As it happens every year in Virginia, primary season is just around the corner! And this week, Michael is joined by political analyst Sam Shirazi to break down a few of the most competitive Congressional primaries heading into the 2024 race. Those include the open seat in the 10th District following the retirement of Jennifer Wexton, as well as the open 7th District as Abigail Spanberger sets her sights on the Governor's Mansion. Plus, Bob Good in the 5th District faces a primary from the pro-Trump wing of the Republican Party and Gerry Connolly in the 11th District takes heat from a candidate running on a pro-Palestinian platform.

Episode Transcript

Michael Pope  

I'm Michael Pope, and this is Pod Virginia, a podcast enjoying some primary colors this week. We've got a bunch of candidates, a list that is solidified thanks to the filing deadline, which was last week. We've got a great guest here today to discuss these many candidates in these many races. He is one of the most popular guests we've ever had on the program. Sam Shirazi, thanks for returning to Pod Virginia.

Sam Shirazi  

Thanks for having me again. It feels like just last year, we were talking about the state elections, and now we're talking about these congressional races. That's the thing with Virginia: Every year, there's going to be an election.

Michael Pope  

Every year there's an election. We're about to go through dozens of names, so buckle up. Starting with the open seat in the 10th Congressional District. This seat opened up because of the surprise retirement of Jennifer Wexton last year. Nobody was expecting this seat to be open, so the unexpected opening here has opened up the floodgates. The last couple of times we talked about this on the podcast, we talked about 13 candidates, lucky 13 candidates. But one of them has dropped out. Now we've got 12 candidates, a dozen candidates running for the Democratic nomination for the 10th congressional district, the open Wexton seat. Dan Helmer has raised the most amount of money, but we've also got in this race; former Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, Senator Suhas Subramanyam, Senator Jennifer Boysko, former Secretary of Education Atif Qarni, Delegate David Reid, Delegate Michelle Maldonado, along with several other people. Sam Shirazi, what do we make of this crowded field here in the Virginia 10th?

Sam Shirazi  

This one has so many people in it. Keep in mind that there's no rank choice voting, which means whoever gets the most votes, the plurality, is going to win. The winner very likely will get less than a majority; they could get 30% or 35%. It's hard to say who the front-runner is when you have a field this big. One thing to keep in mind is 

Two state Senators are running. The State Senators have represented the most people. The person who represents the most people in this district is Suhas Subramanyam. He's the State Senator from Eastern Loudoun, who represents the most people currently in this district. Then you have Jennifer Boysko, who represents the district that Congresswoman Wexton used to represent. However, after redistricting, the district is no longer within VA-10; her State Senate district is all in Fairfax County now and not in Loudoun County. But still, she used to represent a large chunk of Loudoun County. So, I would say both of them have relatively higher name IDs, just given that they have represented a lot of these people in the past. I think that's the advantage that they have. Then you have different people with different backgrounds running. You have former Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, who obviously played an important role when the Democrats had a trifecta. She has connections through her role as former Speaker of the House of Delegates. However, she comes from Fairfax, which is a common theme. A lot of these candidates come from either Fairfax County or Prince William County, even though the majority of these primary voters are going to be from Loudoun. You also mentioned Dan Helmer and Delegate Dan Helmer. He comes from Fairfax County. You have Delegate Michelle Maldonado, who comes from Manassas and Western Prince William County. The other delegate you mentioned, David Reid, comes from Eastern Loudoun. I think the one thing that could potentially be a game changer, if it happens, would be if the current Congresswoman, Wexton, decides to endorse someone. Obviously, she unfortunately had to retire due to health reasons. But if she decides to give her endorsement to one of these candidates. That's certainly going to be a potential game-changer. Short of that, I mean, it's really who's running the best campaign? Who is getting out there talking to voters? Who do the voters know from past campaigns? Again, that's why I emphasize that maybe the state senators from Loudoun have a bit of an advantage because the district is about 50% Loudoun. The majority of the primary voters are going to be coming from Loudoun. That's kind of how I see things. This is not to say that the other candidates don't have a chance, but there are so many people running. Sometimes, in a race like this, you just go with the person, you know. So if you've voted for one of these candidates before, either for State Senate or Delegate, you might vote for that candidate again. Obviously, the state senators have larger districts and have represented more people in the past. So that's my view of things; we obviously have to wait and see. But, interestingly, so many people are running. I guess the last thing I'd say is part of the reason so many people are running, particularly the State Senators and Delegates, is because this is obviously an even-year congressional race. And Virginia has their state elections in odd years. So there's really no risk for these people running; they can all run. And one of them's going to win, but the rest of them are probably going to come up short. But it's not a big deal because they can just run for their regular jobs the next time it's up for election in the state elections. So there's something to keep in mind, and it is part of the reason why there are so many people running in this race. 

