| November 2, 2018
By Heidi Przybyla
Former Virginia GOP Sen. John Warner tells NBC News he is endorsing several Democrats for Congress in 2018, including Abigail Spanberger, who is challenging GOP Rep. Dave Brat in Virginia’s seventh congressional district. Now is the time to rise above politics, Warner, a dean of the Virginia Republican Party, told NBC News. “It goes beyond politics now. I’m a Republican, I’ll finish a Republican as I cruise through my 91st year. But you’ve got to put the nation’s interests and the state’s interests ahead of politics,” Warner told NBC in a phone interview.
| November 1, 2018
By Christina Wilkie
CNBC met another kind of Republican, named Dave. He said he voted for President Donald Trump in 2016 but will vote for Brat’s Democratic opponent, retired CIA operative Abigail Spanberger, in Tuesday’s election. “But I don’t think people in Washington, D.C., care about anyone outside Washington, D.C.,” Dave said. “Nobody gives a darn about anything else. So I’m voting for Abigail Spanberger, ’cause she seems like she’s actually gonna do something. And I’ll tell you what, if I were a richer man, I’d donate some money to her candidacy.”
Congressional candidate Abigail Spanberger had a brilliant comeback to her GOP opponent constantly calling her Nancy Pelosi pic.twitter.com/RssrnOKyJ6
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) October 19, 2018
By RTD Editorial Board
The Times-Dispatch editorial board invited candidates in the Virginia race for the U.S. Senate, as well the House of Representative races in the 1st, 4th and 7th districts. Below are the interviews with the candidates who accepted the invitations.
| October 18, 2018
While speaking to inmates at a local jail, Virginia Republican Congressman Dave Brat complains his life is “tough”- in part, because of the political race he’s in. His Democratic challenger Abigail Spanberger joins Lawrence.
| October 16, 2018
By Jake Burns
“We have insurers that are leaving our areas, leaving our residents, particularly in the rural areas, without options. That’s why I support a public option,” said Spanberger. “The public option I support is called the Medicare X Choice Act.”
By Griffin Connolly
But Spanberger has said at least three times since July that she would “under no circumstances” vote for Pelosi to remain the House Democrats’ leader if she defeats Brat in November. She told USA Today that “time and time again” she has been forced to counter Brat’s claim to the contrary.
| October 4, 2018
By Daniel Marans
In a conference call with reporters Thursday, Spanberger, who has pledged not to accept corporate PAC money, said diminishing the power of money in politics is about restoring trust, regardless of policy outcomes.
| October 3, 2018
By Rich Griset and Jim McConnell
Based on the polls, political analysts are now calling the race a toss-up, a surprising development for a district that was considered rock-ribbed Republican not long ago. Between the backlash against President Donald Trump and Chesterfield’s increasingly diverse population, conditions may be right for Democrats to eke out a victory.
By Griffin Connolly
“Throughout this campaign, we have seen the worst of politics, including threats online and in person at our office and home, fake campaign signs meant to misrepresent and confuse voters, and of course the release of my personal National Security Questionnaire,” Spanberger said in a statement Tuesday.
| October 1, 2018
By Laura Vozzella
The two teams had privately agreed to a second debate, to take place Oct. 25 at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, with the local CBS affiliate planning to air it, Spanberger’s campaign said. Brat’s campaign pulled back from the Richmond event late last week, saying that it will decide whether to participate in a second debate only after the first one takes place.
| October 1, 2018
By Laura Vozzella
Obama gave the nod to Democrats Abigail Spanberger, Jennifer T. Wexton and Elaine Luria, who are all seeking to unseat Republican incumbents. Spanberger, who is challenging Rep. Dave Brat (R) in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, also received former vice president Joe Biden’s endorsement Monday.
