Eugene Vindman vs Derrick Anderson: Who will fill the open VA-7 seat?

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - The candidates to represent Virginia’s 7th Congressional District both say democracy is in trouble.

Republican Derrick Anderson and Democrat Eugene Vindman each make the case that the government has failed voters in the district and across the country as leaders embrace extreme politics. In this year’s election, they say, the country’s future is on the line.

And that’s pretty much where their messages diverge.

For months, Vindman, 49, and Anderson, 40, have been entrenched in a vote-by-vote crunch in their fast-growing district, where veterans make up about 12% of the population. The two Army veterans never before elected for public office are vying for the House seat after Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a moderate Democrat, declined to seek reelection so she could run for governor.

Stephen Farnsworth, a University of Mary Washington political science professor, said it’s Virginia’s most competitive race.

"There’s a lot of national interest in the Virginia 7th, and it is the sort of district where congressional majorities are won and lost," he said. "If you can’t win the outer-ring suburban counties of big cities in America, then you’re not going to be in the House majority."

JUMP TO: EUGENE VINDMAN | DERRICK ANDERSON | POLLS

Who is Eugene Vindman? 

Yevgeny "Eugene" Vindman rose to national prominence after helping his brother blow the whistle against President Donald Trump for pressuring Ukrainian officials to investigate the Biden family. The former Army colonel sees a different threat: Trump himself.

"Some people have forgotten about this issue — others have not, and it’s just a mix in the district," Vindman said of the scandal that led to Trump’s first impeachment. "But I think, in the context, that this is not ancient history. Why? Because Donald Trump is now the major party nominee."

Vindman’s claim to fame

Democracy is central to the race in part because it’s the bedrock of Vindman’s national profile.

In campaign videos and on the trail, he has described the episode that led him to blow the whistle on Trump as his call to serve a democracy "unbroken, but not unblemished." He said it inspired him to run.

While he was serving as an ethics lawyer at the White House in 2019, Vindman’s twin brother Alexander told him about a phone call in which Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate now-President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. The brothers, career Army officials who came to the U.S. as toddlers after emigrating from Ukraine, raised their concerns with others. The alarm they sounded soon became the heart of Democrats’ first impeachment inquiry into Trump.

In 2020 they were fired, and the Department of Defense’s inspector general later said Eugene Vindman had likely faced retaliation. He was reassigned to the Army until his retirement in 2022.

Despite the scandal, Vindman said he did not have a vendetta.

"It’s actually highlighting that a major party nominee — the potential president of the United States — did these things," he said.

His high-profile past set Vindman apart in a crowded primary, where he was a newcomer in a pool of career politicians. The impeachment also helped him raise campaign money — he had nearly $3 million in the bank at the end of September, compared to Anderson’s $1 million. More than half of the $9 million Democrats have spent on general election ads has come directly from Vindman’s campaign account, while Anderson has depended heavily on Republican outside groups.

Yet in a diverse district with a sliver of independent voters spanning Washington exurbs to the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the race is tight. Vindman’s ties to Trump’s impeachment could impact his ability to sway moderate voters.

Who is Derrick Anderson? 

Anderson, a former Army Green Beret, pitches himself as an affable candidate who can bring people in the district where he grew up together with simple competence.

"At the end of the day, I think people are just ready for somebody to just govern — go get things done in Washington, D.C., and stop breathing fire," he said in an interview.

Throughout his campaign, Anderson has stressed the economy and immigration. 

Anderson is attempting to gain votes by painting Vindman as a partisan Democrat. Along with his criticisms of Vindman’s military rank and record, Anderson has said the liberal candidate’s unique history with the former president should cost him.

"He thrives on divisiveness because he’s focused on his past — his revenge toward President Trump — while we’re focused on the future," Anderson said.

Who is leading in the polls? 

Vindman leads Anderson by just 2% in recent polling by Ragnar Research Partners. 

"With just two weeks to go, my opponent has leveled $millions in false attack ads and lies…yet we are TIED. I will fight everyday for the future of #VA07, while my opponent will focus on the failed policies of the past," Anderson wrote on X.