Michael Pope  

Fundraising numbers and money are often shorthand for who's ahead and who's behind. So, looking at the money in this democratic primary in terms of fundraising, Dan Helmer clearly leads with more than $600,000, which is a huge haul. He's essentially got twice as much money as Suhas Subramanyam and three times as much money as Jennifer Boysko. Clearly, he's very successful in terms of fundraising. But I'm curious about how much we can actually learn from that. The number two person in the money race for that Democratic primary is a name that's probably not familiar to many of our listeners, Krystle Kaul, who also raised more than $600,000. Should our listeners look at the money as a shorthand for who's ahead, which would be Dan Helmer? Or is money something we should overlook in favor of something else?

Sam Shirazi  

One thing to keep in mind is that I believe the FEC filing deadline has not come for the last quarter. So, a lot of these candidates are still going to be filing their reports next week. So I think it's a little early to see who has the money advantage. Regardless, unless someone raises a really crazy amount of money, which I don't necessarily think is going to happen in this field, DC media market ads are very expensive. I don't think anyone has crazy amounts of money to run endless ads on TV that you sometimes see in these races. Ultimately, I don't think money is going to decide this. Because, as I mentioned, I don't think anyone's going to have a huge money advantage. So, for that reason, I don't think this is the type of primary where the money is going to make the difference. I really do think it's who can connect to the voters the best and what their history is in the district. Who's going to be able to make the connection to win the primary.

Michael Pope  

Turning our attention to the Republican primary for the same Virginia 10th district. The seat that was opened up by the surprise retirement of Jennifer Wexton is worth remembering. Wexton flipped the seat; it had previously been held by Republican Congresswoman Barbara Comstock. Wexton was able to unseat her in the 2018 election. So, this may well be a swing district, depending on the dynamics here. We have five Republicans running in this race, including Mike Clancy and Alicia Andrews. So Alicia Andrews is a name that's probably familiar to our listeners; she ran against Wexton in the last election cycle, and Wexton took about 57% of the vote. Andrews got about 43% of the votes. So, what do we make of the five Republicans running for the nomination in the 10th Congressional District?

Sam Shirazi  

Yeah, Alicia Andrews was the Republican nominee in the last presidential election. In 2020, she ran against Jennifer Wexton and, as you pointed out, lost that race up. Given she was previously the nominee, you'd think that she'd have an advantage and would be the front-runner. However, in a lot of these primary races, Republicans tend to favor outsiders. So that could cause a surprise when someone like Mike Clancy is able to win. So we'll have to wait and see. Ultimately, I would say this district is slightly competitive. So, in theory, on a really good night, the Republicans could probably pull up an upset in this race. However, given that this is a presidential election, Democratic turnout is usually pretty strong. I think the conventional wisdom is that Democrats have an advantage, at least this year, in winning this seat. That's part of the reason you see so many people running on the Democratic side. Because you have a seat that leans pretty heavily towards the Democrats. It's pretty rare for one of those to become an open seat. So we'll just have to wait and see who the nominees are in these districts. I think there's a good chance the Democratic nominee will be the next Congress person from this district. So we'll get a new member of Congress from Virginia's 10th district.

Michael Pope  

Before we move on from the Republican primary and the 10th, I'm wondering if any of these five candidates are particularly Trumpy or particularly never-Trumpy? In other words, when we finally know who the Democratic nominee is for the 10th, are they going to be going up against someone who is aligned with Trump? Or someone who might be more of that sort of traditional Northern Virginia Republican?

Sam Shirazi  

Realistically, these days, almost all the candidates have to support Trump somewhat. You're never going to get anyone who's a never-Trumper winning any of these nominations. Alicia Andrews served in the Youngkin administration; you could point out that she might be closer to the Youngkin branch of the Republican primary. Some of these other candidates are closer to Trump, particularly Mike Clancy. Ultimately, when you have Trump as the nominee, he's going to be the standard bearer for the Republican Party, and all the congressional candidates are going to get behind them. I don't think there's going to be a dynamic where you have someone running on the Republican side who will disavow Trump. For that reason, I think that ultimately helps the Democrats in a district like this because, in theory, if there were a different type of Republican, it could make this seat more competitive. But first, you gotta win the primary, and it's very hard in a primary if you come out against Trump. All that to say is I don't think you're gonna get a hardcore MAGA person in this district, but you're not going to get someone who's going to disavow Trump.

