Politics

(RICHMOND, Va.) —  A contentious and closely watched Republican U.S. House primary in Virginia remains too close for any projection, as House Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Bob Good attempts to fend off a challenge from state Sen. John McGuire, who received endorsements from former President Donald Trump. The outcome of the race could signal the power of Trump’s endorsement.

Good, who was first elected to the House in 2020, had antagonized the former president by initially endorsing his presidential primary opponent, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Trump then attacked Good — an effort to take down the candidate he once endorsed, too.

“If he’s reelected, Bob Good will stab Virginia in the back, sort of like he did with me,” Trump said at a rally for McGuire earlier this week.

In an election year, many are looking at the close race to see the power of Trump’s influence and how his endorsement affected the race.

As of Wednesday morning, it’s not yet clear if Trump’s plan to replace Good with McGuire has panned out. McGuire, who was also endorsed by former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, has a slim lead over Good by a margin of about 300 votes, according to unofficial election results.

Good has not conceded. In a post on X late Tuesday night, Good thanked supporters, saying, “The entire DC Swamp was aligned against us with over $10 million in attack ads, but with your help we were able to make this race too close to call.”

Good said the campaign will aim to closely follow the vote count “to ensure all the votes are properly counted in the coming days.”

“No matter the outcome, you’ve shown the DC Swamp that you won’t back down from standing for what’s right. Keep the faith and don’t stop fighting now,” Good wrote.

But McGuire has declared victory in the race, striking a different tone than Good.

“My life is a testament to the fact that America is the greatest country on this planet and I’m so honored to have the chance to serve her again… Folks in the 5th can rest assured that should they elect me in Nov., they will have an effective fighter in Congress who will get the job done for them,” McGuire wrote in a thread on X.

“I look forward to working with Trump to beat Joe Biden in November & pass Trump’s agenda in Congress. Trump & McGuire will Make America Great Again!”

Earlier this week, McGuire implied that he thought Good might cheat to win the election or that there could be issues with the election.

“Let’s make this too big to rig tomorrow, so we can lock arms, and make it too big to rig, so we win Virginia for President Trump in November so we can get him back in there and make America great again,” McGuire said at his rally on Monday.

In a phone interview with ABC News on Tuesday, McGuire said it would be “healthy” to question election results in general when asked about the “too big to rig” comments.

When pressed to share any specific concerns about the primary, McGuire pointed to confusion among voters about who Trump endorsed.

“I was at a Food Lion parking lot the other day, and a woman said, ‘Well, who did Trump endorse…[you] or Bob Good?’ And I said, ‘He’s endorsed me,'” McGuire said, adding that Good is trying to “trick” voters — a reference to messaging on Good’s website that created some confusion about Trump’s endorsement.

Before Trump made his official endorsement of McGuire, Good was touting Trump’s endorsement of him in 2022 on his campaign website. The website was then updated to reflect the caveat that Trump hadn’t endorsed Good in his 2024 race.

On Tuesday night, Good eschewed the trappings of a fancy election night hotel ballroom soiree for a gathering with supporters at an Italian restaurant in a strip-mall filled stretch of Lynchburg, Virginia. Inside La Villa, it was subdued, with the restaurant’s normal activity blending with the watch party.

When he entered the restaurant over half an hour after polls closed, Good spent his time glad-handing supporters, greeting each table. He hugged and kissed his family, before picking up a family member’s baby in a “Babies for Bob” bib to continue the tour.

He spent time sitting, thinking and quietly conferring with his wife. He later left the party without speaking to reporters.

It is possible that the candidate who ends up trailing could request a recount. Virginia does not have automatic recounts. According to Virginia state law, the losing candidate can request a recount if the vote margin is less than 1% of the votes cast. The state pays if the margin is less than 0.5%; the requester pays if it is more than that.

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(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump is making plans to visit Chicago during the Republican National Convention — more than an hour’s drive from where the convention will take place in Milwaukee, according to sources familiar with his plans, but he insisted on Tuesday he would be “staying” in Milwaukee and again denied reports he called it a “horrible city.”

Trump is expected to attend a fundraiser in Chicago, though details are still being finalized. A campaign official tells ABC News, the former president will stay in Milwaukee to accept the Republican nomination on Thursday evening.

