RICHMOND, VA — Following another embarrassing blunder in which he failed to file the correct paperwork to get on the ballot for a second year in a row, Nick Freitas emerged as the Republican Party's nominee to run in Virginia's 7th Congressional district. 

Freitas has spent his career in the General Assembly taking far-right positions out of step with what the majority of Virginians want. This past year he broke with a majority of Republicans and Democrats to vote against a bipartisan bill to lower drug costs and a bipartisan bill to expand broadband internet access. He opposed the Equal Rights Amendment, LGBTQ anti-discrimination laws, and bills to make health insurance more affordable for Virginians. 

Freitas has also been putting people in the 7th district at risk of COVID-19 infection by holding in-person campaign events without masks or social distancing. While cases are on the rise in Virginia and across the country, Freitas seems willing to put his political campaign over the health and safety of the people he wants to represent. Polling shows the vast majority of people think behavior like this is wrong and dangerous. 

Freitas will kick off his general election campaign at a severe disadvantage. The disorganization of the Virginia Republican Party in the 7th district meant that their nominating convention was delayed nearly three months, leaving Freitas with less time to run his campaign. And Freitas is significantly behind in fundraising. Democrat Abigail Spanberger has nearly twelve times as much cash on hand as he does according to fundraising reports from the end of June.

"Nick Freitas would be a disaster for the 7th Congressional district. He wants to keep prescription drugs expensive, make broadband internet harder to access, and put folks in danger by ignoring the spread of a deadly pandemic. If he can't even do the work to get on the ballot why should voters expect him to fight for them? Virginians deserve better leadership than someone who puts more time into making his podcast than helping constituents, especially during a pandemic," said DPVA Communications Director Grant Fox. 

##