WOODBRIDGE, Va. (AP) — Eugene Vindman has never run for office, and he is far from a household name, but his almost cult-like status among national Democratic activists as a figure from Donald Trump’s first impeachment has elevated him to a leading candidate in a key congressional race in Virginia.
Vindman’s ability to raise money from outside the district has given him an advantage in the seven-way primary in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, much to the dismay of other contenders who paid their dues in state or local office before winning a seat sought in Congress.
“He doesn’t understand the community. He is not very involved in the community. He has not participated in the community as an advocate,” said Andrea Bailey, one of two Prince William County supervisors in the race.
The outcome has national implications in the battle for control of the U.S. House of Representatives. It is a district where incumbent Democrat Abigail Spanberger is giving up her seat to run for governor in 2025.
Vindman and his twin brother, Alex, were military officers who gained a degree of fame and respect from Democrats for raising concerns about Trump’s 2019 call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which Trump requested an investigation into Biden and his son Hunter .
Alex Vindman was listening to the call in his role as a National Security Council official assigned to the White House when he became alarmed by what he heard. He approached his brother Eugene, who was working as an ethics attorney at the NSC at the time. Both Vindmans reported their concerns to their superiors, ultimately contributing to Trump’s impeachment.
Eugene Vindman said he views his congressional campaign as a new form of public service after his military career. He wasn’t sure if the name recognition he has had since the impeachment would extend to the political world, but said voters have accepted him so far.
“My theory was that people knew Alex and me because of what we did. We are obviously identical twins, but they know there are two of us. And they recognized us. We were regularly stopped by people. And so I thought maybe there would be some support. I didn’t know how big the support would be,” he said.
The field includes four current and former elected officials from Prince William County, a northern Virginia suburb that covers more than a third of the district stretching south beyond Fredericksburg and west beyond Culpeper. All four helped Democrats take control of a county where Republicans had been highly competitive.
Bailey and Margaret Franklin serve on the county Board of Supervisors and Briana Sewell is a member of the House of Representatives. Elizabeth Guzman unseated a Republican incumbent to serve several terms in the House of Representatives. Two others, military veterans Carl Bedell and Clifford Heinzer, previously held no positions.
As a general rule, the candidates have tried to differentiate themselves more based on their experience and background, as opposed to any policy differences.
“There’s not a lot of agreement between my colleagues here and me on the core issues,” Franklin said during a recent debate, highlighting her service as a Hill staffer before she was elected county supervisor. “I understand how to work across the aisle and get things done. … You have to decide who can be most effective at representing your interests on Day 1.”
Sewell said her long ties to the district, as someone who grew up in Prince William County and served as a political staffer in local and federal positions, in addition to her service as a state delegate, set her apart.
“I’m a lifelong Virginian. I literally live in the house I grew up in, and I’m not going back,” she said.
Vindman, in turn, defends his absence from local politics by noting that his status as an army officer prohibits him from political activism.
“The people who are attracted to my campaign are attracted to the values I will bring to this job: the fact that I will fight for priorities, that I have risked a career and lost my military career by quitting. come against Donald. Trump,” he said.
Vindman said he expects a “zero learning curve” due to his lack of political experience. But on one hotly debated issue related to federal immigration policy, Vindman said he was unfamiliar with it.
In an interview, Vindman said he was unaware of the controversy surrounding Prince William County over its implementation of a federal immigration program, known as 287(g), that facilitated cooperation between local jails and federal immigration authorities. The program was active in the province from 2007 to 2020.
Sewell, on the other hand, cited controversies not only over 287(g), but also regulations that defined how local law enforcement officers checked the immigration status of individuals, as issues that brought her into politics.
“I was in high school in 2007 and 2008 when my classmates didn’t feel safe to go to school, their parents didn’t feel safe to show up at work, at school or at sporting events,” Sewell said.
Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, said Vindman’s lack of political experience is offset by his national popularity among activists, who have donated heavily to his campaign.
According to the Virginia Public Access Project, the $3.8 million Vindman raised is about four times the amount of the other six candidates combined.
“Money makes him a public figure, even though he is new to the campaign world,” Farnsworth said.
Vindman’s military service is an asset in a district with extensive military ties, while the other candidates will “splinter in different directions” the part of the electorate that does not support him, he added.
Bailey, a military spouse, said she understands military officers have restrictions on political activity. But she said now that he’s out of the military, he needs to put time and work into the community before seeking political office.
“Eugene Vindman should be given the opportunity to get to know the community and the individuals who live there. He was a great citizen,” she said. “But when you talk about being a leader and a representative of the United States, you have to have been able to build those relationships.”
