VA-7 Background:
In 2018, Abigail Spanberger became the first Democrat elected to represent VA-7 since 1971. She narrowly defeated two-term Republican incumbent Dave Brat (50.3-48.4) in a race that polls showed Brat consistently holding a small lead. However, the majority of undecided votes broke late and decisively for Spanberger, especially in populous Chesterfield and Henrico counties.
Overall compared to other districts, VA-7 is older, educated, white, and affluent (source: Politico). The district is comprised of ten counties (Spanberger’s margin in parenthesis): Henrico (+19), Chesterfield (+9), Nottoway (-9), Spotsylvania (-10), Culpepper (-17), Louisa (-18), Orange (-19), Goochland (-20), Amelia (-33), and Powhatan (-41). In 2016, Donald Trump carried VA-7 decisively (50-44).
Spanberger Bio:
Personal: 39-year old married mother of 3.
Professional: Law enforcement, including money laundering expertise. CIA operations officer, counterterrorism and nuclear proliferation. Diversity officer for EAB (a consulting firm).
Education: BA, University of Virginia; MBA, Purdue University
Committees: Agriculture, Foreign Affairs
Observations (from memory):
Spanberger will hold at least one town hall in each county; I attended the one held in Chesterfield County on 7/28/19.
The Chesterfield County Town Hall was well-attended by a supportive, polite crowd that — to my eyes — was representative of VA-7 demographics. Questions and comments were selected at random and delivered personally. Spanberger took eleven in all, broken down like this: Health care (3), impeachment (2), congressional reform (2), gun control (1), immigration (1), election integrity (i.e., Russian interference) (1), and a statement regarding Armenian genocide.
Spanberger’s responses:
Health care: Spanberger supports a public option and legislation to strengthen the ACA. No questions about MFA in particular.
Impeachment: Spanberger spoke as a law enforcement officer, stressing the importance of collecting evidence and drawing a conclusion based on that. She supports the current approach and believes that it is working. She does not believe that the House should vote on impeachment (or anything else) based on what the Senate might or might not do.
Congressional reform: She expressed interest in legislation that would require each house to take up legislation passed by the other house.
Gun control: She supports universal background checks and believes that effective legislation is compatible with 2nd Amendment rights. (Note: That’s about as far as anyone could go in this district.)
Immigration: Unlike her predecessor, she has visited the border and witnessed the conditions. Although Spanberger is low-keyed, she was obviously repelled by what she saw.
Russian interference: This is happening on a global scale, and an effective response can only come from the federal level. She supports requiring a paper ballot backup.
Overall: Spanberger is mild in approach and plainly believes in process. There is not a populist bone in her body. She relishes representing a purple district, and believes that gerrymandering is a — if not the — major contributor to the polarization of Congress. Nonetheless, Spanberger believes that bi-partisanship is possible — at least in certain areas. While she didn't mention Trump by name, she expressed dismay at the tone and divisiveness of communicating via Twitter. (This sounds dryer than it was: Spanberger speaks forcefully about the need for reason in our discourse, and received a standing ovation after arguing for this.)
Implications for 2020: One meeting in one county, but aligns with the lesson of the Virginia Blue Wave: Don’t underestimate the appeal of a return to normalcy.
