dave Brat. Before her election, Spanberger’s career included working for the U.S. Postal Service investigating narcotics and money laundering and living undercover abroad as a spy for the CIA. She was raised in Short Pump and graduated from the University of Virginia. She and her husband, Adam, have three daughters and live in Glen Allen.
Spanberger is a moderate Democrat who prides herself on being the 5th most bipartisan member of the House. She’s a member of the House Foreign Affairs and Agriculture committees. During her time in office, Spanberger sponsored legislation to bring transparency to prescription drug prices and give Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices. She also introduced a bill aimed at strengthening the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and supported providing a public option for universal coverage.
Spanberger supports protecting voting rights, restoring key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, and putting a stop to voter suppression. In 2019, she co-sponsored the Voting Rights Advancement Act. She believes in strengthening people’s access to the ballot by restoring and modernizing the Voting Rights Act.
Spanberger believes that climate change is a national security threat. This year, she proposed the Growing Climate Solutions Act to reduce greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere by allowing farmers to engage in carbon cap and trade programs. In 2019, she helped introduce the Climate Action Now Act, which would require the U.S. to remain in the Paris Climate Agreement.
In response to the police murder of George Floyd, Spanberger co-sponsored the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. The bill calls for bans on chokeholds and no-knock warrants, sets national standards to hold police officers accountable for misconduct, prohibits racial profiling, and establishes a national data collection system on police misconduct.
Spanberger is a member of the Black Maternal Health Caucus and worked with other members of the caucus to introduce the “Momnibus Bill” to address the nation’s crisis in Black maternal mortality. She introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act, which seeks to close the gender wage gap. Spanberger also supports a person’s right to access reproductive healthcare and abortion. Spanberger voted to impeach Donald Trump in 2019.
Spanberger is being challenged by Republican candidate Nick Freitas, who currently serves in Virginia’s House of Delegates. While serving in the House, Freitas was known for attacking abortion rights, saying on the House floor that the “abortion industry” and “broken homes” were contributing to mass shootings. He voted against allowing in-state tuition for undocumented students and granting driving privileges to immigrants while voting in favor of prohibiting sanctuary cities in Virginia. Freitas voted against expanding Medicaid coverage to 400,000 Virginians. Freitas also voted against requiring background checks on firearms sales in Virginia, a red flag law to keep guns out of the wrong hands, and banning the sale of assault weapons and high capacity magazines.
Due to her commitment to improving healthcare for her constituents, fighting climate change, protecting women’s rights, and advocating for Black maternal health, Spanberger is the more progressive choice for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.
About the Race
The election for President of the United States is on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Former Vice President and Senator from Delaware Joe Biden (D) is running against the current president, Donald J. Trump (R), a businessman and former reality television star.
About the State
Every eligible voter may cast a ballot in the presidential election. The majority of the U.S. population has voted Democratic for the last twenty-eight years, except 2004. However, the allocation of electoral college votes led to Republicans taking the White House in two of those seven elections. Turnout is typically higher during presidential election years, though 2018 saw the highest record turnout for a non-presidential election since 1914, with 50.3% of the electorate turning out to vote. Turnout for the 2016 election was at 55.7%. In 2008, when the nation elected President Barack Obama (D), turnout was 58.2% but dropped to 54.9% in 2012.