Michael Pope  

Turning our attention to the 7th Congressional District. This is the seat opened up by Abigail Spanberger, who is not seeking re-election to Congress because she wants to run for governor on the Democratic side. We've got six Democrats. Taking the lead in fundraising by a mile is Eugene Vindman, who has raised more than $2 million. That's the highest fundraising hall we've seen of any of these candidates so far. But it's a crowded field. We've also got Delegate Briana Sewell and former Delegate Elizabeth Guzman. What do we make of this hotly contested Democratic primary in the Virginia 7th? Abigail Spanberger will vacate the seat.

Sam Shirazi  

This one has a different dynamic than the 10th primary. The 7th district is mainly based in Eastern Prince William County. Still, it goes all the way down to Fredericksburg and then goes a little bit out into Central Virginia. The reason it has a different dynamic is you have this candidate, Eugene Vindman, who is not a traditional politician and has come from a different place. He had served in the military, and he'd become somewhat of a national figure because of what happened during the Trump administration during the first impeachment of Trump. He and his brother, who are twins, became famous. They have an interesting story about when they came to this country from Ukraine and served in the military. Certainly, it has a different dynamic and more of a national profile. When Eugene Vindman first entered the race, there was a kind of question about his support among the local democratic activists. That's where you have other candidates running. For example, you mentioned former Delegate Elizabeth Guzman; she comes from the progressive wing of the party, and I imagine she is trying to get more of the Hispanic community to support her because that's a growing community in that district. Then you have current Delegate Briana Sewell, who is coming from the African American community and, I imagine, is trying to get that community to support her. But as you mentioned, other people are running. It seems like the dynamic is that there's Vindman, who's a little bit of an outsider coming with the national profile. Then you have a few of these local candidates trying to break through and be the other candidate. That's the big question mark, who is going to be the candidate to take on Vindman? Obviously, Vindman has the name, ID, and money. So you need someone to go up against him, and if one of those candidates is able to emerge and kind of take on Vindman, I think this could be a more competitive primary. However, suppose the vote is split among the other candidates. In that case, Vindman is going to be able to win because, again, he doesn't need a majority; he could win with just 40% or 35%. That's the dynamic. The other question mark, I think, is a little bit interesting; almost all the major candidate the major candidates come from Prince William County, which is obviously a big County and a big population center. But the district goes all the way down to Fredericksburg, even to the outskirts of Charlottesville. So the question becomes, who do the primary voters in those areas support? In some ways, Vindman may have an advantage because he has the name ID, and he's able to reach more voters with his money. So, long story short, I think the conventional wisdom is that Vindman does have an advantage here, mainly because of the divided field. But if, for whatever reason, one of his opponents is able to break through and be the other candidate who's not Eugene Vindman, I think they'll certainly have a chance to win. So that's kind of how I see things on the Democratic side.

Michael Pope  

I'm curious about specifically one of the candidates in this primary, former Delegate Elizabeth Guzman. You pointed out she's got the bona fides of being more on the progressive side of the party. She has been on the campaign trail very recently. Just last year, she was in the Democratic primary for the State Senate seat for District 29. She lost to Jeremy McPike. But gosh, that's really close; I think 50 votes separated McPike and Guzman out of more than 12,000 casts. I'm wondering if Elizabeth Guzman can take this campaign operation that was already operational and use it to score a victory against someone like Eugene Vindman?

Sam Shirazi  

I think that's a good point. I'll be curious to see what the latest fundraising numbers are for her. Because, as you mentioned, she won before and came close in the State Senate race last year. There is an argument that she can bring a coalition of progressives, maybe Hispanic voters, to be the main candidate to take on Eugene Vindman. But keep in mind, this is going to be a competitive seat in November; it's not just Prince William County or the hyper-democratic, hyper-progressive people in Prince William County voting. It's a big district. There are a decent amount of rural areas. It's kind of a question mark about how she would do in those types of areas. You'd think someone like Eugene Vindman, with a military background, might be able to appeal to the other parts of the district because it's not just Prince William County. Ultimately, we'll have to wait and see if Guzman's able to bring together a coalition of voters to take on them. 

