Democrat Shannon Taylor held a campaign event with End Citizens United on Oct. 7 at the James City County Recreation Center in Williamsburg.
Taylor held a conversation with End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller before a room full of supporters. The conversation focused on what Taylor called her “anti-corruption agenda” that includes banning members of Congress from trading stocks or becoming lobbyists, and imposing 12-year term limits on members of Congress.
Taylor said people are upset about the rising costs of housing, groceries, gas, healthcare, and electricity, and they are mad about corruption in Washington.
“Voters can tie the corruption to the rising costs because we don’t have elected leaders who want to hold those corporate entities accountable for their actions,” Taylor said.
Taylor is mounting a strong challenge to Republican US Rep. Rob Wittman in Virginia’s 1st Congressional District. Wittman has represented the district for 18 years, but he’s facing an unexpectedly competitive reelection fight at a time when many voters are fed up with the high cost of living and frustrated with President Donald Trump’s second term.
The Cook Political Report on Oct. 9 changed its rating of Virginia’s 1st District race from “Lean Republican” to “Toss Up.” It’s a district that Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger won by about 2 points last year.
Democrats hope they can flip enough seats like Wittman’s to take control of the US House of Representatives where Republicans currently have a slim majority, with 219 seats compared to 214 seats held by Democrats.
In addition to pledging to fight corruption in Washington, Taylor has attacked Wittman for trading stocks while in office and for the growth of his wealth since he got elected in 2007.
Citing the website Quiver Quantitative, Taylor’s campaign has claimed Wittman traded up to $2.5 million in stocks while in Congress. Wittman’s financial disclosures show that the reported value of his assets grew from a range of $37,009 to $205,000 in 2008 to a range of $2.1 million to $8.8 million in 2025.
Wittman has said his wealth grew through inheritances after the deaths of his parents and in-laws.
Taylor said it’s up to voters to decide what they think about Wittman’s wealth.
“You get to judge whether or not you think the explanations are reasonable or not,” Taylor said. “We provide you the evidence, and you get to make the choice.”
Taylor also attacked Wittman for supporting federal funding cuts to healthcare. Wittman voted for the Trump administration’s push to cut Medicaid by about $1 trillion over ten years and make it harder to get healthcare through the program.
“We know that the emergency rooms in this district are seeing an overwhelming overflow of people coming to the emergency room because they have nowhere else to go for their healthcare,” Taylor said.
Carl Zangardi said he voted early for Taylor because Wittman has not done enough to address the challenges facing the country. Zangardi worried America’s leaders are not doing enough to deal with the country’s massive debt, “endless wars,” corruption, and “inability to deal with truth.”
“I call [Wittman’s] office monthly, ask him to come and talk to us as his constituency,” Zangardi said in an interview after Taylor’s event. “He doesn’t show, and it’s time for change.”
Janet Wooldridge of Gloucester said she’s lived in the 1st District for almost as long as Wittman has represented it, and she hasn’t seen things change for the better. She said she’s excited about Taylor and her message about fighting corruption.
“She has definitely been in our area a few times over the last few months and met people,” Wooldridge said in an interview. “I’ve heard her speaking words that I’ve said myself, like, our congresspeople are there as public servants and should be representing us and not their own interests.”
Early voting is underway in Virginia. Election Day is Nov. 3.
