Report: Spanberger-Vega 'Among The Country's Most Expensive' Race (Newsmax)
By John Gizzi Monday, 07 November 2022 09:36 PM EST Current | Bio | Archive
A day before results in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District decide whether Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger gets a third term or conservative Republican Yesli Vega becomes the first-ever Latina member of Congress from the Old Dominion State, only one thing is clear: that their contest is, as U.S. News and World Report recently characterized it, “'among the country's most expensive' House races.
An estimated $20 million in independent expenditures have been spent on behalf of Spanberger and Vega, who disagree on just about every issue from abortion to the Inflation Reduction Act. Neither lives in the 7th District, (the Constitution requires a U.S. Representative to live in the state he or she represents but not the district they represent) and there have been no face-to-face debates between them.
Spanberger, 43, drew swatches of publicity when she became the third Democratic House member to receive an endorsement from Republican Rep. and “Never-Trumper” Liz Cheney. Wyoming’s Cheney, who lost renomination to her seat in a landslide earlier this year, specifically denounced Vega “is promoting conspiracy theories, denying election outcomes she disagrees with, and defending the indefensible.” Vega responded that she felt the 2020 election was “interfered with” but not stolen.
The redrawn district makes the 7th essentially a suburban Richmond district, but the city of Richmond itself is not in the district. Under the current boundaries, Republican Glenn Youngkin carried the 7th when he was elected governor last year. The GOP governor has campaigned vigorously for Vega, a onetime policewoman and now supervisor in Prince William County.
“It's hard to predict,’ former Virginia Gov. and onetime Republican National Chairman Jim Gilmore told Newsmax, “But the vote is in Prince William and communities with which Spanberger has no ties. Edge to Vega.”
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.