Everything you need to know about the 10th District of Virginia election
Comstock vs Bennett are going head to head
Out of the 435 House races this election year, only 23 are considered to be truly competitive. Out of those 23, one of them is in our own very backyard: District 10 of Virginia.
The 10th District of Virginia encompasses Clarke, Frederick, and Loudon counties as well as Manassas Park City, Manassas City, and Winchester City. Portions of Fairfax and Prince William counties are also included in the district.
Although the 10th District has been a Republican stronghold since 1981, Republican incumbent Barbara Comstock’s seat may be quickly taken away from her after only serving one term from Democratic nominee, LuAnn Bennett.
LuAnn Bennett was the owner of a real estate business called “Bennett Group” before running for the House. She also spent time serving as an appointee of then-Governor Tim Kaine on Virginia’s Climate Change Commission, the Virginia Health Care Foundation, the I Have a Dream Foundation, Turnaround for Children, and the National Children’s Museum.
Some of her cornerstone campaign themes include raising the minimum wage, guaranteeing equal pay for equal work, investing in universal pre-K education, renewing focus on community colleges, multi-modal transportation planning, paid family leave, destroying ISIS and ensure that the armed forces and intelligence agencies have the resources they need to succeed, and closing the loophole that allows suspected terrorists to purchase dangerous firearms.
Her opponent, incumbent Rep. Barbara Comstock, has worked in numerous positions, including serving first as a senior aide in the 1990s to Virginia Congressman Frank R. Wolf who represented Virginia’s 10th Congressional District for 34 years, serving in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2010 to 2015, formed a small business as founding partner of Comstock Strategies. She was also a founding partner of Corallo Comstock, a public relations and government affairs firm.
Comstock supports fighting for tax relief for families and small businesses, passing a landmark five-year transportation bill, helping to pass human trafficking legislation, working with federal, state, and local law enforcement to fight the heroin epidemic, and heavily investing in national security.
The latest poll by Expedition Strategies on October 10-12, 2016 showed Bennett leading 48 percent-44 percent, making this district very much a toss-up. This would be quite an achievement, given incumbents have a 96.4 percent rate of re-election. However, there has not been a more recent poll to see where the district stands as of now.
Many are saying there is a “Trump Effect”, which is hurting down-ballot Republican candidates. Whether this is true or not, there is something to say when 19 of the 23 heavily competitive districts have Republican incumbents on the brink of being defeated.