Early voting has barely just begun in the 2025 elections, but candidates are already staking their claim in 2026 contests.
Republican state Sen. Bryce Reeves of Fredericksburg announced in a social media post on Wednesday that he plans to seek his party’s nomination to challenge Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Warner in his 2026 reelection bid.
Reeves’ campaign announcement video touted his background as a veteran and a former law enforcement officer, and added that the state senator is “ready to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with President Trump.” Midterm elections are often widely considered to be a referendum on the current presidential administration.
“I’ll never back down when it comes to protecting Virginia,” Reeves wrote in a post on X. “From the Army to walking the streets as a cop to the state Senate, I have always put our families first. Now I am running for U.S. Senate to protect our way of life and secure a stronger future.”
Reeves has served in the state Senate since 2012. He was reelected after 2023 redistricting to represent the 28th District, which includes Culpeper, Greene, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock counties, and parts of Fauquier and Spotsylvania counties. He ran in the 2022 Republican primary for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District and came in third among a field of six candidates.
The Democratic Party of Virginia called Reeves’ announcement a “sign that Republicans have given up on this year’s Governor’s race,” in a statement Wednesday.
“Bryce Reeves is a perennial candidate who is best known for running and losing elections. Now he’s gearing up to lose another by tying himself to Trump’s deeply unpopular agenda of cutting taxes for the richest while attacking Virginians’ health care,” said Chris Bolling, executive director of the Democratic Party of Virginia, in a statement. “Reeves even opposed expanding Medicaid in Virginia, which has provided life-saving coverage to hundreds of thousands across the Commonwealth. Virginians know Mark Warner delivers results and they won’t trade that for another Trump loyalist looking for a promotion.”
Warner’s office declined to comment on Reeves’ campaign announcement.