Republican Doug Ollivant said Monday he was diagnosed last week with acute myeloid leukemia and will stay in the race against Rep. Eugene Vindman.
“I want to be exceptionally clear: I am fighting to beat this cancer, and I am fighting to beat Eugene Vindman in November,” Ollivant wrote on X. He said this type of AML is extremely treatable and that his doctors are positive.
Election Day is Nov. 3. Ollivant, a retired Army lieutenant colonel from Culpeper County, won the Aug. 4 Republican primary and is the GOP nominee. Vindman, a Democrat, is the incumbent.
Vindman first won the seat on Nov. 5, 2024. VPAP lists him at 203,336 votes, 51.18 percent, to Republican Derrick Anderson’s 192,847, 48.54 percent, a margin of 10,489 votes.
The district includes Prince William, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Fredericksburg and Culpeper.
Independent Alaha Ahrar and Libertarian Taner Lopez are also on the ballot.
The University of Mary Washington canceled the only public debate on the calendar, set for Sept. 22, after Ollivant dropped off a slate Vindman was never on. Three days earlier, he had posted about an unforeseen medical issue and a serious reaction to an antibiotic.