Earlier Tuesday, at one point, several officials briefed on security plans and logistical arrangements indicated Trump would likely stay overnight at his property in Chicago — Trump International Hotel and Tower — during the duration of the RNC.

Later on Tuesday, the former president denied reporting that he wouldn’t be staying in the host city in an interview with a local Milwaukee TV station.

“I’m staying here. I was always planning on staying here,” Trump told WTMJ-TV as he campaigned in Wisconsin. “Again, I chose Milwaukee for a reason.”

After reporters — including those from ABC News, ABC affiliate WLS-TV in Chicago, and The New York Times — reached out to the campaign to confirm logistics, Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement saying, “President Trump is staying in Milwaukee.”

Trump held a campaign event in Racine, Wisconsin, on Tuesday — 30 miles south of Milwaukee — where he touched on inflation and immigration.

During his remarks, Trump said “I love Milwaukee” — a reference that the former president allegedly called Milwaukee a “horrible city” during a closed-door meeting with congressional Republicans last Thursday.

“I was the one that picked Milwaukee, I have to tell you, I was the one that picked it [for the RNC],” Trump said during his rally. “These lying people that they say, ‘Oh, he doesn’t like Milwaukee.’ I love Milwaukee.”

The appearance marks Trump’s third visit to the midwestern battleground state as he tries to draw a contrast with President Joe Biden.

His insistence Tuesday that he was “always planning on staying” in Milwaukee comes after his reported comments disparaging the city.

Trump’s campaign disputed the characterization of his comments, and Democrats persistently amplified his reported words — including through a new billboard campaign in the city.

Trump’s campaign spokesperson punched back on the reports, arguing that Trump’s words were taken out of context.

“He was talking about how terrible crime and voter fraud are,” said campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung.

In another statement, the campaign wrote that it was a “total lie” that Trump called Milwaukee a “horrible city.” However, it went on to add, “President Trump was explicitly referring to the problems in Milwaukee, specifically violent crime and voter fraud,” suggesting he did make comments about the city, just not in the way some were interpreting it.

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(WASHINGTON) — In recent weeks, House Ethics Committee investigators have conducted a string of interviews behind closed doors with numerous women who were witnesses in the years-long Justice Department sex trafficking investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz, multiple sources familiar with the committee’s work tell ABC News.

Investigators have interviewed at least half a dozen women who allegedly attended parties where the Florida Congressman was also present and who were paid by Joel Greenberg, Gaetz’s one-time close friend. Greenberg was sentenced in 2022 to 11 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges including sex trafficking a minor and introducing the minor to other “adult men,” sources tell ABC News.

In the interviews, which have previously not been reported, some witnesses have been shown Venmo payments they allegedly received from Gaetz and asked if those payments were for sexual activities, sources said. Some of the witnesses have been subpoenaed by the committee while others have agreed to cooperate, according to the sources.

One woman, who ABC News is not identifying, told the committee that a payment from Gaetz was for sex, while others have said they were paid to attend parties that Gaetz also attended and that featured drugs and sex, multiple sources told ABC News.

Gaetz has long denied all of the allegations, including paying for sex, and previously dismissed them by claiming “someone is trying to recategorize my generosity to ex-girlfriends as something more untoward.” The Justice Department informed Gaetz in 2023 that it was declining to bring charges against him after its years-long investigation.

The House Ethics Committee declined to comment. Florida attorney Joel Leppard of Leppard Law confirmed his client was cooperating with the committee, but declined to comment further.

The Committee subpoenaed the Justice Department earlier this year for records related to its probe into the Florida congressman. Still, the department has resisted turning over the information, sources said.

However, the committee has obtained Gaetz’s Venmo records after issuing the company a subpoena, sources tell ABC News. During the DOJ investigation into Gaetz, public reporting, including by The Daily Beast, largely focused on Venmo records from Greenberg, who according to his plea agreement used his account to “pay for commercial sex acts” with women he also introduced to others. The committee obtaining Gaetz’s records, which ABC News has not seen, could help provide Congressional investigators with a roadmap for payments the Congressman may have made while he was friends with Greenberg.

