The chair of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors has joined a crowded field of Republicans seeking to unseat Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.
Crystal Vanuch launched her bid Tuesday, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. In her announcement, Vanuch attacked Spanberger, the two-term congresswoman from western Henrico County, as an ally of President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and “the radical Democrats in Washington” whom she said “are failing Virginia families, parents, law enforcement and businesses.”
As an elected official in Stafford and native of neighboring Prince William County, Vanuch will look to turn the new district’s boundaries to her advantage. She owns a public affairs firm, but said she has spent her career in health care.
Vanuch is the ninth Republican to seek the nomination, but Del. John McGuire, a Goochland County Republican, hasn’t said whether he’ll continue a bid he announced when the district included his home. Other contenders for the Republican nomination include: Prince William supervisor Yesli Vega; state Sen. Bryce Reeves; Spotsylvania County supervisor David Ross; Derrick Anderson, a combat veteran from Spotsylvania; Prince William educator Gina Ciarcia; Spotsylvania businessman Michael Monteforte; and Gary Adkins, a retired U.S. Air Force officer in Stafford.
