1st Congressional District voters backed Democrat Abigail Spanberger in 2025 in her run for governor with 51% of their vote, giving Democrats hope they can flip this seat.
A longtime Republican member of Congress faces a challenge from Henrico County’s top prosecutor to represent Virginia’s 1st Congressional District.
US Rep. Rob Wittman is a Republican who was first elected to represent Virginia’s 1st Congressional District in 2007. Prior to that, he served in Virginia’s House of Delegates from 2006 to 2007. In Congress, Wittman serves on the House Armed Services Committee, where he is vice chairman, and the Committee on Natural Resources.
Wittman’s pitch to voters has focused on his support for “putting public safety first, supporting law enforcement, and delivering for Virginia families.”
Wittman is being challenged by Democrat Shannon Taylor, who has served as Henrico’s commonwealth’s attorney since 2012. Taylor “pioneered programs to support victims of human trafficking, created a task force to tackle the opioid epidemic, and worked alongside law enforcement to get illegal guns off the streets,” according to her campaign site.
Taylor ran last year in the Democratic primary for Virginia attorney general but lost a close race to Jay Jones, a former state delegate.
Taylor has focused her campaign on touting her experience as a prosecutor taking on “violent criminals” and “fraudsters,” her campaign website shows, and attacking Wittman for his support of Republican policies that have made healthcare more expensive and pushed up other costs.
“For nearly 20 years, Rob Wittman has been part of a broken Washington that has made life more expensive for Virginians while politicians of both parties and powerful corporations get richer,” Taylor said in an Aug. 4 statement. “Families are paying more for groceries, health care, housing, and utilities because of Wittman’s votes while his personal net worth has grown by up to 40 times.”
The district is made up of parts of the Richmond suburbs that includes parts of Chesterfield, Henrico, and Hanover counties. It extends east to include Poquoson, Williamsburg, James City, and York County.
1st Congressional District voters backed Democrat Abigail Spanberger in 2025 for her successful gubernatorial run with 51% of their vote, giving Democrats hope that they can flip this seat.
According to the Cook Political Report, the race between Wittman and Taylor is a competitive one, but the Republican incumbent has an advantage.
