Suhas Subramanyam, a state senator from suburban Loudoun County, Virginia, narrowly won the Democratic primary in a Northern Virginia House district on Tuesday, after perhaps the ugliest primary yet of the 2024 election season, according to The Associated Press.
Mr. Subramanyam’s victory over 11 other Democratic candidates in the contest to replace retiring Democratic Rep. Jennifer Wexton is likely to be a relief for national Democrats, who had been watching eagerly as another front-runner in the race, State Representative Dan Helmer, made his calls Resigned due to allegations of sexual harassment.
The district had been turning away from Republicans since 2018, when Ms. Wexton turned it over to her party after nearly 40 years of Republican control. Neither party had considered Virginia’s 10th District as part of the 2024 battleground until an anonymous Democratic official in the district accused Mr. Helmer through her lawyer of groping her and later making sexually crude comments.
Mr. Helmer refused to leave the race and condemned the “baseless allegations” made “a week before an election by people who supported my opponents.”
Mr. Subramanyam tried to stay out of the fray, relying on his name recognition, his record as a state senator and the support of Ms. Wexton, who announced her resignation last year after being diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder, progressive supranuclear palsy for which there is no effective treatment.
But in a primary marked by mudslinging and late attacks, he had to deny a report that he improperly placed members of his state Senate staff on his campaign’s payroll, an accusation he says is categorically false.
A House Republican leadership aide had said officials at the National Republican Congressional Committee would consider the district if Mr. Helmer were the Democratic nominee. Mr. Subramanyam’s victory could keep the district off the battlefield this fall.
He faces Republican Mike Clancy, a lawyer and business executive.
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2024-06-19 01:20:35
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