On Tuesday, the House Ethics Committee provided an update on its investigation into Gaetz, detailing in a new statement on Tuesday that after speaking with over a dozen witnesses, issuing 25 subpoenas, and reviewing thousands of documents, the bipartisan panel will continue to review allegations including that the Florida congressman “engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use” and that he “sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.”

The committee also detailed that it will no longer pursue allegations that Gaetz “may have shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe or improper gratuity.”

When reached for comment, Gaetz’s communications director pointed ABC News to the Congressman’s social media post on Monday calling the House Ethics Committee “Soviet” and stating that “every investigation into me ends the same way: my exoneration.”

Greenberg is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to multiple federal crimes, including the sex trafficking of a minor whom he admitted to introducing to other “adult men” who also had sex with her when she was underage. Justice Department investigators spent years looking into whether Gaetz was one of the men Greenberg introduced the minor to before declining to pursue charges against Gaetz in 2023.

Greenberg, who offered the Justice Department significant cooperation in its own probe, is cooperating with the House Ethics Committee probe into the Florida congressman, sources familiar with the committee’s work tell ABC News.

At his sentencing in late 2022, Judge Gregory Persnell called Greenberg’s degree of cooperation “more than I’ve seen in 22 years.” Greenberg, a former Florida tax collector, was sentenced to 11 years in prison in late 2022 after pleading guilty to crimes including wire fraud, stalking, and sex trafficking a minor.

Investigators have also asked multiple witnesses about a July 2017 party that ABC News first reported on. The committee obtained a sworn statement from a woman who said she attended the party in Florida that Gaetz also attended, sources said. Multiple witnesses have also told the committee that they saw Gaetz engage in illicit drug use at parties, sources said.

The committee first launched its probe into Gaetz in 2021 before putting it on hold as the Justice Department conducted its own investigation.

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(WASHINGTON) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s public assertion that the Biden administration is broadly withholding military support for Israel amid its ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza prompted confusion and frustration across Washington on Tuesday, as Biden administration officials flatly denied the allegations.

“We genuinely do not know what he’s talking about,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at her daily press briefing. “We just don’t.”

Netanyahu made the accusations in a video posted to X.

Speaking in English, he said he told Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the U.S. diplomat’s recent visit to Israel that it was “inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions.”

“Israel, America’s closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies,” he continued.

In the prime minister’s retelling of the conversation, Blinken gave assurances that the Biden administration was working “day and night” to remove “bottlenecks.”

“I certainly hope that’s the case. It should be the case,” Netanyahu said.

During a news conference Tuesday at the State Department, Blinken was asked for his side of the story.

While the secretary declined to confirm or deny Netanyahu’s characterization of their discussion, he repeatedly underscored the Biden administration’s commitment to Israel’s defense.

“It’s very important to remember that our security relationship with Israel goes well beyond Gaza. Israel is facing a multiplicity of threats and challenges including in the north, from Hezbollah, from Iran, from the Houthis in the Red Sea,” Blinken said.

He also emphasized President Joe Biden’s promise to ensure Israel has “what it needs to effectively defend itself against these threats,” arguing it was critical to avoiding greater escalation in the Middle East.

“There has been no change in our posture,” Blinken insisted, saying it was “regular order” with the exception of one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs paused over Biden’s publicly expressed concern the imprecise munitions could be used in the southern Gazan city of Rafah and other areas heavily populated by civilians.

Two officials involved in approving arms transfers to Israel backed up the secretary’s comments, telling ABC News the administration is continuing to process both longstanding requests in the pipeline and new orders made after the onset of the conflict.

Although the Biden administration has faced increasing pressure from members of the president’s own party to halt military support for Israel, Blinken invoked emergency authorities twice in December to bypass congressional review and speed up arms shipments to the country.

“Since Hamas’ vicious attack on Oct. 7, we’ve rushed billions of dollars in security assistance to Israel to enable them to defend themselves,” Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday. “And we are going to continue to provide them the security assistance they need for defense.”

While the administration has promised it will continue to support the Israeli military, a review of U.S. defense transfers ordered by President Biden cast significant doubt on whether Israel was using American arms in compliance with international humanitarian law.

