With just one week to go until the primary, the four challengers to U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-8) are trying to stand out from the crowd.
Lorena Bruner, Michael Duffin, Adam Dunigan and Mo Seifeldein are attempting to overtake Beyer in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, Aug. 4. Beyer was first elected to Congress in 2014.
Among the challengers’ pitches to the electorate:
- “You have the opportunity now to let your vote count again for the needs of Virginians with a leader that understands and is experiencing firsthand the costs and sacrifices that you have been enduring in the present time,” Bruner says on her campaign website
- “My mission is … getting big money out of politics and making sure that Congress actually represents people, not profit,” Dunigan says on social media
- “Mo is the only progressive choice for Congress” in the 8th District, the Seifeldein campaign said in a social media post
- “My opponents make promises they can’t deliver on — I am focusing on tangible legislation,” Duffin said in a social media post
Beyer, for his part, says he is working to earn a new two-year term.
“I am committed to this community — articulating a clear vision and then doing the things to make it a reality,” he said at a candidate forum sponsored by the Arlington County Democratic Committee in early July.
The 8th District is among the most compact congressional districts outside of highly urbanized areas, comprising Arlington, the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church and the eastern portion of Fairfax County.
Under redistricting approved by statewide voters in April, the district would have morphed into a district running as far south as the Williamsburg area. But the Virginia Supreme Court overturned the referendum on procedural grounds, keeping all of Virginia’s 11 congressional districts in their original configuration.
Contenders have sparred at several candidate forums in recent months, with Dunigan and Seifeldein most aggressively targeting Beyer, while Duffin and Bruner have offered more muted criticisms of the incumbent.
The four challengers also face another hurdle beyond trying to unseat a well-known and well-financed incumbent.
Unlike the County Board race, which is being run under ranked-choice rules, Virginia’s congressional primaries feature the more traditional plurality, or “winner-take-all,” format. With four candidates splitting the anti-Beyer vote, whatever that may turn out to be, it would seem a steep hill for any of them to overtake the incumbent.
At a July 11 Arlington Democratic picnic, Beyer received 93 votes in a straw poll, with Dunigan receiving 38, Seifeldein six, Bruner three and Duffin two. And at an earlier Arlington Democratic meeting, when one of the challengers asked for a show of hands to determine how many of the 200 in attendance were willing to consider an alternative to Beyer in the primary, only a few hands went up.
Seifeldein is the only challenger who has won elected office before, serving a term on the Alexandria City Council before deciding not to seek reelection. Bruner unsuccessfully ran for commissioner of revenue in Stafford County, where she lives.
Virginia is holding both Democratic and Republican primaries on Aug. 4. Voters can participate in either, but not both.
In Arlington, voters casting ballots in the Democratic primary will select a County Board candidate as well as congressional nominee. Republican voters will select the party’s challenger to U.S. Sen. Mark Warner.
The winner of the 8th District primary on Aug. 4 moves on to the general election, where Republican Tony Sabio will be the only other candidate on the ballot.
The district is ranked “Strong Democratic” by the Virginia Public Access Project, based on past performance. It is rated “Safe Democratic” by 270toWin.com and “Solid Democratic” by the Cook Political Report.
