Key figure in first Trump impeachment wins Democratic primary for Spanberger’s seat

Army veteran Eugene Vindman, who was a key player in the first impeachment of former President Trump, has won the Democratic nomination for the House seat representing Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, according to Decision Desk HQ. 

Vindman came out on top of a crowded Democratic field to try to succeed retiring Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), who chose not to seek reelection to instead run for governor of Virginia next year. He had the support of a handful of House Democrats in the primary and had well outraised the rest of the field, taking in about $5 million. 

Vindman was serving as an ethics lawyer to the National Security Council in 2019 when his identical twin brother, veteran Alexander Vindman, alerted him of a phone call he heard between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump pressured Zelensky to investigate then-candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. 

The Trump administration delayed hundreds of millions of dollars of aid to Ukraine at the same time. 

Both Vindmans passed along what they heard to their superiors, resulting in the eventual first impeachment of Trump, who was acquitted on the counts of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress that he faced. 

After the impeachment trial, Eugene Vindman was later given a poor review by a superior, which the Defense Department’s inspector general determined was likely a response to his involvement in reporting Trump’s phone call. 

Vindman will be a slight favorite to win the seat in the November election. The district is a battleground but leans somewhat in Democrats’ favor. 

The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates the seat as “lean Democrat.”