On Tuesday, Dr. Cameron Webb clinched the Democratic nomination for Virginia’s fifth congressional district, which encompasses Charlottesville and Albemarle County.
Webb, a physician at UVA Health, amassed 66% of the overall vote (36,232 total votes), beating out former marines Claire Russo, RD Huffstetler, and John Lesinski for the nomination.
Virginia’s fifth district, which stretches from the North Carolina border to the DC suburbs, has been in Republican control since 2010, but has grown more competitive in recent elections.
Democrats believe the recent nomination of Republican Bob Good — who describes himself as a “strong, bright-red conservative” — will make the district even more competitive.
Good won the nomination after incumbent Denver Riggleman was ousted at a drive-through convention earlier this month, after he received criticism from his party for officiating a same-sex wedding last summer.
Both Sabato’s Crystal Ball and the Cook Political Report changed their ratings for the district from “Likely Republican” to “Leans Republican” after Good’s nomination, signalling a more competitive race.
Good, a former athletics associate at Liberty University, notably did not file the correct paperwork to be listed on the ballot in November.
Officials on the state election board will meet on July 7 to decide whether he will appear on the ballot.
“I certainly recognize that Democrats have lost the past five elections in this district, but I also realize that we are in a unique moment of transformation,” Webb said in a statement following the victory. “This election in November will be about responding to our crises— our global health pandemic and our national crisis of racial injustice.”
Webb, a UVA alumnus, has worked as part of President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Initiative and currently serves as the Director of Health Policy and Equity at UVA’s School of Medicine.
