This race was never supposed to become so messy.
Rep. Jennifer Wexton, a Democrat, currently represents Virginia’s 10th district. She unseated an incumbent Republican in 2018 and joined a freshman class filled with Democratic representatives like New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
But Wexton, 56, announced her retirement after revealing a rare, incurable illness. She’s compared the condition to “Parkinson’s on steroids.”
Her replacement was supposed to run away with the primary, like a coronation. However, the Democrats’ frontrunning candidate has been suddenly rocked by sexual harassment allegations… mere days before Tuesday’s primary.
The frontrunner, state delegate Dan Helmer, is accused of groping an unnamed woman at an election party in 2018.
On June 10, the woman’s attorney recounted the incident to the Loudon Times-Mirror, a local newspaper.
Helmer denied the allegation and claims it is simply a well-timed political smear planned by his opponents.
“These are baseless claims with no specific details from six years ago,” Helmer said in an email to a local North Virginia political newsletter, NOTUS.
“They have been made for the first time a week before an election by people who have endorsed my opponents. I’m proud of my record standing up against harassment.”
Before that, Helmer was endorsed by The Washington Post, still the Northern Virginia region’s Democratic powerbroker despite its current turmoil.
A whopping 12 Democrats are running in the primary. The GOP is only running four.
What’s more, they’re running in a district rated D+6. A Republican could potentially flip that district during a favorable election.
Avram Fechter, a former Loudoun County Democratic Committee chair, spoke to The New York Times to sound the alarm about Helmer’s weakness as a candidate. Fetcher pointed to his public letter condemning Helmer.
“Helmer’s inappropriate behavior with our member was the primary motivation behind our involvement in adding a sexual harassment policy to LCDC’s By-Laws,” Fechter said in the letter, obtained by NOTUS.
Other candidates have stressed the importance of making no mistakes during this very, very close contest for control of the House.
“We need a candidate who will not put this seat at risk, and this is not a slam-dunk Democratic seat,” state Sen. Suhas Subramanyam, another Democratic candidate in this race, told the outlet on Monday. “We cannot hurt our ability to win back the House, which could be the last firewall to protect democracy for future generations.”
Virginians will head to the polls on Tuesday, June 18.