Derrick Anderson, the Republican nominee in Virginia’s Seventh Congressional District, formally conceded the race on Thursday to his Democratic opponent, now Rep.-elect Eugene Vindman.
“At the close of election night, there were thousands of ballots on reporting. Over the last 36 hours, our team has been camped out at every registrar in the district to confirm that every possible vote was accounted for and recorded,” Anderson said during a press conference Thursday. “The local election officials and volunteers conducted a sound and democratic process. During that process, we learned that there were over 11,000 provisional ballots still pending that would not be counted until Tuesday. However, based on the number of outstanding ballots in each county, the results on Election Day and our current deficit, we determined that there’s no path forward at this time. In the best interest of the Seventh District, my home that raised me, it’s time to let our leaders get to work. Therefore, I’m here today to formally concede the Seventh District race for Congress. Thank you to the thousands of voters who cast your ballot for me; it is truly humbling to have earned your trust.”
According to VPAP, Vindman is up by more than 7,000 votes. He will take his seat in January, replacing Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Henrico, who chose to forego reelection to instead run for governor next year.
Anderson was a Special Forces Green Beret who was deployed to Afghanistan, Bahrain, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon during his time in the armed services. He is now a practicing lawyer living in Spotsylvania.
Anderson, a newcomer to the political scene in 2022, sought the Republican nomination that year. He ended up second in a six-person race.
He defeated Cameron Hamilton for the Republican nomination this year.