And The First Virginia Congressional Endorsement Goes To…. Jarome Bell

Today, Republican candidate Jarome Bell was endorsed by Rep. Bob Good (VA-05). It’s the first endorsement any of the sitting Virginia congressional Republicans have made in the heated VA-02 primary — and spells bad news for Jen Kiggans.

Kiggans has found herself in a race to the right in the VA-02 primary as she fends off attacks from her base and fellow Republicans. Last week, a local conservative radio host dragged Kiggans for her lackluster fundraising, saying, “Jen Kiggans has not raised the money she should’ve raised, so there’s not a lot of enthusiasm there […] so we’ll see what happens.”

In another recent interview, Bell took a shot at Kiggans’ conservative credentials and her establishment support:

“She’s the establishment pick, she’s the Kevin McCarthy pick as well […] But her voting record, she is a state senator, as a conservative Republican supposedly, but her voting record dictates that she’s otherwise.”

As Kiggans fields attacks from her own party, her DC backers must be seeing warning signs. McCarthy’s super PAC jumped in with a recent digital ad buy to try and boost Kiggans, signaling that she might be in trouble.

“Jen Kiggans is quickly realizing she’s going to have to sell out to the most fringe wing of her party if she wants to make it through this Republican primary,” said DCCC spokesperson Monica Robinson. “The radical agenda Kiggans is pushing now will make her completely unelectable to Virginia voters this November.”

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