The report, which was released in May, found it was “reasonable to assess” that defense articles provided by the U.S. been used by Israeli security forces in Gaza in ways there were “inconsistent” with the country’s legal obligations or best practices for mitigating civilian harm.

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(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump is making plans to spend part of the week of the Republican National Convention in Chicago — more than an hour’s drive from where the convention itself will be taking place in Milwaukee, according to sources familiar with his plans.

Trump is expected to visit Chicago to attend a fundraiser, though details are still being finalized. A campaign official tells ABC News the former president will stay in Milwaukee to accept the Republican nomination on Thursday evening.

At one point, several officials briefed on security plans and logistical arrangements indicated Trump would likely stay overnight at his property in Chicago — Trump International Hotel and Tower — during the duration of the RNC.

After reporters — including those from ABC News, ABC affiliate WLS in Chicago, and The New York Times — reached out to the campaign to confirm logistics, Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement saying, “President Trump is staying in Milwaukee.”

Trump held a campaign event in Racine, Wisconsin, on Tuesday — 30 miles south of Milwaukee — where he touched on inflation and immigration.

During his remarks, Trump said “I love Milwaukee” — a reference to that the former president allegedly called Milwaukee a “horrible city” during a closed door meeting with congressional Republicans last Thursday.

“I was the one that picked Milwaukee, I have to tell you, I was the one that picked it [for the RNC],” Trump said during his rally. “These lying people that they say, ‘oh, he doesn’t like Milwaukee.’ I love Milwaukee.”

The appearance marks Trump’s third visit to the midwestern battleground state as he tries to draw contrast with President Joe Biden.

His decision to stay in Chicago, based on personal preference, comes after his reported comments disparaging Milwaukee. Trump’s campaign disputed the characterization of his comments, and Democrats persistently amplified his words — including through a new billboard campaign in the city.

Trump’s campaign spokesperson punched back on the reports, arguing that Trump’s words were taken out of context.

“He was talking about how terrible crime and voter fraud are,” said campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung.

In another statement, the campaign wrote that it was a “total lie” that Trump called Milwaukee a “horrible city.” However, they went on to add, “President Trump was explicitly referring to the problems in Milwaukee, specifically violent crime and voter fraud,” suggesting he did make comments about the city, just not in the way some were interpreting it.

Biden’s campaign and other Democrats are capitalizing off Trump’s comments criticizing the host state.

ABC News’s Lalee Ibssa and Soorin Kim contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced two new election-year executive actions that could provide relief to thousands of undocumented immigrants who have been in the country for several years.

“Today’s a good day,” Biden said, to cheers from an audience at the White House.

The first action aims to streamline the process through which undocumented spouses and undocumented children of U.S. citizens apply for lawful permanent residence.

The policy will allow noncitizen spouses married to U.S. citizens to apply to live and work in the United States legally without having to leave the country. Noncitizen children of applicants would also be eligible for protection.

Under current laws, some undocumented migrants must first leave the U.S. and apply for legal residency from their home countries when they marry a citizen. In some cases, those migrants are barred from returning to the U.S. for up to 10 years.

To be eligible for the program, noncitizen spouses must have been in the U.S. for at least 10 years as of June 17, 2024, without having been previously legally admitted into the country, or paroled into the country. They also must have been legally married to a U.S. citizen as of the same date and must also be deemed not to pose a threat to public safety or national security. If found eligible, the spouses would be given three years to apply for legal permanent residence.

The Department of Homeland Security estimates that up to half a million spouses could be eligible for the program, and approximately 50,000 children of these spouses would also be protected.

“President Biden is taking an incredibly important action by helping the spouses of U.S. citizens get a path to citizenship. This balanced approach, combined with Biden’s border security actions, is much more popular than Trump’s mass deportation plan,” Kerri Talbot, Executive Director of The Immigration Hub, told ABC News in a statement.

The president also announced a new action that will allow some undocumented immigrants, including some DACA recipients and so-called “Dreamers,” to obtain employment-based nonimmigrant visas quicker, senior administration officials said.

