Two Army veterans, both lawyers who have not held elected office, are competing in Virginia’s 7th District to replace Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D), who is running for governor. Both are credible candidates, and polls show a race within the margin of error for a seat that will play an outsize role in determining who controls the House.
By the Editorial Board
Yevgeny “Eugene” Vindman (D) is a better fit for the region than Republican Derrick Anderson. A thoughtful retired soldier, Mr. Vindman has positioned himself as a pro-business, pro-military moderate. Asked during an endorsement interview which members of Congress he would emulate, he named centrist Democrats such as Pat Ryan (N.Y.), Jason Crow (Colo.), Mikie Sherrill (N.J.) and Ms. Spanberger, whom he praised for seeing to the needs of the district’s constituents. This list suggests he wants to be serious and sensible.
Mr. Vindman would be a high-profile voice on countering Russia. He vocally opposes some of the constraints that President Joe Biden has imposed on Kyiv’s ability to use U.S. military aid, and he will continue to advocate for robust support. He visited Ukraine 14 times between the invasion in February 2022 and when he launched his House bid last October to investigate Russian war crimes.
Before then, as an ethics lawyer on the National Security Council, Mr. Vindman showed real courage. In 2019, his twin brother, Alexander, reported to him grave concerns that then-President Donald Trump was shaking down Ukraine’s incoming president, Volodymyr Zelensky, holding up aid and a White House visit to get the Ukrainian government to announce an investigation into Mr. Biden. The Defense Department’s inspector general later concluded that Mr. Vindman, promoted to colonel in 2021, was probably retaliated against for reporting these concerns about the president’s conduct. The Zelensky-shakedown issue eventually led to Mr. Trump’s first impeachment.
Yet Mr. Vindman is not a one-issue candidate. For example: He warns that “Trump has buttons that can be pushed pretty easily,” as Vice President Kamala Harris demonstrated in her debate with the former president, and he worries about this leading to ill-advised actions in places such as the South China Sea. He would support gun control legislation that his opponent would not. His son, now a freshman in college, experienced a lockdown in high school because someone brought to school a gun that discharged. His 14-year-old daughter has already gone through two active-shooter drills this school year.
Mr. Vindman is also committed to advocating for the region — especially on infrastructure and transportation. Most importantly, he would be a champion for federal workers who comprise about 15 percent of the district’s workforce. Mr. Trump aims to eviscerate protections for career civil servants to make it easier to install pro-Trump ideologues into patronage jobs. This would cause chaos in the region. Mr. Vindman could be a leading voice of restraint if Mr. Trump wins and seeks to politicize the Defense Department.
We endorsed Mr. Anderson in the Republican primary. The former Army Green Beret earned a law degree in 2019 and became an associate at law firm Williams & Connolly after clerking for two federal judges. The disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan prompted him to run for this seat two years ago, but he couldn’t make it out of the GOP primary. He supports helping Ukraine, promises not to vote for a national abortion ban and accepts the results of the 2020 election. He has strong backing from House Republican leadership, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
But, although Mr. Anderson shows potential, and he, too, promises to protect federal workers, concerns linger about whether he’d stand up to party leaders and the degree to which he would seek compromise. For instance, he says he would have opposed a reasonable bipartisan border security deal this year because it was “an election-year gimmick.” He also insists that federal spending must be cut but offers only a vague sense of what needs cutting.
The temptation in congressional races is to vote based on one’s calculations about who will control which chamber. With Republicans likely to win the Senate, and control of the House dependent on races in a handful of seats, Mr. Vindman could benefit from such thinking. But the 7th District’s residents need not vote strategically; Mr. Vindman is the right choice regardless of what else happens on Election Day.
