VA-01 Deserves Better
Countdown to November 2026
Welcome to the inaugural Wittman Watch newsletter! We live in VA-01, and we demand better representation in Congress. To get to know us better, we encourage you to check out our About Us page. You’ll also find some of our previous social media posts in our Archive.
Longer articles will be published in the newsletter and on the website, and you’ll find our rapid responses on our social media channels. Thanks for being here with us.
November 2026 is coming
The clock is counting down to the November 2026 midterm elections. The U.S. House of Representatives and one-third of the U.S. Senate are up for election. For Virginia’s First Congressional district (VA-01), this means an opportunity to make a change long assumed to be impossible: ousting Congressman Rob Wittman from the seat he’s held since 2007.
VA-01, which spans 18 counties, is in play. Whereas this district was once rated “strong Republican,” it is now rated “leans Republican,” thanks to the resounding blue wave in the 2025 Virginia state elections. At the time of this writing, eight people are vying for the Democratic Party nomination to run against Wittman in November 2026. With just under a year to go, questions abound about the midterm election process, the Democratic primary candidates, and Virginia’s redistricting wildcard. Let’s dive into it!
The Election Process
Multiple candidates mean primary elections are held so voters can choose one candidate to advance to the main election - the person who will ultimately oppose Rob Wittman. Virginia has open primaries, meaning anyone in the Commonwealth can vote in any primary - but only in one primary. If the Republican Party also has multiple candidates for the 2026 midterm election, every voter will need to pick a party primary in which to vote.
After candidates go through the petition signing process to get on the ballot, a state-run primary election will be held on Tuesday, June 16, 2026. That’s when voters will choose a candidate for the November midterm election. In Virginia, early voting begins 45 days prior to election day, so voters can start heading to the polls on Friday, May 1, 2026. Virginia operates on a plurality system, which means that whoever gets the most votes becomes the nominee.
Who’s running in the 2026 Democratic primary?
In 2025, 12 Democrats stepped up to replace Rob Wittman. That alone sends a strong message about his unpopularity and how flippable VA-01 has become.
Since then, four candidates - Andrew Lucchetti, Amanda Pohl, James Shea, and Sean Sublette - have ended or suspended their campaigns. That leaves eight candidates in the running. Here they are, in reverse alphabetical order by last name:
Father, Army veteran, attorney, and community leader
Small-business owner
Supported vulnerable children and families through Henrico Court Appointed Special Advocates and the Children’s Home Society of Virginia
Served four terms as Henrico County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney (first woman elected to that office)
Worked for the City of Richmond and as a Special Assistant US Attorney
Ran in the 2025 Democratic primary for Attorney General
Healthcare lawyer
Caregiver to her disabled combat veteran husband
Pushed for the creation of a public defender’s office in Henrico County
Veteran who served twenty-one years as a Naval Officer and F/A-18 pilot
American University Adjunct Professor of Government (School of Public Affairs)
Father and business owner
Former board member of the Chesterfield Court Appointed Special Advocates
Led revitalization efforts through the Church Hill Association in Richmond
Former president of the Metro Richmond Area Young Democrats
U.S. Army Tank Commander veteran, corporate executive, TikTok influencer
Currently a William & Mary MBA student
Foster parent and advocate for kids in need
Communications Director at the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, working directly with frontline communities fighting landfills, compressor stations, pollution intensive power plants, and reckless data center sprawl
Advocate for restoring Pell Grant funding and improving teacher support programs
Former electoral campaign worker and intern for Senator Tim Kaine
Public interest attorney and national anti-poverty advocate who worked to repeal unjust laws and strengthened Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
Expanded SNAP and school meals for tens of thousands of Virginians
Built a tool helping 2.5 million families access $100M+ in aid across America
Here’s how you can connect with each of the candidates online.
Important note: at Wittman Watch, we endorse no one. Our mission is to raise awareness of how Rob Wittman represents you (or doesn’t), and to highlight the opportunities you have to vote for a Congressperson who’s more in tune with the needs of VA-01.
Now that we’ve covered the midterm election process and the candidates running against Wittman, let’s address the monkey wrench that could upend the whole thing: redistricting.
The Redistricting Wildcard
On 10/27/25, Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly introduced a “redistricting amendment to counter GOP map changes in other states.” This constitutional amendment proposal would enable the General Assembly “to modify congressional districts mid-decade if another state redraws its own congressional map for political reasons.” The General Assembly voted on the redistricting amendment, and it passed in both chambers. Virginia’s redistricting is a response to mid-cycle redistricting actions in Republican-led states. If Republican-led states were to stand down, so would Virginia.
If Virginia proceeds with this plan, the redistricting measure needs to be voted upon and passed again in the next GA session, which begins January 14, 2026. Then the referendum would be presented to voters in a special election.
As of this writing, state lawmakers haven’t drawn the new maps. Generally, we know that electors who draw maps to favor themselves use two methods: “packing” (shoving voters of one party together into fewer districts) and “cracking” (spreading blocs of voters across many districts). Based on those methods, we can imagine western Virginia being “packed” with as many Republican-leaning areas as possible (resulting in a smaller number of deeper-red districts), while Democratic-leaning areas could be “cracked” to create more blue and blue-leaning districts. For example, voters in the Northern Virginia and Richmond suburbs would be spread among multiple districts.
How might potential redistricting impact the 2026 VA-01 midterm election? We can only speculate. We’ll continue to monitor and report on redistricting developments as they unfold.
What do you think about the midterm election process, the Democratic primary candidates running to unseat Rob Wittman, and potential redistricting? Comment here or on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, or Reddit. (We post but don’t engage on X.)
As seen on our socials
Our social media channels respond quickest to whatever Wittman does or says. Here’s a selection from the past week. Click on each post to see them on BlueSky (no account necessary). Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, X, and Reddit to get immediate updates each time we post.
That’s a wrap
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This November, we’ll make sure our seat is filled by someone who’ll work for us.