From the DCCC:
“Eugene Vindman’s bravery and unapologetic dedication to protecting our democracy and freedoms is exactly the type of leadership Virginians are looking for. Derrick Anderson’s anti-abortion and anti-democracy agenda is alarming. This far-right extremist doesn’t stand a chance against a proven and honest leader like Eugene,” said DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene.
—
To: Interested Parties
From: Lauryn Fanguen
Date: June 18, 2024
Subject: The Case Against Derrick Anderson
Eugene Vindman is an American hero and dedicated public servant ready to serve his country and community in a new capacity. Through a 25-year long career in the Army, Eugene has gone from Paratrooper and officer to prosecutor before serving in the White House as a national security adviser. While at the White House as the NSC’s Senior Ethics Official, Eugene received a report that then-President Donald Trump had asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a personal political favor in an obvious quid pro quo to open a corrupt investigation into Joe Biden. Eugene stepped up and blew the whistle, leading to President Trump’s first impeachment. In response to Eugene working to protect our democracy, Trump fired him from his National Security Council job. That hasn’t deterred Eugene from looking for new ways to serve his community and his country. Eugene has stepped up once again, this time running for Virginia’s Seventh Congressional District to protect democracy, restore abortion rights, lower costs, and fight for Viriginians.
Eugene’s commitment to integrity before party won’t be found in his opponent. Derrick Anderson is a right-wing extremist who would vote to ban abortion nationwide. He’s yet another MAGA extremist who will fall in line with Donald Trump’s dangerous agenda. His loyalty to Trump knows no bounds, and Anderson wouldn’t think twice before abandoning Virginia families as his far-right friends attack our democracy and come for our rights and freedoms.
Where In The World is Derrick Anderson?
Ask Derrick Anderson where he lives and get prepared to be led down a rabbit hole. Anderson claims to have lived in Spotsylvania County since 2021, but public records obtained by the Daily Beast suggest otherwise. According to those records, Anderson bought a townhouse in Alexandria in 2021 through a Veterans Affairs loan that is “only available for a primary residence.” The Daily Beast notes that they “asked the Anderson campaign, again and again, to provide information on where the candidate has lived for the last two-and-a-half years. The campaign repeatedly refused to do so.”
According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Anderson is a “Goochland resident,” a town roughly one-and-a-half hours from Fredericksburg. In 2021, when Anderson filed to run for office, he filed using a PO box in Henrico. Yet when filing this cycle, he used a different PO box in Fredericksburg.
Anderson’s blatant attempts at deception are disrespectful to voters in Virginia’s Seventh Congressional District, and emblematic of the dishonest and self-serving Member of Congress he would be if elected.
Voters know that Eugene is a man of integrity based on his honesty when he put his career on the line to blow the whistle on Donald Trump. That’s the leadership they deserve in Congress, not a confused, lying carpetbagger willing to say anything to get elected.
Anderson is an Overzealous Anti-Choice Extremist
To Derrick Anderson’s credit, he has been consistent on one thing: his agenda to ban abortion. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Anderson claimed that they “finally got it right” when the court paved the way for states across the country to implement draconian and life-threatening abortion bans. After 2022 Republican nominee Yesli Vega shamefully implied that rape survivors can’t get pregnant and therefore shouldn’t have abortion rights, Anderson stood beside her and continued to campaign with her.
Anderson also supports March for Life, an anti-abortion group whose goals are to “end abortion by uniting, educating, and mobilizing pro-life people in the public square” and to “change the culture to ultimately make abortion unthinkable.” There’s no question that, if elected, Anderson would continue to push his anti-abortion views in legislation and vote to restrict abortion rights and access.
In contrast, Eugene understands what’s at stake for women and girls in Virginia and will fight back against Republican attacks to ban abortion nationwide.
Anderson is A MAGA Fanatic
Derrick Anderson’s far-right agenda doesn’t end with abortion. Anderson would be another MAGA extremist doing Trump’s bidding in Congress at the expense of Virginia families. He’s a part of the MAGA following that defends and supports Trump at all costs – even as Trump continues to threaten American democracy. After Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies by a jury of his peers, Anderson was quick to attack the rule of law and an independent jury of Americans to claim that he “stand[s] with President Trump and in the defense of his innocence.” The anti-abortion zealot unironically said “This should be rejected by every freedom-loving American.”
That wasn’t the first time Anderson sided with lawlessness and threats to American democracy. Anderson claimed that the deadly January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol was not an insurrection. It’s no wonder that he enthusiastically accepted the endorsement of Derrick Van Orden, who attended the “Save America” rally on January 6th and marched towards the Capitol. Anderson also happily accepted the endorsement of Elise Stefanik, who has refused to commit to certifying the results of the 2024 elections after voting to overturn the 2020 elections.
Derrick Anderson’s undemocratic and dangerous statements and associations are a sharp contrast to Eugene Vindman, who stood up to Trump in front of the nation and advocated for the rule of law and democratic values and norms.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Daily Beast: The Incredible Mystery of Where This GOP Congressional Candidate Lives [Daily Beast, 09/26/23]
Free Beacon: In Northern Virginia, GOP Factions Duel Over Crucial House Seat [Free Beacon, 06/05/24]
Prince William Times: Vindman has huge fundraising lead in 7th District race [Prince William Times, 04/04/24]
Washington Post: Yevgeny Vindman, officer who reported Trump, to run for Spanberger seat [Washington Post, 11/15/23]
“I’m not your typical candidate,” he said in an interview ahead of the announcement. “ I’ve retired from the Army, but now I have a change of mission — and that’s to serve the community I decided to live in and raise my kids in.”
Military Times: Eugene Vindman, Army vet who drew Trump’s ire, to run for Congress [Military Times, 11/15/23]
PATH TO VICTORY
Virginia’s last legislative elections in November indicate strong Democratic support in the Seventh Congressional District. House District 65 – in the Fredericksburg area – went Democratic by 6 points. While the Democratic candidate in Senate District 27 ultimately lost, Joel Griffin did outperform Terry McAuliffe in a district Glenn Youngkin carried in 2021. Democrats flipped a seat on the Prince William County Board of Supervisors in the Northern part of the district by 3 points in a district that overlaps with VA-07. Cook Political Report rates this district as Lean Democrat and Eugene Vindman has fundraised 4.5 times the amount Anderson has so far this cycle.
Virginia is the last state in the South with no abortion ban, and with the threat of a national abortion ban being more prevalent should anti-abortion politicians like Anderson have their way, voters are likely to elect the candidate who will protect their rights.
Whether voters look at their backgrounds or their agendas, there’s no question that they will side with Eugene Vindman. Eugene is a patriot and put himself at risk to defend American democracy both abroad and then at home when faced with Donald Trump’s lawlessness.
Virginians in the Seventh Congressional District decided last cycle to elect the independent-minded leader with integrity and reject the anti-abortion extremist, and they’ll make the same decision this November.
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