To be eligible, applicants must have graduated from an accredited higher education institution in the United States and have a high-skilled job offer from a U.S. employer in their field of study.

Tuesday’s announcement comes just two weeks after President Biden implemented an executive action that restricts the number of migrants who can seek asylum in between ports of entry when migrant encounters at the border reach more than a daily rate of 2,500 for a week straight.

Some members of his own party denounced the asylum cap. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit to challenge the order last week.

Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, told ABC News in an interview that caucus members had met with the President at the White House in May and called for the protections announced today.

“I think it’s a happy day for many immigrant families across America. I think there’s going to be people crying tears of joy paired with some sighs of relief. This is a significant executive action by President Biden and the Hispanic Caucus has been for months encouraging and advocating for the President and administration to provide these protections,” the congresswoman said.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will announce on Tuesday two new executive actions that could provide relief to thousands of undocumented immigrants who have been in the country for several years.

The first action aims to streamline the process through which undocumented spouses and undocumented children of U.S. citizens apply for lawful permanent residence.

The policy will allow noncitizen spouses married to U.S. citizens to apply to live and work in the United States legally without having to leave the country. Noncitizen children of applicants would also be eligible for protection.

Under current laws, some undocumented migrants must first leave the U.S. and apply for legal residency from their home countries when they marry a citizen. In some cases, those migrants are barred from returning to the U.S. for up to 10 years.

To be eligible for the program, noncitizen spouses must have been in the U.S. for at least 10 years as of June 17, 2024, without having been previously legally admitted into the country, or paroled into the country. They also must have been legally married to a U.S. citizen as of the same date and must also be deemed not to pose a threat to public safety or national security. If found eligible, the spouses would be given three years to apply for legal permanent residence.

The Department of Homeland Security estimates that up to half a million spouses could be eligible for the program, and approximately 50,000 children of these spouses would also be protected.

“President Biden is taking an incredibly important action by helping the spouses of U.S. citizens get a path to citizenship. This balanced approach, combined with Biden’s border security actions, is much more popular than Trump’s mass deportation plan,” Kerri Talbot, Executive Director of The Immigration Hub, told ABC News in a statement.

The president is also expected to announce a new action that will allow some undocumented immigrants, including some DACA recipients and so-called “Dreamers,” to obtain employment-based nonimmigrant visas quicker, senior administration officials said.

To be eligible, applicants must have graduated from an accredited higher education institution in the United States and have a high-skilled job offer from a U.S. employer in their field of study.

Tuesday’s announcement comes just two weeks after President Biden implemented an executive action that restricts the number of migrants who can seek asylum in between ports of entry when migrant encounters at the border reach more than a daily rate of 2,500 for a week straight.

Some members of his own party denounced the asylum cap. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit to challenge the order last week.

Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, told ABC News in an interview that caucus members had met with the President at the White House in May and called for the protections announced today.

“I think it’s a happy day for many immigrant families across America. I think there’s going to be people crying tears of joy paired with some sighs of relief. This is a significant executive action by President Biden and the Hispanic Caucus has been for months encouraging and advocating for the President and administration to provide these protections,” the congresswoman said.

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(WASHINGTON) — High-stakes primaries in two Virginia congressional districts Tuesday night will test the enduring influence of former President Donald Trump on voters of both parties.

In Virginia’s 5th district, Rep. Bob Good, leader of the anti-Republican-establishment House Freedom Caucus, is running up against a challenger bolstered by the endorsements of Trump and former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy. On Tuesday, voters will signal which brand of conservatism they prefer.

And with Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger vacating her 7th district seat to run for governor, former Army colonel Yevgeny “Eugene” Vindman, who rose to prominence during Trump’s first impeachment trial, has moved to the top of a crowded field of local electeds by highlighting his role in protecting democracy from the former president.

The Republican primary in Virginia’s 5th district
Good’s willingness to push against his party’s establishment has garnered him political power in Congress, but it also brought him a tough primary challenge, and has shown a schism within the more conservative wing of the party.

Good, who was first elected to the House in 2020, is facing state Sen. John McGuire, a primary opponent endorsed by former President Donald Trump and financially backed by Defending Main Street, the pro-incumbent PAC that claims responsibility for ousting former Republican Rep. Steve King.

