Fredericksburg, VA – In a final push to keep the majority in the House of Representatives, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson made a stop in Fredericksburg Monday night to stump for Derrick Anderson, the Republican nominee in Virginia’s Seventh Congressional District. Anderson is running against Democrat Eugene Vindman.
“The path to the majority, which means the ability to save the country, literally runs through this district,” Johnson said. “I’m telling you, everybody around the country is watching. It comes down to about 19 seats, and among those, they rank which ones are the toss-ups, right? VA-07 has been watched by everybody around the country all year, and they’re particularly watching it now. You know why? Because [Anderson] had an extraordinary campaign.”
Johnson spoke to hundreds of Republicans attending the Fredericksburg rally just off Interstate 95.
Several members of Congress were present, including the National Republican Committee Chair Richard Hudson.
“There’s an old cliche, ‘It’s all about turnout.’ I am telling you folks, this congressional seat can be decided by one vote per precinct — that’s how close it’s going to be,” Hudson said.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin also attended the event and spoke to the crowd.
“In 2021, everybody said it can’t be done in Virginia,” he said. “Well, let me tell you, it can be done. Thank you for hiring me.”
Youngkin also hit one of his typical talking points for the campaign trails.
“Your job is, if you have voted, you must go get ten friends and get them to go vote,” Youngkin continued. “Let me tell you what that means. That doesn’t mean to quietly hope they vote. It doesn’t mean to suggest they vote. It means going to pick them up in your car, taking them to the polls and watching them vote, and then give them a ride home and maybe buy them a burger on the way back.”
During Youngkin’s speech, a woman fainted in the crowd. He stopped speaking and motioned to the side of the room for someone to help her. Johnson, Anderson and Hudson all jumped off the stage to see if the woman was OK. Youngkin also came down to talk to the woman, who was eventually escorted out of the room.
Anderson later posted on social media that the woman was alright.
Polls show a dead heat in VA-07, a seat that is crucial to either party’s control of the House for the next two years. Anderson, like Johnson, stressed this when speaking to the crowd.
“This is truly going to come down to the wire, and we have a country to save,” Anderson said. “I don’t think that we can afford another four years of where we’re at right now. We absolutely need to get our country back on track, and it’s going to it’s going to take winning here. All roads to the House majority are going to go right through Virginia and likely right through the Seventh Congressional District.”
Vindman’s campaign said that Johnson’s campaigning in VA-07 signals that Anderson is a MAGA extremist — an image they’ve aimed to project throughout the race.
“Derrick’s far-right extremism was on full display tonight standing next to MAGA Mike, who will not hesitate to shut down the government with devastating consequences for families in Virginia and put a full and complete abortion ban on the docket if Republicans win control of the House,” said a spokesperson for the Vindman campaign. “This comes just days after Anderson campaigned with Mr. Government Shut Down – Jim Jordan. Tomorrow voters will reject Derrick Anderson’s extremism and send Eugene Vindman to Congress.”