A Race to Watch in Virginia: Incumbent Barbara Comstock v. Jennifer Wexton

Jennifer Wexton

Back many months ago, when we first started taking detailed dives into the building BlueWave2018, we focused a posting here on Virginia's 10th Congressional District:

Incumbent Republican Barbara Comstock, often mentioned as one of the most vulnerable Republicans in Congress. Cook Political Report rates this race a "toss-up." It's heavily suburban.

Insurgent Democrats -- A whole tribe of them wanting to run in the primary on June 12th:

Kimberly Adams -- educator

Julia Biggins -- scientist

Alison Friedman -- human trafficking activist and a former Obama staffer

Dave Hanson -- Naval intelligence officer

Dan Helmer -- veteran, has won the backing of the Democratic veterans group VoteVets

Julien Modica -- charitably described as a "perennial candidate"

Paul Pelletier -- 9th Democrat to get into the race. A former Federal prosecutor who directed high-profile public corruption investigations of lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former congressmen Robert W. Ney and William Jefferson

Michael Pomerleano -- an immigrant from Romania with a Ph.D. from Harvard in business economics

Deep Sran -- school founder

Lindsey Davis Stover --communications strategist and a former Obama staffer

State Sen. Jennifer T. Wexton (D-Loudoun) -- already well known in the district and has the backing of most of the Democrats in the Virginia House of Delegates

By the time filing came around, many of these potential candidates had dropped out, and only six ended up running. Of the six who ran, State Senator Jennifer T. Wexton came out on top -- by quite a lot. I liked Wexton's chances way back last December and ran her photograph.

She's a state senator from Loudon County, which is both the heart of and the population center for the 10th District. She's a lawyer and a former prosecutor, spending four years as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for Loudoun County. She's done a ton of pro bono legal work (and got official recognition for it), served as president of the local bar, and was appointed a special judge in Loudoun District Court. She won her seat in the State Senate in a special election in 2014 and was reelected in 2015 with over 56% of the vote.

She's a suburban mom and an accomplished professional. She's causing plenty of excitement today in Virginia and in Washington, DeeCee.