Good has not been afraid to make enemies in his party, voting to oust former Speaker McCarthy and initially endorsing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ bid for president, though he flipped to Trump after DeSantis dropped out.

Good has also attempted to get back in Trump’s good graces, traveling up to New York to attend the former president’s hush-money trial — the same day McGuire also made the same trip.

“Bob Good is BAD FOR VIRGINIA, AND BAD FOR THE USA. He turned his back on our incredible movement, and was constantly attacking and fighting me until recently, when he gave a warm and ‘loving’ Endorsement – But really, it was too late,” Trump posted on Truth Social in May.

He added, “John McGuire has my Complete and Total Endorsement!” He posted the attack on Good again on Wednesday.

Good had also received a cease-and-desist from Trump’s campaign after using his name and image in campaign material.

“Trump’s endorsement represents a huge advantage for McGuire, and that’s why Good has tried to suggest that he is actually the favorite of the former president,” Stephen J. Farnsworth, professor of political science and international affairs at the University of Mary Washington, told ABC News by email. “While prominent Republicans have split in their preferences in this contest, none of them has anything like the influence with Republican primary voters that the former president has.”

The ire Good has drawn has landed him in a vulnerable position. McGuire has outraised Good and holds more cash on hand, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission (FEC) records by OpenSecrets. The state senator has also benefited from slightly more outside spending, OpenSecrets found.

Good still has the support of groups such as the conservative organization, Club for Growth and Trump-aligned members such as Republican Rep. Byron Donalds.

He has also portrayed himself as a known quantity to his constituents.

“They can trust me; they know that I’m a consistent conservative. They know that I’m the same thing publicly as I am privately, and I think they like that I’ve been fighting for them,” Good told Roanoke, Virginia, TV station WDBJ earlier in June.

McGuire, meanwhile, has slammed Good for portraying himself as a Trump-aligned conservative.

“We found out that Bob is not who he says he is … All over the district, people are saying, ‘thank you for giving us a choice.’ And the people of the district are the ones that asked me to do this. And they basically said, ‘John, you’re the only one who can beat them,'” McGuire told Lynchburg, Virginia, ABC affiliate WSET.

The fight between Good and McGuire has split Republicans both at the national and at the hyperlocal level.

For instance, there are signs of a fissure in the House Freedom Caucus itself. Republican Rep. Warren Davidson, a self-identified member of the House Freedom Caucus, endorsed McGuire on Sunday, writing in a statement shared by McGuire’s campaign, “I’ve served in Congress since 2016, and we need reinforcements to help Make America Great Again … [McGuire] will work well with others to deliver conservative results.”

And at the local level, some Republican leaders from the district have pushed back against Trump’s endorsement. The Charlottesville Daily Progress and other local outlets reported that 5th District Republican Congressional Committee Chair Rich Buchanan and other local Republican leaders wrote an open letter to Trump asking him to reconsider his endorsement of McGuire.

“Congressman Bob Good has championed America First policies … Congressman Good’s opponent is relying on millions of dollars from outside Virginia to support his candidacy,” they wrote.

ABC News has reached out to Buchanan for comment.

The district includes a wide swath of the southern part of the state, including the cities of Charlottesville and Lynchburg, and Cook Political Report rates the seat as likely to safely stay in Republican hands.

The Democratic primary in Virginia’s 7th district
In 2018, Eugene Vindman helped his twin brother Alexander — both staffers for the National Security Council under Trump — blow the whistle on a phone call in which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Hunter Biden’s business dealings there. The Vindmans’ efforts launched the first of Trump’s two impeachment trials and catapulted Alexander and, to a lesser extent, Eugene into the national spotlight.

Now, propelled by name recognition, a campaign war chest much larger than his competitors’, and military bona fides — many members of the armed forces call the district home — Eugene Vindman appears poised to secure the Democratic party’s nomination in the tightly-contested swing district. Per FEC filings, Vindman has raised more than $5 million — and amount that’s more than all of his challengers combined.

“I sacrificed my military career to expose Trump’s corruption,” Vindman said in a campaign ad. “Now I’m running for Congress to get things done.”

