The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Friday added Virginia’s 6th District to its list of those considered “in play” for Democratic candidates, with just over one month left before the midterm elections.
Under this new designation, the national campaign committee will provide staffing and support for get-out-the-vote efforts for Beth Macy, the Democratic challenger to Republican incumbent Rep. Ben Cline of Botetourt Court, in the last stretch of the race. Early voting has been underway in Virginia since Sept. 18. Election Day is Nov. 3.
The committee’s new designation for the 6th District may also act as a signal for donors who have been on the fence about who to support. It does not mean that the committee itself will be funneling money into the race, however.
“Virginians elected Cline to stand up for them, not run for cover when things get tough. Cline’s disastrous record for rural Virginia, whether it’s gutting rural health care or driving up costs for farmers, will be the reason he loses in November,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Suzan DelBene said in a Friday news release announcing the designation.
[CANDIDATES AND ISSUES: The Cardinal News voter guide has info up and down the ticket about the November election. See candidate responses to questions for the 6th Congressional District and other elections across the state.]
To be considered “in play” by the committee, a district seat must currently be held by what the committee considers a “vulnerable Republican.”
“This is big news,” Macy said in an emailed statement Friday. “The DCCC has watched what we are doing in the 6th District, and they believe I can win. I am grateful for their support. Together, we can flip the 6th.”
Tim Murtaugh, an adviser for Cline’s campaign, said by email Friday that the Democrats’ new designation of the 6th District race is evidence that their party in Washington “just trying to manufacture enthusiasm where there isn’t any.”
Macy, a longtime journalist, author and political newcomer who lives in Roanoke, will still have a steep uphill battle if she is to win the district, regardless of the new designation.
The last Democrat to hold the 6th Congressional District seat was Rep. Jim Olin, who retired in 1993. Cline, who is closing out his fourth term in Congress, won reelection in 2024 by a margin of more than 28 percentage points.
In the following year’s gubernatorial race, Republican candidate Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears beat Abigail Spanberger in the district by a margin of more than 17 percentage points, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Spanberger won statewide with a margin of more than 15 percentage points.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the district as “solidly Republican.”
Reilly Richardson, spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said that Democrats are “foolishly wasting time and money trying to compete” in a solidly Republican district.
“Congressman Ben Cline will easily win reelection, and while D.C. Democrats chase butterflies and rainbows in fantasyland, Republicans are focused on winning the fight on the ground and over the airwaves in the real battleground districts nationwide,” Richardson said in an emailed statement Friday.
Nebeyatt Betre, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said that the committee weighs a “range of factors in identifying districts that are ripe to flip” when asked for details regarding the metrics used to determine that the district is “in play.”
“Voters in VA-06 are tired of paying more and getting less, and they’re ready for a representative who will actually show up for them. Seats like this one will determine the size of the Democratic majority, and we intend to win it,” Betre said by email.