Michael Pope  

You mentioned there will be a swing seat in November. It's worth remembering that Abigail Spanberger turned that seat blue. It'd previously been occupied by Dave Brat, and it was Spanberger who knocked off Brat in the 2018 election. This is interesting because that's the same year Jennifer Wexton turned her district blue after knocking off Barbara Comstock. So, we are turning our attention to the Republicans who might be running in the 7th. Eight Republicans are running, so more Republicans are running in the primary for the 7th, the Spanberger seat than there are Democrats. Although it does look like one of them is kind of head and shoulders over everybody else. That would be Derrick Anderson, who's raised half a million dollars. All the press releases I get from the Democrats seem to be assuming he's the candidate they want to beat. 

Sam Shirazi  

Yeah, I agree with you. I think there Anderson is the front-runner on the Republican side. It's always possible. In theory, someone else could win. But if you look at where he came from, he ran for the seat in 2022 in the Republican primary. And for most of that race, it didn't seem like a huge factor, but in the end, it got a lot of support. He came close to winning the primary last time. Obviously, he didn't win it. But he ran a strong race last time. I think this time, he seems to have momentum, and more of the Republican establishment is backing him. This seat will be competitive; I think most people think that it leans toward the Democrats, at least in a presidential year. However, Abigail Spanberger in 2022 won the seat by, I believe, less than five points. Anytime you have a seat that close, you're going to see parties competing. I know both the Democrats and Republicans are going to be competing for the seat in November because it is an open seat. So it's going to be a really interesting race. One thing to keep in mind is Derrick Anderson also comes from a military background. It makes sense in a district like this, which is pretty heavily military. So we could be seeing a race in November between two military veterans, Derrick Anderson and Eugene Vindman. But there's always the possibility that there'll be a surprise and one of the other candidates will be able to win. So we'll just have to wait and see. But definitely, in November, this will be one of the two big races in Virginia at the congressional level.

Michael Pope  

Turning our attention to the 5th Congressional District, where we've got incumbent Republican Congressman Bob Good, who has a challenger, Republican State Senator John McGuire. This race is really about Trump and how Trumpy is you. Bob Good made the tactical mistake of endorsing Ron DeSantis. Now he's got the Trump people angry at him. And John McGuire is posing a pretty strong challenge here to incumbent Congressman Bob Good. Sam Shirazi. Are we going to be saying goodbye to Bob Good on primary night?

Sam Shirazi  

Well, we'll see. This is certainly going to be the craziest primary this year in Virginia. In some ways, it's full circle for Bob Good. If you remember, he won the nomination for Virginia's 5th district in 2020. He took it away from then-incumbent Republican Denver Riggleman by running on the far right. Arguing Riggleman was too moderate because he had officiated a same-sex marriage. So that's how Good got into office; he ran on a far-right platform, and he was able to win the nomination. Then, he had a pretty competitive race in 2020 but was able to win the general election. This seat leans towards the Republicans, and as you mentioned, the issue really comes down to Good deciding to endorse DeSantis over Trump. Now, the moment DeSantis dropped out, Good very quickly endorsed Trump. And has tried to come back and say no, I really do support Trump. But obviously, John McGuire, he's an ambitious guy. He was first elected as a delegate, and then last year, he was elected to the state senate. Now, he is turning around and running against Bob Good. For most average voters, a lot of what they see is John McGuire saying I'm the true MAGA candidate and Bob Good is not loyal enough to Trump. One other thing I should mention more behind the scenes is that I don't think this is kind of the day-to-day retail politics of the race. Another dynamic is that Bob Good was one of the main people who worked to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Kevin McCarthy has not forgotten that. He has, behind the scenes, worked to help John McGuire in this race, and you see some of the McCarthy allies, people like Congresswoman Jen Kiggan from the 2nd district. She's endorsed John McGuire, and Congresswoman Kiggan was very close to former Speaker McCarthy. So behind the scenes, not just the Trump vs. DeSantis dynamic, but you have the McCarthy dynamic. There are some reports that Good has gone to Speaker Johnson and has asked for his support in the race. So, there are a lot of interesting dynamics within the Republican Party. The question becomes, who has the actual advantage when it comes to the primary? Not all this backroom, political stuff, but in terms of the primary voters, it's hard to know because, keep in mind, Bob Good is the incumbent. You always have an advantage with incumbency. There is also this other dynamic where he can actually run as a maverick, an outsider candidate who can argue, I'm the one who took on Kevin McCarthy; I'm not just a rubber stamp in DC; I'm fighting for you. Usually, you hear that rhetoric from the challenger in a primary. Still, you have this odd dynamic where the incumbent is the one running as the maverick outsider. John McGuire, while he does talk a lot about being very pro-MAGA, also talks about the need to work within the system and support the Speaker. So he's not really necessarily running as this outsider, even though he's challenging an incumbent. Long story short, I really don't know who's going to win. It's going to be a wild ride until this thing is over. Whoever wins the race will likely win in November; while it's not overwhelmingly a republican district, it certainly leans towards the Republicans. So we'll just have to wait and see if Bob Good is able to come back to Congress or if we're gonna get a new congressman from the 5th district with John McGuire.

