Wexton wins VA-10 Democratic primary to challenge Comstock

Sujatha (left) and her son Kirin Hampton are set to greet and inform voters at Seneca precinct in Great Falls. /  Photo by Stephanie Witt Sedgwick.

By Karen Kirk:

State Sen. Jennifer Wexton won the Democratic Primary election Monday for Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, getting about twice as many votes as her nearest competitor, former State Department official Alison Friedman.

The Associated Press called the race for Wexton at 8:05 p.m., and for Comstock shortly after. With 99% of the vote in, Wexton won 22,530 votes or 42% to Friedman’s 12,362 votes or 23%.

Jennifer Wexton / Photo by Susan Laume

There were four other Democratic candidates in the race: Dan Helmer, a West Point graduate, Rhodes scholar, combat veteran and business strategist; Lindsey Davis Stover, a small business owner and former Obama Administration official; Paul Pelletier, a federal prosecutor for 27 years; and Julia Biggins, an infectious disease scientist.

Wexton, the only elected official in the race, has served in the Virginia Senate since 2014, where she helped pass more than 40 pieces of bipartisan legislation, while supporting important progressive causes like reducing gun violence, expanding access to healthcare and protecting the environment. Wexton represents Loudoun County where a number of voters in VA-10 live.

She was endorsed by the Washington Post and more than 60 elected leaders, including Governor Ralph Northam, and groups like the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and SEIU Virginia 512.

She will face Rep. Barbara Comstock in the Nov. 6 midterm election. Hillary Clinton won VA-10 by 10 points in 2016.

In photo at top, volunteers Julie Waters (left) and Alicia Plerhoples at the Lewinsville precinct in McLean. / Photo by Stephanie Witt Sedgwick.