Virginia’s 10th District GOP Picks Canvass to Nominate a Challenger to Rep. Wexton

Virginia’s 10th Congressional District has attracted 11 candidates for the GOP nomination canvass, scheduled to be held on May 21. After redistricting, Republicans see an opportunity to defeat incumbent Representative Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10).

“We think we’ve got a really good shot at winning this, and I think that’s why we have 11 candidates running,” 10th district GOP Chairman Geary Higgins told The Virginia Star.

A canvass is like a party-run primary.

In 2020, Wexton defeated Republican Aliscia Andrews 56.51 percent to 43.37 percent. However, according to estimates from the Virginia Public Access Project, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe carried the district by a much closer margin against now-Governor Glenn Youngkin; McAuliffe would have carried 50.5 percent of the district, with Youngkin taking 48.9 percent. Politically, Democrats seem weaker nationally and Republicans hope to make gains in the 2022 congressional midterm; that may also help flip the district.

Higgins said, “If you look at all the prognosticators, I think they still call it a D plus five or some such thing, I don’t know, D plus two, depending on who you want to talk to. But I would say that it’s a lot from a Republican perspective. It’s a lot better than it was, with the Democrats feeding us the issues and doing whatever they can to help us.”

Among the candidates are Prince William County Supervisor Jeanine Lawson, who tops early fundraising numbers with $535,118 receipts; former Navy lawyer and corporate lawyer Mike Clancy has reported $211,915; Manassas City Council Member Theresa Coates Ellis has reported $60,148, and Loudoun County School Board Member John Beatty has reported $53,741. Other candidates don’t have fundraising listed on VPAP yet… (Excerpt from the Virginia Star)