Video: Tom Perriello Explains Why He Believes He Can Win VA05, Which Trump Won by 12 Pts., This November

Looking at the U.S. House races in Virginia this year, there are six that are considered  safe-“blue” (VA03, VA04, VA07, VA08, VA10, VA11) this year  – in a likely strong Democratic political environment; a couple that are considered safe-“red” (VA06, VA09); two that are definitely competitive to varying degrees (VA02, which leans Democratic; VA01, which is a tossup or slightly leans Republican); and  one (VA05) which leans Republican but could potentially be winnable with a strong Democratic candidate in a deep-blue political environment).

So on that last one, VA05, the almost-certain Democratic nominee is going to be former Rep. Tom Perriello, who used to represent VA05, going up against the utterly odious MAGA cultist, Trump bootlicker and January 6’er Rep. John McGuire (R-VA05).  Just to give the lay of the land, according to VPAP, VA05 is most definitely red-leaning, as Winsome Earle-Sears won it by 7.2 points over Abigail Spanberger in a VERY “blue” year; also, Trump won it by 12.2 points in November 2024; Hung Cao beat Tim Kaine there by 9.9 points in November 2024; and John McGuire won it by 15 points in November 2024. All of which could certainly make one think that VA05 isn’t winnable.  So what’s the case for why VA05 could be winnable? See below for video and highlights of Tom Perriello making the case for why he thinks he can defeat John McGuire this fall.

• “Well, first and foremost, I mean, it’s just the pain people are going through…These cuts are already happening. People already feel them. We’ve had three rural clinics nearby closed down. That’s meaning more pressure on paramedics and emergency rooms. We’ve had we have seven counties out of my 24 that already have lost their last OB-GYN.  And we’ve had two of the hospitals close their labor and delivery units. So the supposedly pro-family party has basically made it impossible to be pro-family while also being against contraception in John McGuire’s case. So we have two more hospitals that are at risk of imminent closure. And that’s getting that’s even before you just get to the cost issue.”
• “So it’s a very serious moment of life and death for people. And I think that is changing some of the politics in these areas. Not maybe as quickly as we would like. But I do think people care about their families more than they care about their party affiliation.  And this has become something that is really hitting, you know, at that kitchen table for folks on core questions of whether they can afford to have kids, whether they can afford to retire. And I’m hearing more and more of that across the fifth.”
• “I think that there’s a clear contrast. I mean, I helped get health care for about 35,000 people in the district. McGuire, we’ve already seen 35,000 or so folks lose health care across this area. We brought premiums down. He put premiums up. So it’s pretty simple. If you like paying a lot more and getting less from health care, then you know, you should like John McGuire… the math just doesn’t add up. So I think people are pretty furious.”
• “And then that comes to the listening point which is people remember that I did a 100 hours of town halls and heard from all sides. John McGuire’s just been too scared to even meet with voters.”
• “And that’s why we’re going to win the fifth is that acute pain that McGuire has imposed on people and because he’s he’s not listening.”
• “This is an area, you know, the size of New Jersey. It’s 24 counties. And I used to describe it as being like a July 4th popsicle where it was, you know, blue on top and Charlottesville, it was red in the middle with Liberty University and then factory towns at the bottom hated both parties. Now it’s more like shattered glass. Every single county has a mix of rural and ex- urban and you know families that can’t afford to live in Richmond with folks who’ve been farming versus folks I’ve said about the data centers. What I think is exciting about that is there is a chance for a deeper political realignment here. Now the first thing we have to do and the most important thing is we have to give our base a reason to show up. We have to be fighting back against this corruption. We have to be fighting against these attacks on our constitution. We have to be fighting against ICE you know destroying people’s lives and their civil liberties. And there’s a lot of work to be done there. You know, one thing I was very proud to be a part of was when the Supreme Court destroyed Roe v Wade,  we helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars to get young women politicized who had not been as politicized before. We have not seen the same reaction after the voting rights decision in terms of our investment and African-American turnout. And part of how I won in ’08 and why I outperformed by 12 points in 2010 was because we invested a lot of time in the African-American community. And I think in smaller towns like Danville and Charlottesville and Lynchburg and in rural communities, African-Americans are even more vulnerable than say in a city where you have a mayor and a city council that may be more responsive. So the voting voting rights issue and, having federal representation is really really important to folks. I think no other Democrat can show up and be able to point to standing up to corporate greed, standing up to that corporate power, standing up to corruption even in our own party. And I think that’s allowing us to build potentially an expanding coalition in this part of Virginia. But it is going to be tough. We’re going to win this race. It’s going to be a race I think we need to win the majority nationally.”
• “There’s no other red seat in the country that I think is as winnable as this because of what we bring to the table and because of how vulnerable McGuire is. I mean, we got to remember, this is a guy [who’s] not just a January 6th, but someone who was the only Republican or Democrat to vote to keep child marriage legal when he was in Richmond. This is someone who even the Bob Good Republicans in Lynchburg hate. So we have a real opportunity here and we’ve been lighting it up at the grassroots level and we’re hoping folks in Northern Virginia will adopt us now that the mad race for other seats is over and we would love to have you all come down.”