The incumbent United States Representatives in Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District will face a man who was elected to one term in the same position back in 2009.
According to unofficial results from the Virginia Department of Elections, Republicans selected John McGuire to be their candidate for a second time while Democrats selected Tom Perriello for the third time.
Turnout was lower in the Democratic primary. Perriello won 29,653 of the ballot compared to 5,387 for Suzanne Krzyzanowski and 2,134 for Rob W. Tracinski.
“For months, I’ve visited every corner of the district to hear from thousands of local families,” Perriello said in a statement. “Folks are struggling to make it to the next paycheck, and they are fed with this Congress making everything more expensive, more corrupt, and just plain stupid.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, a total of 9,940 people cast a Democratic ballot in the Fifth District with 91.05 percent going for Perriello. In Charlottesville there were a total of 3,926 votes with the former Congressman receiving 90.55 percent.
Perriello’s margin of victory was lower in Danville and Lynchburg, two other cities in the Fifth District. Periello had 75.22 percent of the 2,155 ballots cast in Danville. In Lynchburg, Perrielo received 70.85 percent of the 3,122 votes.
Incumbent McGuire easily defeated challenger Melanie Lucero with 42,057 votes compared to 7,853 votes. That’s a margin of 84.27 percent.
As of Wednesday afternoon, a total of 3,535 Republicans in Albemarle participated with 77.79 percent favoring McGuire. A total of 401 Republicans took part in Charlottesville with 66.08 percent choosing the incumbent.
In a statement, McGuire thanked Lucero for taking part and immediately set the tone for the general election.
“Tom Perriello is a communist who wants to hike your taxes, explode federal spending, and wage war on affordable American energy plan to chase a radical climate agenda that kills jobs and drives up your bills,” McGuire said. “His work for the George Soros during the worst immigration crisis in the history of our nation at the Open Society Foundation beside the Biden administration cost too many lives.”

McGuire’s statement said Perriello was wrong for the district in his first term.
The victory release from the Perriello campaign referenced his support from the Affordable Care Act in 2010.
“In Congress, he cast the deciding vote to protect people with pre-existing conditions, knowing it would cost him his seat,” reads the release.
On November 2, 2010, Republican Robert Hurt defeated Perriello with 50.8 percent of the vote according to the Virginia Department of Elections.
Through July 15, 2026, Perriello had raised $2,140,401 compared to $1,735,151 for McGuire.
Two independent candidates in the race have not raised any funds according to the Virginia Public Access Project. They are Cooke Costa Harvey and Chris Register.
There was also a primary for the Republican slot for the U.S. Senate currently held by Mark Warner.
Retired U.S. Army General Bert Mizusawa placed third in a three-way race for the Republican nomination with 51.43 votes of the vote. He defeated Kim Farrington and David E. Williams and will face Democratic incumbent Mark Warner. Warner is seeking a fourth term.
In Albemarle, 3,328 Republicans cast a vote in this race and 50.03 chose Mizusawa. In Charlottesville, 381 Republicans participated and 38.06 voted for the winner.
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