By Griffin Connolly
Spanberger captured support from 47 percent of the 400 potential voters pollsters surveyed by phone from Sept. 15 through Sept. 24. Brat garnered 42 percent support among potential voters
By Patrick Wilson
“We’ve added to the deficit. Estimates [of additional debt] are $1.9 trillion dollars, and that is fiscal mismanagement at an incredulous level,” Spanberger said. “From a background in national security, I have incredible concerns related to who holds our debt. China holds a significant portion of our debt, and our debt continues to grow.”
| September 19, 2018
By Nicole Gaudiano
How did a former undercover CIA operative who spent more than eight years fighting terrorism get branded as a teacher at “Terror High?” The strange ordeal for Abigail Spanberger, a Democratic House candidate, began when U.S. Postal Service employees wrongly delivered her confidential personnel file to Republican operatives.
| August 31, 2018
By John Harwood
Among the distinctions of John McCain’s political life was being targeted by one of the ugliest smear campaigns in memory. Now, courtesy of Republican operatives tied to House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Democratic House candidate is giving the late Arizona senator competition even as the nation mourns him.
| August 30, 2018
Abigail Spanberger, a Democratic candidate for Congress whose personal security clearance documents were given to a Republican SuperPAC connected to Paul Ryan, talks with Rachel Maddow about unresolved questions about how her information was released and concerns about who else may have been exposed.
| August 30, 2018
By Washington Post Editorial Board
ANYONE WHO has ever filled out the U.S. government’s Standard Form 86, “Questionnaire for National Security Positions,” can attest that it is intrusive, requiring answers to 136 pages of probing questions about finances, medical history and family. People submit to this because they want to serve the country, often in positions handling classified information.
The use of an SF86 to score points during a congressional campaign is outrageous and worrisome. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic candidate challenging Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.), filled out the SF86 while applying for positions at the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service, and at the CIA. She worked for a time at the postal agency while waiting for her CIA clearance. Then she served as a covert CIA case officer overseas for eight years.
| August 23, 2018
By Eliza Collins
Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer, is campaigning as a centrist willing to work across the aisle. In her campaign office in Henrico County, Spanberger rattled off to USA TODAY the list of Democratic policies she’s against: a government-run single-payer health care system, an open border and shuttering U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And, if Democrats take back the House, Spanberger doesn’t think House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi should become speaker again.
By Patrick Wilson
U.S. Rep. Dave Brat, R-7th, and Democratic challenger Abigail Spanberger have agreed to a debate on Oct. 15 in Culpeper County.
The 6:30 p.m. debate will be at the Daniel Technology Center at Germanna Community College, 18121 Technology Drive, Culpeper, according to Lorraine Carter, administrative and marketing coordinator with the host, the Culpeper Chamber of Commerce. The debate is free and open to the public, she said.
Spanberger wants more than one debate. Brat campaign manager Katey Price said the Brat campaign is working with the Spanberger campaign on parameters for other debates.
| August 15, 2018
By Allison Norlian
Spanberger has been conducting town halls around the district ever since she announced her campaign. She said in the primary her campaign held 120 events across the district. Spanberger believes her availability, coupled with her background and outlook for the district, helped her earn 73 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary. That strong support is why she believes the district is ready to be flipped to into Democratic hands.
| August 10, 2018
By David Streever
“It’s important to me that our country tackles these problems together. I want to see someone go to Congress and tackle these problems, and I think that person is Abigail Spanberger.”
| August 9, 2018
By Michael Tackett
Abigail Spanberger, a well-credentialed former C.I.A. officer, may make history of a different sort in a district that has been deeply Republican for decades.
For Democrats, Ms. Spanberger’s candidacy represents a test of the breadth and effectiveness of their coalition of newly emboldened female voters aghast at President Trump’s White House tenure — and the ability of fed-up women to build an insurgency of their own.
“I think it is ironic, humorous,” Ms. Spanberger said of Mr. Brat being on the receiving end of a rebellion. “I read it as a cautionary tale of coming into the scene saying you want to do things differently, and not really doing it differently.”
