Week in review
A look at our stories from this week.
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Take a look at Virginia Scope’s coverage of Virginia politics from this week:
Kiggans says the ads are a lie. Democrats say her voting record tells a different story.
Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-VA02, is defending herself against attacks accusing her of voting for legislation that could potentially cut funding for veterans’ services. A former Navy pilot and nurse practitioner, Kiggans represents the Hampton Roads region in Congress, where a large portion of the population is active-duty military personnel.
Vote Vets, a group that says they elevate the voices of veterans and military families through progressive legislative policies and electoral endorsements that impact the lives of active service members and veterans, is calling out Kiggans for her comments defending herself in a recent video. They have endorsed Democrat Missy Cotter Smasal in VA-02.
In a video posted on social media, Kiggans defends herself against the Democratic attack ads, calling them lies.
“You've probably already seen some of the ads Democrats have been running about me for the past few months,” Kiggans says in the video. “And many of you have come up to me and said, ‘we saw the ad about you wanting to take away veterans' health care, but we know you're a veteran, the daughter of a veteran, the wife of a veteran, and mom to future veterans, and a nurse practitioner. So that ad just doesn't make sense.’ And you're right, it doesn't make sense.”
She points out that the actors in the ads are known Democrats in the area.
“When the opposition party has their chairman in an ad, it's obviously going to contain a bunch of partisan lies,” she says in the video.
The vote that Democrats are referencing when accusing Kiggans of supporting cuts to veterans’ benefits is the Limit, Save, Grow Act, which narrowly passed in the House of Representatives. Republicans say the bill is intended to provide “commonsense spending reforms” and is a cut to all spending in the budget.
With Trone’s loss as an example, Vindman will have to do more than massively outraise other candidates
Nomination contests often become competitions centered around networking with party insiders and demonstrating sufficient fundraising ability ahead of a potential candidacy in the general election. Typically, those two occurrences coincide—but not always.
Wealthy outside candidates can appear out of thin air and occasionally gain steam, like Glenn Youngkin in 2021. Still, more often than not, they spend a boatload of money to finish well below the candidate with an established presence in the district.
In VA-07, Democratic candidate and fundraising frontrunner Eugene Vindman jumped into the race for the open nomination this year. He is well-known nationally for his family’s involvement in Donald Trump’s impeachment and has done very well fundraising.
However, he is still deemed as an outsider by some in VA-07 for not being heavily entrenched within the district before announcing his candidacy.
“I’m sorry - who is this? I’ve never seen this person in our area. At. All,” tweeted Del. Josh Cole, D-Stafford, when Vindman announced his candidacy.
Vindman is running against multiple Democrats for the nomination—two of whom have been elected to the General Assembly representing parts of the district: Del. Brianna Sewell, D-Prince William, and former Del. Elizabeth Guzman, D-Prince William.
Vindman has raised $3.7 million, compared to Guzman’s $204,979 and Sewell’s $172,724, according to VPAP.
Multiple other Democratic candidates from the area are also seeking the nomination, which could benefit Vindman if they split the local insider vote share.
In Maryland, Angela Alsobrooks, who leads the state’s second-largest county, ran against Total Wine owner and Congressman David Trone for the Democratic nomination in the United States Senate race.
Trone, who has a large personal net worth, massively outspent Alsobrooks, spending $51 million compared to Alsobooks’ $5.9 million.
Money doesn’t always translate into a victory, however. Alsobrooks won the nomination contest by more than 10 points.
Filler-Corn responds to attack ads from a Democratic PAC
With unknown funding, a new PAC is attacking former Speaker of the House Eileen Filler-Corn as she seeks the Democratic nomination in Virginia’s tenth congressional district.
Filler-Corn is responding to the attacks, calling them lies and baseless accusations.
Connor Farrell, the PAC's executive director, says she “is a good lobbyist for them, but a bad Democrat for us.”
“Virginia Democrats are tired of pay-to-play politics and don’t want to send someone to Washington who will place their priorities on the chopping block if it means a free trip to a Washington Commanders game,” he said in a press release.
Farrell founded Left Rising, a Democratic fundraising firm. The firm's website says its mission is to bring “exceptional fundraising to a new generation of organizations and candidates—younger, more diverse, more progressive.”
His social media feed shows support for candidates who are pro-Palestine.
Filler-Corn, who is Jewish, says the attacks rely on antisemitic messaging.
