Former Democratic Congressman Tom Perriello won the 5th District nomination and Joy Powers took the 9th District nomination in Democratic primary contests on Tuesday.
Democrats will have a steep uphill battle if they are to win either district in November. Both are considered solidly Republican seats by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report and have been won by GOP candidates with double-digit margins.
“For months, I’ve visited every corner of the district to hear from thousands of local families. Folks are struggling to make it to the next paycheck, and they are fed up with this Congress making everything more expensive, more corrupt, and just plain stupid,” Perriello said in a statement after he secured his party’s nomination.
Perriello beat two primary opponents, Suzanne Krzyzanowski and Rob Tracinski, claiming 78% of the vote by 9 p.m., according to preliminary results from the Virginia Department of Elections.
He added that the contrast between himself and his Republican opponent, incumbent Rep. John McGuire, could not be starker.
“I wasted no time in Congress to deliver economic relief to every family in this district, and I kept fighting to bring down healthcare costs and keep our rural clinics open,” he said. “But John McGuire did what the insurance lobbyists wanted, and sent our costs through the roof and rural health services headed to closure.”
A former congressman, Perriello beat incumbent Republican Rep. Virgil Goode in 2008 to flip the seat back to Democrats after Goode switched parties. Perriello, of Charlottesville, was one of the deciding votes to pass the Affordable Care Act in 2010. He served one term and lost to Republican Rep. Robert Hurt in 2010.
Perriello has focused his campaign on bringing down costs, bringing up wages for Virginians in the 5th District and “restoring common sense” to Washington, D.C. He has linked McGuire to the increase in day-to-day costs for Virginians through the incumbent’s support of Trump’s tariffs and the war in Iran. Perriello said he is confident in his campaign’s ability to win over the vast majority of Independent voters and a large chunk of conservative voters who, he said, are upset with McGuire.
The 5th Congressional District is considered a solidly Republican seat, according to the Cook Political Report. However, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee included the district on its list of those “in play” for the 2026 election cycle.
Perriello goes into the general election season with $1.5 million cash on hand compared to McGuire’s $524,403 according to recent filings with the Federal Election Commission.
Powers wins the Democratic nomination in the 9th District
Joy Powers will go on to face incumbent Republican Rep. Morgan Griffith in the race for the 9th Congressional seat in November.
Powers beat two primary opponents, Adam Murphy and Douglas Crockett, with 50% of the vote by 9 p.m., according to preliminary Virginia Department of Elections results.
The 9th District — the most conservative of Virginia’s 11 congressional districts — is considered a solidly Republican seat, according to the Cook Political Report, and is not on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s list of districts “in play” for the 2026 midterm elections. Griffith, of Salem, first won the district seat in 2010. He was most recently reelected in 2024 with a 45-point margin.
“The real divide in this country is not left versus right. It is the people at the top versus everybody down here doing the work,” Powers said in a statement. “For too long, the folks at the top have done just fine while Southwest Virginia got handed the bill. I am running to flip that, and I am not asking anybody’s permission to do it.”
Powers is a fourth-generation cattle farmer, small-business owner and self-described “policy nerd” from Bedford County. She told Cardinal News recently that she is not excited about being a Democrat, but that it is the party most aligned with her values. She ran as a Democrat and lost in a bid for the Virginia House of Delegates 51st District seat in 2025.
She published a 40-page policy blueprint called the “H.O.M.E. (Healthcare, Opportunity, Market Affordability and Education) Plan” to address issues from how long it takes to drive to a hospital in Southwest Virginia to reclaiming mining sites. She said she wants to rework the federal “Farm Bill” to remedy cuts under the Trump administration, boost the domestic food supply and ensure Americans are fed.
Powers heads into the general election season with $13,940 cash on hand compared to Griffith’s $973,866, according to recent filings with the Federal Election Commission.
Griffith said in a statement that he intends to earn every vote in the 9th District come November.
“I have worked with President Trump to deliver American energy dominance, tax relief for working families, and an end to the policies that spent a generation telling Southwest and Southside Virginia its way of life was a problem to be managed,” he said.
Winners in other Democratic primary elections
- Shannon Taylor won the Democratic primary for the 1st Congressional District and will go on to face incumbent Republican Rep. Rob Wittman.
- Elaine Luria won the Democratic primary for the 2nd Congressional District and will face incumbent Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans.
- Incumbent Democratic Rep. Don Beyer beat four primary challengers and will face Republican Tony Sabio in November.
