Prince William County Supervisor Andrea Bailey announced her candidacy for the 7th Congressional District on Wednesday.
Bailey, who lives in Dumfries and represents Prince William’s Potomac District, joins a growing field of Democrats to succeed Rep. Abigail Spanberger, an early Democratic frontrunner in the 2025 race for Virginia governor. To separate herself from the pack, Bailey in her campaign announcement touted an endorsement she received from former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, also a Democrat.
“All of my life I have been driven by a sense of service and my moral compass,” Bailey said in a statement. “As part of a military family, I’m a patriotic defender of American democracy. I’m honored to be endorsed by the former Governor who shares in my vision, and my campaign will be powered by the people and focused on the people.”
She continued, “I am a pragmatic no nonsense Democrat who will work to restore confidence in Congress. While I will always stand by my core beliefs and principles, I believe in compromise to get things done. There is far too much fighting and not enough talking in our current Congress.”
A third-term supervisor, Bailey has listed enhancing mental health services in the county as her top accomplishment in office. She has been a proponent of Prince William’s forthcoming Crisis Receiving Center, a frontline medical center for those suffering acute mental health distress.
"I am honored to endorse my friend, Supervisor Andrea Bailey, for Congress,” Northam said in a statement. “Her unwavering dedication to serving her community and her proven ability to collaborate across the aisle make her the ideal person to represent District 7 in Congress.”
The 7th District consists of eastern Prince William, the city of Fredericksburg and all of King George, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, Culpeper, Orange, Greene and Madison counties, plus a handful of voters in Albemarle County. Prince William makes up the largest portion of the district, casting 79,000 of the 273,000 votes in the district in 2022 and is also the district's most Democratic area.
Bailey joins former U.S. Army Col. Eugene Vindman, a former senior White House ethics official who played a key role in President Donald Trump's first impeachment, Del. Briana Sewell, Del. Elizabeth Guzman and Prince William County Woodbridge District Supervisor Margaret Franklin in seeking the Democratic nomination for the 7th District seat.
While election handicappers rate the 7th District lean Democratic, at least seven Republicans have also already announced campaigns, including former Special Forces soldier Derrick Anderson, Navy SEAL combat veteran Cameron Hamilton, former Marine Corps officer Jon Meyers, entrepreneur Bill Moher, minister and author Terris Todd, businessman John Prabhudoss and retired Lt. Col. Jeff Sacks.
Craig Ennis has filed to run as an independent, according to The Washington Post.
Bailey, in announcing her campaign, said she wants “to bring [her] skills, experience, and success representing constituents in Virginia's 2nd largest county to the federal level."
"I will continue to be a progressive champion of working families and fight for access to affordable healthcare, end the stigmatization of mental health struggles, and ensure that our teachers get the resources they need so every child receives a quality education," Bailey said.
(14) comments
I'm almost sure she was in Manassas during the BLM riots (err ah protests). Garbage in, garbage out. Like another person wrote if you don't have experience, like knowing how to write a bill in Congress, all you'll do is vote along party lines and get a paycheck. But that's exactly what the Democrats want, uneducated, can't do crap on their own lawmakers so the whips will have total control of them.
The primary voters, not party bosses, choose the party's nominees, and the Democratic primary voters are smarter than you think.
In general, strongly contested party primaries result in a stronger nominee for the general election. However, to preserve our democracy, Congress must enact stronger dollar limits on political donations, especially by corporations, the super wealthy, special interests, and secret PACs.
Supervisor Bailey is not in her third term as supervisor as stated in this article; she is at the very beginning of her second term. She has one term and one month of experience at a county level, but she waited longer than either Supervisor Vega or Supervisor Franklin to run for U.S. Congress. Vega was still in her first term when she ran and former Supervisor Lawson (who was in her third or fourth term?) also ran for the U.S. Congress at that time. Are supervisors bypassing the Virginia General Assembly and vying for federal seats at this rate in other counties? With Supervisor Bailey throwing her hat in, half of last year's board has given it a go.... Maybe 24+ hour meetings are so invigorating that they engender ambition? If I can survive that politically then I can survive anything? We'll see. Good luck to all. It would be great for PWC to have some federal advocates, just noting a trend and wondering if it is happening in other counties as well.
With Trump on the ballot this fall, it will likely remain in the Democrats hands.
The VA GOP will come up short until they understand VA is a blue state and NoVA is as liberal as Boston.
I would think that if you had an explosive point to make with any intention whatsoever other than tearing at the very fabric of society and causing individual pain then that point would be made in the most delicate of manners with impeccable evidence pondered heart and soul before revealing. This does not seem to be that at all.
And for those of you who play this stupid and destructive game, just from the other side in bs elitism and outright bigotry toward people who don't agree with you--you are helping this along.
the nepotism between the Baileys, the Kings and the Raulstons is hilarious, the entire PWC Dems are pathetic.
Kaw kaw...another racist clown democratic puppet. Kaw kaw...
Look, I'm conservative...but calling someone a "racist puppet" from someone who appears to be self-identifying as a parrot is fairly sad. Please seek help.
Hey Cornhole, Maybe you should take that racist and bigot talk up with your Fuehrer Brandon who likes to call half of the American population white supremacists and terrorists. Look in the mirror and repeat, "I am a liberal hypocrite." Well done.
It's closer to 20% - about a third of the right wing these days.
Hey Tom, 90% of all democrats are bigots so there is a stat for you.
[ban]
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.