“It is clear that my message – that we need women on the frontlines defending our rights and our freedom – resonates with voters,” she said in a statement. “As Speaker, I made historic progress for the Commonwealth, rolling back right-wing abortion restrictions and holding election deniers accountable. These false attacks are plainly sexist and rely on vile antisemitic tropes.”
Descano talks Republican attacks and not running for attorney general
Fairfax Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano was strongly considering a run for attorney general next year — but he decided to forego that and endorse Jay Jones for the Democratic nomination instead.
Descano discussed why he decided not to run for attorney general during an interview with Virginia Scope Friday. He also discussed the constant attacks his office receives from Republicans for his criminal justice reform policies.
Rumors of Descano entering the attorney general race have been constant in recent years. Many were surprised when he decided to back Jones instead.
“I will admit that this was a thing that I looked at. I had a lot of people reach out to me who were interested in me doing it. I am always interested in doing the best I can for the most people and maximizing my impact. But at the end of the day, I'm always fully cognizant that none of these races, and this race in particular, is not about me. Right? When I take a look at what we need to do here in 2025, what we need to do as Democrats is to coalesce.”
Q&A with Missy Cotter Smasal
Missy Cotter Smasal is seeking the Democratic nomination in Virginia’s second congressional district.
She announced her run for Congress in September, touting her background in the Navy and a desire to run because the incumbent, Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans, has not lived up to her promise to “stand up for coastal Virginia and focus on military families and veterans,” Smasal said at the time.
Rep. Elaine Luria, a Democrat, held the district from 2018 to 2022. Redistricting in 2021 made VA-02 friendlier to Republicans, and Luria lost to Kiggans by three points in 2022.
Virginia Scope talked to Smasal recently about her campaign.
Youngkin sent a letter to Biden about incident at Quantico
In a letter sent to President Joe Biden, Gov. Glenn Youngkin is asking for more information about two Jordanians who were detained at a military base in Virginia.
Youngkin wants to know the immigration status of the individuals trying to gain unauthorized access to Quantico’s military base.
“The Biden Administration’s failure to secure the border has brought this crisis to the front gates of our military installations. I sent a letter to President Biden regarding the attempted breach at Quantico & their failure to disclose the immigration status of those involved,” Youngkin wrote on social media when sharing the letter.
From the Marine Times last week:
“The Marine Corps prevented two people from breaking onto a Marine installation in Virginia on May 3 and turned them over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The two people drove up to the Fuller Road Gate of Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, in a box truck and were stopped by military sentries, Capt. Michael Curtis, a spokesman for the base, said in a statement to Marine Corps Times on Tuesday.”
McAuliffe joins movement encouraging Jones to run for AG
Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe is joining the movement to encourage Jay Jones to run for attorney general next year. Jones has not announced that he is running, but a long list of legislators and former Gov. Ralph Northam are running a campaign to encourage him to jump into the race.
Helmer launches TV ad
Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, released his congressional campaign’s first TV ad ahead of the primary. He is seeking the Democratic nomination in VA-10.
Derrick Anderson released a new TV ad
VA-07 Republican candidate Derrick Anderson released a new TV ad Thursday.
'Podunk': GOP hopeful for U.S. Senate denigrates small town paper rather than answering questions about Super PAC - News Leader
by Elizabeth Beyer
Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Hung Cao again failed to address critical questions about spending by the Unleash America super PAC when asked by a conservative talk show host on Tuesday, May 21.
But he did continue his attacks on the story that prompted critiques from members of his own party.
Instead of explaining why the money raised by the super PAC did not go to Virginia Republican candidates for state office in 2023, Cao again called the report that prompted the allegations a “hit job” and referred to the Staunton News Leader, which reported the story, as a “podunk local newspaper” on an episode of the Alec Lace show Tuesday.
GOP U.S. Senate candidate from NoVa doubles down on ‘podunk’ comments, says driving to Abingdon for debate is ‘just ridonkulous’ - Cardinal News
by Markus Schmidt
Hung Cao, one of five candidates seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate to oppose the Democratic incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine in the fall, on Wednesday doubled down on his remarks referring to the Staunton News Leader as a “podunk local newspaper.”
During a virtual town hall meeting hosted by the Fauquier County GOP, Cao alleged that the newspaper is run by left-wing hacks. “Everybody in Staunton knows that, they laugh at those people. You wouldn’t even wrap your fish with that,” Cao said in a video recording of the town hall meeting obtained by Cardinal News.