STAFFORD — A wife, mother of six, and strategic planner, now Vangie Williams will add another title to her resume — congressional candidate.
Williams, of King George, won the Democratic nomination to run for a seat in the U.S. House in Virginia’s 1st District, a seat long held by Republican Rob Wittman. Williams beat her two challengers in Tuesday’s Democratic Primary Election Edwin Santana, of Stafford, by seven points, and Prince William County native turned Hanover County resident John Suddarth by nearly 13 points.
Williams won 40% of the vote in Stafford County and 32% in Prince William.
“I’m overjoyed for the voters who believe in me and my vision for the district!” Williams exclaimed. “This victory is for all the hardworking people whose voices have been ignored for too long. Tonight we take another step toward a future that works for everyone,” Williams penned in a press release Tuesday night.
Her campaign platform, based on an acronym, is a key indicator of her time working in the halls of government. Dubbed the ‘INVEST’ initiative, it stands for “income now for veterans, enlisted military families, safety officers and teachers and it which calls for the first $50,000 of federal income tax for these military service men and women, and workers to be exempted.
If she wins a Nov. 6, 2018 General Election, Williams says she’ll be Virginia’s first black woman to be elected to Congress.
While Prince William County, Fredericksburg City and portions of Stafford are now leaning toward Democratic candidates, Williams has a tough road ahead in the largely conservative, vast 1st District that spans from just outside Manassas to Williamsburg.
The incumbent Wittman was first elected to the seat in 2007 and was reelected in 2016.
Williams says she has worked for the TSA, and was hired to work for NASA following the 2003 Columbia space shuttle disaster.
