Incumbent Democratic Rep. Gerald Connolly and Republican challenger Keith Fimian will once again square off in the race for Virginia’s 11th Congressional District seat this November — albeit in a political environment vastly different than their first go-round two years ago.
Connolly, seeking a second term, acknowledged that the current anti-incumbent mood among voters is less hospitable than it was in 2008, when President Obama helped propel many more Democrats into office. And, Connolly said, his opponent, Fimian, who has embraced the Tea Party movement this time around, has changed as well.
“This year, he’s a full-throated Tea Party radical,” Connolly said. “He’s actually moved further to the right. That’s a tougher walk-back for the general election.”
Fimian, for his part, said he now has the benefit of campaign experience under his belt — and he didn’t pull any punches when knocking his opponent.
“What he’s done is nothing less than horrible,” he said. “He wants you focused on things that do not matter, so that things that do matter are overlooked. This race has to do with Connolly’s record.”
Connolly has backed high-profile health care and climate change legislation passed by the Democratic-led House. However, in his first ad of the campaign, which began airing recently on cable in Prince William County, Connolly notes that he has voted against $269 billion in new spending, including money for infrastructure and jobs.
The Fimian camp subsequently posted an online ad skewering the spot, buzzing Connolly with “Pants On Fire” ratings — the opposite of a “Completely True” mark — beside his list of accomplishments.
Fimian, the chairman and founder of a home inspection company, said his business background and experience working within a budget is needed in a Congress that critics have slammed for spending too much money.
“This massive amount of debt is a terrible, terrible albatross” around the neck of economic growth, Fimian said.
Regardless, Fimian may not get as much help this time around from the Republican Party, which is focusing its efforts on winning Virginia’s 2nd and 5th District seats, held by freshman Democrats Glenn Nye and Tom Perriello, respectively, according to Stephen Farnsworth, an expert on Virginia politics at George Mason University.
“The 11th District is a second-tier district,” he said. “This is a district that the Republicans win when the Republican is someone like Tom Davis — a moderate Republican who was, in fact, too moderate for Republicans in other parts of the state.”