As Vindman’s four leading opponents have been quick to point out, though, they each have something he does not: experience governing. Two — Andrea Bailey and Margaret Franklin — currently serve as Prince William County supervisors, and, until recently, two others — Elizabeth Guzman and Briana Sewell — served as members of Virginia’s House of Delegates. Guzman narrowly lost a primary after redistricting; Sewell remains in office.

That’s not all that differentiates Vindman and the field. Vindman, who is white, is running alongside three Black women and a Hispanic woman in a diversifying suburban district where roughly 35% of the population is not white, according to 2020 Census data.

“He does not understand the community. He’s not very infused in the community. He’s not been participating in the community as an advocate,” Bailey told the Associated Press.

“Vindman has three advantages going into this primary: he is very well-liked among Democratic activists and donors, he has a military background … and he is running as part of a large field where the people who do not support him will splinter in a variety of directions,” Farnsworth told ABC News.

If he secures the nomination, Vindman will likely draw a stark contrast with the Republican nominee.

The Republican primary for Virginia’s 7th district, which will also take place Tuesday, features nearly as many candidates and two frontrunners: Derrick Anderson, a former Army Green Beret who has received support from GOP leadership and finished second in the 2022 primary; and Cameron Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL with the backing of the House Freedom Caucus.

ABC News’ Isabella Murray contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana declined to prosecute a man who threatened to kill an Indiana congressman and his family, according to a letter obtained by ABC News.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) was left threatening messages by Aaron Thompson, who was later sentenced to two years of probation by the local district attorney in Indiana, but the new letter raises questions about why the U.S. Attorney, which normally handles threats to members of Congress, did not prosecute the case.

“Three daughters. Hey, hey, hey, three bullets hey, hey, hey one wife yay. Oh yeah, yeah, we’ll give her two bullets..” Thompson said in one threatening voicemail, according to the letter.

FBI agents visited Thompson’s house, where, according to the letter by Banks and sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland in December, he “admitted he had threatened me and my family with violence because he disagreed with my political beliefs.”

“When Capitol Police referred the criminal case against Aaron Thompson to the U.S. Attorney for Northern District of Indiana, they declined to prosecute despite clear evidence that Thompson violated federal law,” Banks wrote.

Banks is running for the open Senate seat in Indiana.

Garland, according to Banks, has made it a priority to prosecute threats to members of Congress and Banks asked why the DOJ didn’t pursue prosecution in his situation when similar threats made against California Rep. Eric Swalwell were prosecuted.

Last week, Attorney General Garland penned an op-ed decrying political violence.

“Disagreements about politics are good for our democracy,” Garland wrote in an opinion piece in the Washington Post. “They are normal. But using conspiracy theories, falsehoods, violence and threats of violence to affect political outcomes is not normal.

A spokesperson for the Congressman says the Justice Department has not responded to Banks’ letter.

The Justice Department has not responded to ABC News request for comment.

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(DES MOINES, Iowa.) — A federal judge in Iowa paused a state law giving local law enforcement the ability to arrest migrants in the state illegally, saying it is not the state’s job, but rather the job of the federal government to enforce immigration laws.

Signed into law in April, SF2340 authorizes local law enforcement officials to arrest migrants who have previously been deported or removed from the country, or who have been denied entry in the past. It also gives judges the power to order a person to be sent back to the country from which the person entered the United States.

It is similar to a Texas law, which gives that state’s law enforcement similar powers.

That law is on hold while it works its way through the courts.

The lawsuit, filed by the ACLU of Iowa, asked the court to grant an emergency injunction and halt the law from continuing to go into effect, which the court did.

“As a matter of politics, the new legislation might be defensible,” Judge Stephen Locher wrote. “As a matter of constitutional law, it is not.”

Brenna Bird, the Republican attorney general of Iowa, said she is disappointed by the ruling.

“I am disappointed in today’s court decision that blocks Iowa from stopping illegal reentry and keeping our communities safe,” she said. “Since Biden refuses to secure our borders, he has left states with no choice but to do the job for him. We will be appealing the court’s decision to uphold Iowa’s immigration enforcement law.”

As a matter of law, courts have held that immigration enforcement is the job of the federal government, not the state government.

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