By MADISON BROWN
Fredericksburg Today
This content was originally published on 06/22/2022.
Yesli Vega won the GOP nomination for Virginia’s seventh Congressional seat on Tuesday night. She triumphed over five other candidates in the newly redrawn district, with a huge lead over the rest of the candidates in Prince William County.
A Prince William County Supervisor, Vega ran on her record as a former police officer and her lived experience with gang violence. She is the daughter of Salvadoran immigrants and chaired the Latinos for Youngkin coalition in 2021. Though she was outraised by second- and third- place candidates Derrick Anderson and Bryce Reeves, Vega garnered endorsements from a number of far-right politicians to rile support from the Republican base. Among her supporters are Senator Ted Cruz, Congressmen Jim Jordan and Louie Gohmert, former VA-07 representative and political science professor Dave Brat and Ginni Thomas.
Reeves, who repeatedly billed himself as the frontrunner, came in third place behind Vega and Anderson. He enjoyed widespread name recognition in Spotsylvania, Culpeper and Fredericksburg, having represented the area in the Virginia Senate since 2012. In Spotsylvania, he was edged out by Anderson, a Spotsy native and former Green Beret. Reeves was the highest fundraiser of the candidates, grossing more than $680,000 raised over the course of the campaign, and enjoyed the support of a single-candidate Super PAC named Resolute PAC Inc.
Vega won Orange, Culpeper, and Greene Counties, but the bulk of her support came from her home of Prince William County, where she earned 3,697 votes, amassing over 50% of Prince William’s votes in a six-way race.
Yesli Vega will face incumbent Abigail Spanberger for VA-07’s Congressional seat on Nov. 8th. She has repeatedly told supporters that Spanberger is “running afraid,” and accused the representative of sending trackers to her campaign events.
