- Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger told Insider she sought out GOP Rep. Liz Cheney’s endorsement.
- “I think her voice is an important one on democracy issues,” said Spanberger.
- Spanberger faces a tight race against Yesli Vega, who has sympathized with January 6 rioters.
WOODBRIDGE, Virginia — Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming publicly endorsed Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia on Saturday, saying the former CIA officer is “dedicated to serving this country and her constituents and defending our Constitution.”
The cross-party endorsement, first reported by the Washington Post, came as Spanberger made her closing pitch on the final day of early voting in the swing district before the midterm elections on Tuesday.
“People are enthusiastic about it,” Spanberger said of the high-profile endorsement in a phone interview with Insider on Saturday. “I think her voice is an important one on democracy issues.”
The Virginia congresswoman told Insider she sought out Cheney’s endorsement as part of her efforts to build a political coalition that includes Republicans. Spanberger said she’s “long had a strong working relationship” with the Wyoming lawmaker, but that her admiration for Cheney grew as she stood up to her party over former President Donald Trump and January 6, losing her position as House Republican Conference Chair as a result.
It soon became clear the admiration was mutual.
In a recent appearance at Harvard University, Cheney — the vice-chair of the January 6 committee — named Spanberger and other Democratic women with national security backgrounds as members of Congress that she has “the most respect for.”
“We’ve had funny conversations where she’ll say, like, ‘I mentioned you in an interview, I hope you don’t mind,” said Spanberger with a laugh. “That’s sort of the genesis of it.”
So Spanberger approached Cheney and asked if she’d make a formal endorsement. Cheney agreed.
For Cheney, it’s just the latest in a string of endorsements for Democrats this year. She’s said that she would vote for Democrat Tim Ryan over Republican JD Vance in Ohio’s Senate race, has campaigned against Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake in Arizona, and recently campaigned for Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin in Michigan.
Eliza Relman/Insider
Spanberger faces a strong challenge from Republican Yesli Vega, a member of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors and a former police officer. Various election forecasters have deemed the race to be a “toss-up,” and the contest is among the country’s most competitive and expensive House races.
In her statement announcing the Spanberger endorsement, Cheney said Vega was “promoting conspiracy theories, denying election outcomes she disagrees with, and defending the indefensible.”
The specter of January 6 hangs over this race more than others. Spanberger is a member of the so-called “gallery group” of House members that sheltered in the chamber’s upper level during the attack. Vega, meanwhile, indicated her support for releasing January 6 rioters on a candidate questionnaire and has characterized Capitol rioters as “persecuted” and “shamed.”
On an unseasonably warm November afternoon, Spanberger rallied with fellow Democratic officials, including Sen. Tim Kaine and Rep. Gerry Connolly, at a canvassing launch in front of former State Delegate Hala Ayala’s Woodbridge home.
“I have spent almost my entire adult life in service to this nation,” Spanberger told the crowd of volunteers. “I believe in this country more than I believe in anything else.”
Eliza Relman/Insider
Kaine told the crowd that Spanberger had the “backbone” needed to serve in Congress, steering his speech towards the subject of the Capitol riot.
“I tell you, I serve with an awful lot of people in the Senate who were there when we were under attack,” said Kaine, apparently referring to his Republican colleagues. “I know exactly what they think, because they told me what they think. But they’re too afraid to say it.”
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‘A 50/50 race’
Sean McElwee, founder of the left-leaning polling firm Data for Progress, called Spanberger’s battle “the closest thing to a 50/50 race you can have.”
Republicans in Virginia are hoping to ride a national referendum on Biden’s presidency and the state of the economy and are still buoyed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s unexpected victory last year. At a rally for Vega in Fredericksburg earlier on Saturday, Youngkin made frequent mention of his 2021 victory.
“Nobody thought that a Republican could win a governor’s race,” Youngkin told the crowd. “Boy did we brought [sic] people together. You elected an outsider as governor last year.”
Vega introduced the governor with a four-and-a-half-minute stump speech. At a near-shouting pitch, Vega was light on specifics and issues but made occasional references to “government overreach” and “challenging the status quo.”
“America is the greatest country in the history of the world. So why are we running? We’re at a crossroads folks,” she said. “You’ve seen, you’ve heard, you’ve read what’s been happening to our country over the last couple of years.”
A daughter of Salvadoran immigrants, Vega has downplayed her recent endorsement by Trump and sought to distance herself from some of her more right-wing positions. She’s said the 2020 election was “interfered with” and won’t comment on Trump’s election lies.
She recently made headlines when she was caught on tape doubting the possibility of women becoming pregnant as a result of rape.
Eliza Relman/Insider
Following the Democratic event in Woodbridge, Kaine dismissed Youngkin’s allusions to a “red wave,” pointing out that Youngkin’s 2-point victory in 2021 was much smaller than prior Republican gubernatorial victories in 2009 and 1998: “His coattails are about as far as his shot,” said Kaine.
Democrats argue that a Spanberger victory is important for preserving democracy. Asked about that, the Virginia congresswoman situated democracy within a broader framework of “uncertainty,” whether that be economic or about the future of the country’s political system.
“There are plenty of people for whom democracy issues are their number one issues, and there are plenty of people who don’t ever mention it,” she said.
But Spanberger’s also running in a district with a high percentage of government employees.
“For a lot of our veterans, for a lot of our current public servants, our diplomats, our intel officers, you know, the police officers who literally defend in the Capitol on the day of January 6,” she said, “it is an issue.”
Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, an officer who responded to the January 6 attacks and lives in the district, recently revealed on Twitter that he backed Spanberger over Vega because of that issue.
—Staff Sergeant Gonell, Aquilino (@SergeantAqGo) October 31, 2022
Kaine told Insider in a phone interview after the Woodbridge event that there was “no downside” for Spanberger to accept Cheney’s endorsement, given that the congresswoman is “well-regarded by independents, and even by some Republicans.”
“I do think it will be close, but I think Abigail has run a very good campaign,” said Kaine, pointing to her 2018 victory over “giant-killer” Republican Rep. Dave Brat and pulling off a tight victory in 2020. “She’s kind of a narrow race specialist, I have a lot of confidence in her.”
For Vega’s part, there are signs that she hopes to downplay her association with the party’s right flank.
Speaking to reporters at the conclusion of the event, Vega shrugged off questions about Trump and referred to herself in the third person. “Yesli Vega’s on the ballot on Tuesday,” she said.
When asked by a reporter whether Trump’s support may help her this year, Vega replied: “I couldn’t really tell you one way or the other.”