By Rachael Bade
Democrat Abigail Spanberger stood on a wooden bench at a vineyard in central Virginia and railed against “the prioritization of ideology over informed decision-making” — a pointed jab at her opponent, House Freedom Caucus member Dave Brat.
Spanberger, a 38-year-old former CIA operative, has barnstormed this traditionally Republican stronghold accusing Brat of putting the Freedom Caucus’ intransigent conservative politics over the needs of constituents, and pitching herself as a pragmatist who could represent them better.
By Albert R. Hunt
Brat attacks her with Republican boilerplate, as a “radical progressive” who wants to advance a left-wing agenda set by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California. Actually, Spanberger has said that she won’t vote for Pelosi for Speaker if Democrats retake the House, and the ex-spy, who was in domestic law-enforcement before starting her intelligence career, is hardly a radical. Brat shows little interest in debating an opponent who seems to know more about global and local issues than he does.
| July 20, 2018
By Lisa Lerer
Like many of the new Democratic candidates, Spanberger was at least partially motivated to run by Trump’s foreign policy, specifically his early push to pursue a ban on travel from predominantly Muslim countries. This week, Spanberger assailed Trump for his meeting with Putin. But typically, she says, she doesn’t spend much time talking about foreign policy or the president. “What the president has done is he has created a level of uneasiness for many people,” she says. “But I want people to vote for me. It’s not enough to have people vote against Donald Trump.”
By David M. Drucker
Democrat Abigail Spanberger fielded few questions about President Trump’s joint news conference with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin during a Wednesday evening town hall as the former clandestine officer in the CIA campaigned to unseat Republican Rep. Dave Brat.
By David Wasserman
In June, former undercover CIA operative Abigail Spanberger crushed a well-funded Democratic primary opponent with 73 percent of the vote in an impressive display of grassroots support. Spanberger grew up in Henrico County (the 7th CD) writing a diary in code. As a pragmatic woman with a non-political resume, she could offer a problematic contrast for Brat, a Freedom Caucus member who complained last year about women “in my grill” at town halls.
| June 20, 2018
By Rich Griset
Spanberger trounced opponent Dan Ward in last week’s Democratic primary by a whopping 45 points. Her candidacy has already garnered national attention, and as of the last reporting cycle, Spanberger’s campaign had raised almost as much money as her Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Dave Brat.
By Patrick Wilson
Former CIA officer Abigail Spanberger handily defeated former Marine pilot Dan Ward on Tuesday in the 7th District Democratic primary, and she will face GOP Rep. Dave Brat this fall in a district that national Democrats have targeted for flipping.
Spanberger got more votes Tuesday than any other candidate on the ballot in Virginia’s House primary races.
By Maryalice Parks
Spanberger’s work as a CIA case officer took her around the world. She developed assets and worked with sources, gathering intelligence to fight terrorism and pursue nuclear nonproliferation.
| June 6, 2018
By Rich Griset
Spanberger says she decided to run because she believes Brat and other members of Congress aren’t representing the wishes of their constituents. She cites Republicans’ efforts to gut the Affordable Care Act – also called Obamacare – as a prime example.
“Our representatives in Washington are not serving the needs of the people in their districts, and that’s particularly true for us,” said Spanberger, referencing Brat. “Our congressman has been very driven by ideology. I don’t think he makes any bones about that.”
| May 27, 2018
Abigail Spanberger joined MSNBC‘s Kasie Hunt to discuss her grassroots campaign to defeat Congressman Brat.
By Patrick Wilson
Brat “is not showing the leadership that this district needs. He is driven by ideology, and an ideology that is not accomplishing anything in Washington and also an ideology that is out of step with the district,” she said.
