As we head into the final days of the race, Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D) and Delegate Nick Freitas (R) brought some of their party’s heavyweights to Chesterfield County this weekend.
United States Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va) stumped for Spanberger on Saturday speaking at two different canvas launches in Chesterfield. While speaking late in the afternoon to a crowd of 20-30 Spanberger supporters off of Hull Street, Kaine said that Spanberger was one of the best first-time candidates he has ever seen back in 2018. The Senator also talked about how important Chesterfield is for Democrats in Virginia, calling it a bellwether for the rest of the state. High turnout in Chesterfield and Henrico helped Spanberger defeat Brat in 2018.
On Sunday, Chesterfield Republicans and Freitas reached deep into the national party’s roster and brought everyone along for the ride. Freitas rode the Trump RV onto a farm in southern Chesterfield where a group of about 150 supporters gathered to hear from Freitas and a slew of other Republicans tapped to speak.
The headliners were United States Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rand Paul (R-Ky). Also in attendance from the Republican Party were Daniel Gade, Leon Benjamin, state Senator Amanda Chase, Delegate Kirk Cox, Delegate John Mcguire, Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Rich Anderson, Delegate Glenn Davis, Chesterfield Supervisor Kevin Carroll, and Chesterfield Treasurer Rebecca Longnaker.
The environment and social distancing at the events were quite opposite. The Spanberger event took place in a parking lot with blue X’s on the ground to remind attendees to stand at a distance from each other. The Freitas event was held in an outdoor barn structure with open walls – however, mask-wearing was minimal. Some of the speakers, including Senator Rand Paul, a medical doctor, told the crowd that wearing masks is useless.
The Senator from Kentucky also complained about media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that they refuse to tell people that the virus will eventually go away as all other viruses do, according to Paul.
Paul made no qualms about why he drove two hours to a farm in Chesterfield County on a cold and rainy day – he likes Freitas. Freitas and Paul both often tout the same phrases of “freedom and liberty” when speaking on their beliefs and ideologies. Paul said he is only working to help elect five candidates for Congress this year, with Freitas being one of them.
Ted Cruz said that this year’s election is for the soul of America. “The contrast could not be starker,” said the Senator from Texas. Cruz also railed against Virginia media, saying that no one is covering the racist KKK yearbook photo that appeared in Governor Ralph Northam’s yearbook.
Speaking in the parking lot on Saturday, Kaine said that VA-07 was the hardest seat to flip in 2018 and that it will be the hardest seat for Democrats to keep this year. While speaking to the crowd on Sunday, Freitas informed them that his polling shows the race in a tie, with Republican voter modeling showing his campaign up by 1 point.
We will find out in eight days, or possibly more, if Spanberger is able to keep the seat for another term, or if Freitas is able to bring the district back to the Republicans.
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