Michael Pope  

Well, Congressman Bob Good is not the only incumbent to face a challenger from their own party. Up in Northern Virginia, where we've got congressional District 11, the incumbent Democrat Gerry Connolly has a challenge or a last-minute addition to the race, Ahsan Nasar. Now I understand this candidate is pro-Palestinian and wants to challenge Congressman Connolly for his support for Israel. You see this a lot on the campaign trail. Last week, we saw Senator Kaine announce his official campaign for re-election, and there were Palestinian supporters at his launch. When I go to Alexandria city council meetings, pro-Palestinian supporters are demanding the Alexandria city council pass an ordinance in favor of the Palestinians. This is something that the Democrats are going to need to face in this election cycle. What do you make of the Democratic primary here in Northern Virginia, where we've got a Democratic primary in the 11th congressional district?

Sam Shirazi  

Yeah. So this race, I think, hasn't gotten as much attention, obviously, as the Good vs McGuire race, partly because, if I'm being realistic, I don't know if Connolly is in a whole lot of trouble. Sometimes, you see these primary challenges to incumbents, where the challenging candidate may not be running necessarily to win but to raise issues and awareness for certain causes. And while I think there are certainly other things that this challenger is talking about, the main dynamic is that he is more on the pro-Palestinian side. He feels the US government should be doing more to help the Palestinian people in Gaza and not be so supportive of the Israeli government. Then you have incumbent Gerry Connolly, who honestly, if you look at some of the things he's put out, and maybe it's because he saw his primary challenge, he's not necessarily putting things out that are 100% always backing the Israeli government. In that sense, maybe the challenge has worked a little bit to soften Gerry Connelly's position on this issue. And as you mentioned, it's obviously an issue that certain parts of the Democratic base, and especially the growing Muslim American community, feel strongly about in Northern Virginia. It's something we're gonna see how it plays out in the general election. But realistically, I don't think Gerry Connolly is gonna go anywhere. He's been around a long time; he's an institution in Fairfax. He's one of the people who helped change Fairfax from a red county to a blue county. It's hard to imagine, but it used to be a red county. Now it's very blue, and for that reason, I really can't imagine that Gerry Connolly is in too much trouble. But, interestingly, there are some divisions within the Democratic Party, especially on this issue. Sometimes, that gets played out in these primaries. And we'll have to see if it has any sort of effect in any of these races in the general election. This is a very safe blue seat, so I'm assuming Congressman Connolly is probably going to win the primary. Then, almost certainly, if he's the nominee, he's going to win the general election. 

Michael Pope  

Another primary area people want to keep their eyes on is the 2nd congressional district, where we have incumbent Congresswoman Jen Kiggan; it's worth remembering that this is a swing district because Kiggan knocked off Luria back in 2022. This is probably going to be the most competitive race in the fall. So, that's November, but I'm looking at our list of candidates here for the June primary. We've got two Democrats in the race, Missy Cotter Smasal vs Jake Denton; what do we make of this very high-stakes Democratic primary in Virginia 2nd?