Last year, she helped numerous Democratic candidates in the region, among them Debra Rodman, a professor who upset Republican Del. John O’Bannon, R-Henrico. Should Spanberger become the Democratic nominee this year for Congress, she wants to offer alternative ideas to flip the district. She predicts that the 7th will, indeed, flip come November and wants to run up a big margin. “We need to change the conversation in Washington,” she said.
| May 3, 2018
By Landon Shroder
When asked about making the jump from intelligence professional to civilian politics, former CIA agent and Democratic primary candidate for Virginia’s 7th District, Abigail Spanberger, had a very distinct answer. “My whole role was to become a subject matter expert on a variety of different topics at a variety of different times.” As an intelligence professional, Spanberger had to use her analytical skills to cover issues like nuclear mitigation, science, technology, and narco-trafficking.
| May 2, 2018
By Jim McConnell
“My belief is that the tone of the country and the tone of the region has changed, and that gives a particular kind of Democrat an opportunity. Spanberger is that type of Democrat. She has some potential for crossover appeal,” longtime Richmond political analyst Bob Holsworth said.
| April 20, 2018
Speaking in Spanish, Abigail Spanberger discusses the campaign and issues impacting the 7th with hosts Abogado Pablo Fantl and Oscar Contreras on Radio Poder 1380
| April 19, 2018
Thursday, Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat running in the 7th District race for the chance to face Republican Rep. Dave Brat, stopped by the studio.
| April 18, 2018
By Annie Grayer
Abigail Spanberger, who served in the CIA for eight years and is one of the top Democratic candidates for her primary race in Virginia’s 7th District, said she finds the political climate “stunning.”
“I find it incredibly detrimental to our long-term stability and security that the President would actively work to undermine the credibility of our intelligence community and our law enforcement community.”
| April 18, 2018
By David Wright
Meanwhile, Rep. Dave Brat’s opponent in VA-07, Abigail Spanberger, outraised him by nearly $100,000.
| April 10, 2018
By Seth McLaughlin
Abigail Spanberger announced Tuesday that she has pulled in $338,000 since the beginning of the year, bringing her fundraising total to over $700,000 and leaving her with $475,000 in the bank a couple months out from her June 12 primary race
| April 9, 2018
By Paul Schwartzman
Ominous signs include Republican Ed Gillespie capturing only 51 percent of the district in the 2017 gubernatorial race. And Democrats for the first time since 1961 carried Chesterfield County, a large chunk of the district where demographic shifts have pushed the electorate leftward.
| March 28, 2018
By Caitlin Moscatello
Spanberger, 38, a Democrat, is looking to unseat Rep. Dave Brat, a Republican and member of the Freedom Caucus. She had spent months exploring a potential run, but Brat’s vote to repeal Obamacare last May pushed her over the edge, even if it meant she’d have to talk publicly about a part of her life she’d shared only with her husband, parents, and sisters. “I knew that once those three letters, CIA, came out of my mouth, I could never go back.”
| February 23, 2018
By Jenna Portnoy
Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA agent running for the nomination to challenge Republican Rep. Dave Brat of Virginia, has picked up a key endorsement from Emily’s List, the advocacy group that backs female candidates who support abortion rights.
| February 10, 2018
By Michael Scherer
“People say we just need decency, and Trump doesn’t represent decency,” she said of the people she has met at house parties in the district. “So many of us are running because we believe that. Though it will not be easy to change the culture of Washington, just changing the tenor will positively impact the conversations.”
| January 30, 2018
Abigail Spanberger joined MSNBC‘s Katy Tur to discuss why she’s running for Congress. “What I’d like to bring to Washington is leadership that listens to the people in their districts and provides representation to the constituents back home.”
| January 18, 2018
By Charlotte Alter
Weeks later, Spanberger recalls, she heard something unusual on her baby monitor. Her 2-year-old was chanting, “Love not hate makes America great!” from her crib.
Full Disclosure | January 15, 2018
By Roben Farzad
“I’m not running against Trump, I’m running to represent this district.” – Abigail Spanberger