Republican Bob Good and Democrat Cameron Webb face off for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District

October 9, 2020 OSTN Staff

Republican Bob Good and Democrat Dr. Cameron Webb are competing in the open race for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District.
Earlier this summer, Republicans in the district ousted current GOP Rep. Denver Riggleman and replaced him with Good.
Webb is both a lawyer and a physician who serves as Director of Health Policy and Equity at the University’s School of Medicine and was a White House fellow from 2016 to 2017.
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Republican Bob Good and Democrat Dr. Cameron Webb are competing in the open race for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District this fall.

The candidates:

The 2020 election is the third cycle in a row where the 5th District seat is open with no incumbent. In 2016, Republican Tom Garrett won election to the seat, but decided not to run for reelection. That year, current Rep. Denver Riggleman, a US Air Force veteran and distillery owner, defeated Democratic candidate Leslie Cockburn to win election to the seat.

Earlier this summer, Riggleman was ousted and failed to be renominated by his own party in a drive-through convention over his support of same-sex marriage and his officiating a same-sex wedding in the summer of 2019, replacing him with Good.

In Virginia, congressional-district level political parties can choose their nominations in conventions as opposed to traditional state-run primary elections.

Good, a former member of the Campbell County Board of Supervisors, is more conservative than Riggleman. Notable in his primary win, he opposes same-sex marriage and equal rights for transgender Americans, highlighting on his campaign website that he fought to pass a resolution in Campbell County in 2016 restricting transgender and non-binary individuals from using public restrooms that match their gender as opposed to biological sex.

Good’s campaign platform also emphasizes his work in local government reducing taxes and government spending, opposing abortion, and defending gun rights.

His Democratic opponent, Webb, is both a lawyer and a physician currently practicing internal medicine at the University of Virginia and serving as Director of Health Policy and Equity at the University’s School of Medicine. He served as a White House fellow working on policy issues including healthcare and criminal justice from 2016 to 2017 under both the Obama and Trump administrations.

Webb’s campaign platform emphasizes improving access to affordable healthcare and lowering prescription drug costs, bolstering government support for COVID-19 recovery efforts, and combatting climate change.

On his Twitter feed, he’s been documenting his work juggling running a congressional campaign, teaching a medical school course, and working shifts at the University of Virginia’s hospital treating COVID-19 patients.

The district:

Virginia’s 5th District encompasses a swath of Central Virginia, stretching from Fauquier County in the Washington, DC suburbs to include the city of Charlottesville and then down to southern Virginia along the North Carolina border. It was first represented by James Madison from 1789 to 1793.

This district has traditionally voted Republican in recent cycles. In 2012, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney carried the district by a margin of over eight percentage points, and President Donald Trump carried the seat by a margin of 11 points in 2016, according to Daily Kos Elections.

In 2017, Republican gubernatorial nominee Ed Gillespie carried the district by a margin of nine points, 54% to 45%, over Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam.

The money race:

Webb has significantly outraised and outspent Good, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Webb has so far brought in $1.35 million, spent a little over $900,000, and has over $453,000 in cash on hand while Good has raised $261,000, spent over $193,000, and has $68,000 in cash on hand.