By Tyler Arnold
(THE CENTER SQUARE) – Candidates for Virginia’s 7th District will debate October 21, a matchup of Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger and Republican challenger Yesli Vega.
The exchange is sponsored by the Prince William Committee of 100. The committee has yet to announce a time or location, and we’ll update this post when it does.
The congressional race is expected to be one of Virginia’s most competitive. Democrats are trying to maintain their slim majority in the House of Representatives.
Spanberger is serving her second term representing the district, but prior to her win, the 7th had been held by Republicans since the 1970s. Although the district went for Democratic President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin won the district comfortably only a year later. The Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball both list the 7th as a Democrat-leaning district for the midterm elections.
Although Spanberger has positioned herself as a moderate, she has voted with Biden’s agenda on 100% of the issues, according to a tally from the elections analysis website FiveThirtyEight. She only voted with former President Donald Trump 8.7% during her time in office. The congresswoman has supported a new federal assault weapons ban. She has supported environmental policies, but was critical of the Green New Deal, and was critical of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Vega has argued that a free market is the best way to address inflation and other economic issues. She has criticized the U.S. Treasury for printing money and said that mandates and regulations were holding back the economy. She has also supported gun rights.
The election is six weeks away on Nov. 8.
