- One of this year's most competitive House races is in Virginia's 7th district, just southwest of DC.
- Both Democratic and Republican voters told Insider abortion and the economy are their top issues.
As Republicans predict a red wave in Tuesday's midterms and Democrats brace for impact, Insider traveled an hour southwest of Washington, DC to talk to voters in one of the most competitive House races in the country.
In Virginia's 7th district, both Democrats and Republicans named abortion and the economy as among their top issues. Abortion has played a particularly central role in Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger's neck-and-neck race against challenger Yesli Vega since the Republican was caught on tape doubting that women can become pregnant as a result of rape. Spanberger, an outspoken second-term centrist, has hammered Vega for the comments in several ads.
At a Saturday morning rally headlined by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin in a church parking lot in Spotsylvania County, Vega's supporters blamed President Joe Biden's administration for rising costs, doubted the legitimacy of the 2020 election, and said they hope to see former President Donald Trump run again.
Forty minutes north in the southern exurbs of DC, Democratic voters at an early voting site in Woodbridge expressed little enthusiasm about Biden, but stressed the importance of this election in protecting reproductive rights and democracy.
Here's what voters told us.
Suzy, 57, and Todd, 55, Woollam in Spotsylvania County
Suzy, a grandmother from Fredericksburg, is a strong Trump supporter who believes the former president "absolutely" won the 2020 election. "Even if he didn't, I don't think we've gotten a clear answer yet about what actually happened on election night — all of the very odd, strange activities that took place," she said. "I feel like this is the least transparent election we've ever had. And that's unfair."
She argued that "society" and "our government" are "destroying our businesses and destroying our schools."
Todd, who works for the Virginia railway system, wants to see another four years of Trump. "Look at how the country was for me when he was president," he said. "Unemployment was down. Lots of people had jobs, good economy, gas was what? Two and change?"
He also downplayed the severity of the January 6 Capitol attack. "I don't think they broke into the Capitol," he said of the rioters. "If you look at some of the videos – they let them in."
Sophia Cameron, 52, in Prince William County
Cameron works as a marketing director in healthcare and voted for Spanberger. She said she votes in every election and picked up her son from DC, where he's in college, to vote with her on Saturday.
Cameron, who called herself "a woman of God," said abortion rights are central for her.
"Nobody wants to go into an abortion clinic — no one wants to do that," she said. "But, you know, to be criminalized for it? No, I'm not down with that. You know, how dare you? How dare you make a decision like that, that you couldn't possibly understand or know how it affects a woman?"
The loyal Democrat said she's not sure she wants to see Biden run for re-election. "He doesn't represent the party well," Cameron said. "We have to have an infusion of some youth and vitality ... We have to learn how to do a better job at representing ourselves."
Martin Cevala, 52, in Spotsylvania County
Cevala, a construction superintendent from Fredericksburg, is a Vega supporter.
He voted for Trump in 2020 and is convinced the ex-president won the last election. He said he'd vote for Trump again "in a heartbeat," but he's more excited about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a potential 2024 presidential candidate.
Cevala said he's frustrated the US is sending billions to Ukraine while inflation rises and Americans are struggling. "First think about the people here in the States. Forget everybody else," he said, adding, "Who's doing anything for us, for the United States? ... Why is it that we'll always be the ones with the short stick?"
Jill and James Sherk in Prince William County
For the Sherks, the most important issues this election are abortion, public safety, and the economy. They want to see abortion entirely outlawed with no exceptions, except in cases where the mother's life is at risk.
"Personally, I hate getting pregnant. I totally understand. It's awful. It's horrendous," said Jill, a stay-at-home mom. "But a life is a life."
Jill said she had an abortion when she was 19 and deeply regrets it. If she'd gone through with her teen pregnancy, she said, "I wouldn't have the life that I have right now, but I would be much more whole and not be mourning for the rest of my life."
She said she voted for Trump with her "nose held" and that she doesn't know whether he won the 2020 election. "I haven't researched it enough to have a firm opinion on that," she said.
James, a former domestic policy advisor in the Trump White House who now works at the conservative America First Policy Institute, wouldn't say whether he voted for Trump in 2016. But he said he voted for Trump in 2020, to Jill's surprise.
Both said they'd support the former president if he runs again in 2024.
Joel, 40, in Prince William County
Joel called himself and his wife "pretty solid Democrats" and both voted for Spanberger on Saturday. (He asked not to provide his last name because he works for a federal law enforcement agency.)
Things changed for them after the Capitol riot. "We used to be a little more open to other candidates prior to January 6," he said. "We were already Democrats before that, but after January 6 — I'm not going to vote for another Republican after that."
He thinks Biden has done a good job as president, but doesn't want to see the nearly 80-year-old leader run for a second term. "We shouldn't have like 70 and 80-year-olds making up such large swaths of either party," he said. "Let's look at younger candidates. Let people get fresh ideas. That's what we need."
Lin Kay, 48, in Spotsylvania County
Kay, a nurse who immigrated to the US from South Vietnam nearly 30 years ago, named abortion and the economy as top issues for her. She said she voted for Barack Obama, but has since become a Trump supporter. "I am a Christian. I think that, you know, abortion is a murder," she said. "Life is life, it's not a tissue that grows inside of you."
At the Vega rally, she argued that Biden's student debt relief plans are unfair to people like her who paid for college. "Don't use my tax dollars," she said. "We're not leeching on the government, we work hard. This is the land of the free and opportunity. If you work hard, you'll survive in this country."
Richard Aldrich, 53, in Spotsylvania County
Aldrich, a civil servant at Dahlgren Naval Base in Virginia, called himself "more libertarian" than Republican, but said he supports the GOP's stance on nearly every issue.
He's most concerned with shrinking the role of the federal government in policymaking and insists the US isn't a democracy. "We have a republic of democratic states, not a democracy," he said. "And I would like to see people taught on the Founding Fathers' ideas."