By Hank Silverberg
CORRESPONDENT
Democrat Eugene Vindman, who ran in one of the more-expensive congressional races in Virginia history, declared victory just before 11 p.m. on Election Night as the gap between him and Republican opponent Derrick Anderson climbed to over 13,000 votes.
His victory speech to a thinned out crowed under the lights of several TV crews focused on bringing voters in Virginia’s sprawling 7th Congressional District together.
“Tonight,” he said, “is a testament to the power of the American experience, an immigrant who escaped a Soviet regime and came to his country with his family to a great nation with less than $800 in his pocket would now stand here Congressman-elect”
To a cheering crowd of supporters, he thanked his “less handsome” twin brother who was looking on and his teenage children.
Vindman said he wants to reach out to those Virginians who did not vote for him. “I respect you, I see you, and I will represent you just as faithfully as I do every other constituent.”
He went on to say that “we may not always agree, but I promise to listen to your concerns and do my damnedest to do my best to fight for you in Congress.”
Repeating some themes from the campaign, he also promised: “I will stand in the way of extreme politicians who want to strip away health care rights from women here in the Commonwealth.”
And he said “I refuse to live in a world where my daughter grows up with less rights than her mother and grandmother before her.”
In an interview with reporters after his speech, Vindman said he would continue to work to build trust with constituents in rural areas of the district where he did not do well on Election Day.
Vindman will now replace three-term Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, who chose not to run again so she could run for governor.
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