Sam Shirazi  

I'm assuming here that Missy Cotter Smasal will be the Democratic nominee; she has, I believe, the entire Democratic Virginia Congressional Delegation has endorsed her. So, every other member of Congress from Virginia has endorsed her. I don't anticipate a super competitive primary. Still, it is worth flagging because this is likely going to be a close race in November. Incumbent Jen Kiggan won this seat pretty narrowly by less than five points in 2022 when she defeated Elaine Luria. This is a very close district. If Biden is able to carry the district, I believe he just barely carried it in 2020. So, if he's able to carry it in 2024, that will give the Democrats a decent shot of possibly winning this seat. However, one thing to keep in mind is after redistricting, this seat was redrawn. It was made a little bit more Republican. So I think the little changes that were made during redistricting could be enough for Kiggan's to be able to get reelected, but we'll have to wait and see. The Democrats only have to win a few seats to take back the House of Representatives. The Republican majority is really small right now. So, in Virginia, I think this is going to be the closest race. Even though there might not be a whole lot to talk about in the primary, certainly in the general election, this is going to be a super important race for control of the House of Representatives.

Michael Pope  

There is one last race I want to talk about. Which is the Republican primary against incumbent Senator Tim Kaine. We've got eight Republicans in that race, including Hung Cao, who has raised the most money and is probably a familiar name to our listeners because he ran against Jennifer Wexton back in 2022. So, the electoral results were 53% for Wexton and 47% for Hung Cao. And this is obviously a very important race for Republicans because it's a statewide race. What do we make of these eight Republicans who want to take on Tim Kaine?

Sam Shirazi  

Hung Cao made a name for himself in 2022 when he was able to keep the 10th district race relatively close; I think it was decided by less than 10 points. So he's trying to win the Senate nomination this time. And as you mentioned, he has a number of challenges. I think Scott Parkinson is the one who has the best chance to win the nomination. I don't know if either of them is a huge favorite at this point, although, as you mentioned, I think Hung Cao might have a bit more money. Ultimately, with this race, whoever gets nominated is going to be taking on Tim Kaine, and Tim Kaine wins race after race in Virginia. It goes all the way back to 2001 when he was elected Lieutenant Governor with Mark Warner. He was obviously elected governor in 2005, and then he was elected to the Senate in 2012. Even though they didn't win the election, Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine won Virginia at the presidential level in 2016. Then he was reelected in 2018. Tim Kaine has a very long history in Virginia, and realistically, I think he's going to be pretty safe this cycle. I don't think the Republicans have a huge stomach to invest in Virginia, given that they have a lot of other really interesting races where they could take on some incumbent Democrats who are much more vulnerable than Tim Kaine. So, all that to say, as much as I think it'll be interesting, we'll see who the Republicans decide to nominate. I'm sure there'll be some hearty engagement between the candidates and between Tim Kaine during the general election. I don't anticipate this race being super close in November. But we'll see who the Republicans end up nominating in this race.

Michael Pope  

All right. I'm sure our listeners' heads are spinning because we just went through dozens and dozens of names there. Do you have any final thoughts about the many candidates who have filed? We've got a clearer picture of who is going to be on the ballot for the June primary. What should we think about this list of people? 

Sam Shirazi  

One thing to keep in mind is that we're going to have at least two new members of Congress from Virginia, from the 7th district and the 10th district because their incumbents are retiring. In the 5th district, we could have a new member of Congress. In the 2nd district, we could have a new member of Congress. So there's going to be a decent amount of turnover no matter what. It could be more turnover than usual, depending on how the results pan out. I guess the last thing I want to leave everyone with is that 2024 is obviously a presidential year. Virginia used to be one of the main battlegrounds, at least for two cycles in 2008 and 2012. I feel like it was a top-tier battleground for various reasons. Particularly with Donald Trump being the Republican nominee, I think Virginia is not going to be one of the top battlegrounds at the presidential level. As I mentioned, at the Senate level, I don't think it's going to be one of the top Senate battlegrounds. But the House of Representatives is really close right now; a majority could be decided by a few seats. And we have two really close elections for the House in Virginia, in the 2nd district and the 7th district. So, a lot is going on in 2024 outside Virginia, and a lot of important races. Here in Virginia, there will also be important races in the 2nd and the 7th. They're all obviously important, but those are going to be very competitive, and they're going to be important for determining control of the House of Representatives. So, I would like to say that Virginia is always important, even if we aren't necessarily the top presidential battleground anymore. But keep an eye on everything. We'll have to see what happens after the June primary, and then I'm sure it'll be very interesting as we head into the fall campaign.

Michael Pope  

All right. He is the most popular guest we've ever had on Pod Virginia, largely because of podcasts like the one you just listened to. Sam Shirazi, thanks for coming back on Pod Virginia.

Sam Shirazi  

Yeah, thanks for having me. It was fun.