News · Press Release

Washington Post: Yesli Vega’s “Greatest Liability” is Her Anti-Abortion Agenda

Yesli Vega (VA-07) is heading into the general election broke, embattled, and struggling to answer for her extreme anti-abortion agenda in a district where “the Republican primary enhanced Democrats’ chances of holding a seat.”

The Washington Post zeroed in on the race between Abigail Spanberger and Yesli Vega, where Vega’s “self-inflicted errors” are haunting her every day on the campaign trail. From her comments doubting the likelihood of pregnancy after rape, to her support for outlawing abortion without exceptions, Vega is having to answer for her extremism at every turn.

Abigail Spanberger, by contrast, heads into October with a “huge war chest” and has been reaching voters by “highlighting [her] efforts to work with Republicans on a wide range of bipartisan legislation.” Read more:

Washington Post: Abortion, economy electrify contest between Spanberger, Vega
By Meagan Flynn
September 28, 2022

  • “The race has attracted millions of dollars in spending on ads — setting up a battle in messaging with Republicans hammering on the economy and Democrats hammering on abortion, hoping to galvanize women following the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.”

  • “But that is exactly where political analysts see Vega’s greatest liability, potentially weakening the GOP’s ability to flip this key seat in their bid to take control of the House: Multiple attack ads have highlighted comments Vega made earlier this year appearing to cast doubt on whether women can get pregnant after being raped.”

  • “Dave Wasserman, an analyst of U.S. House races at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, identified Virginia’s 7th District as among the types of races across the country that will determine control of the House — in part because of the added challenge Republicans have to flip it after self-inflicted errors.”

  • “‘This district stands out as one of the handful of places where the Republican primary enhanced Democrats’ chances of holding a seat,’ Wasserman said, referencing Vega’s alignment with members of the Trump-allied House Freedom Caucus.”

  • “He also pointed to Spanberger’s huge war chest. Spanberger has spent more than $4 million on broadcast ads, highlighting efforts to work with Republicans on a wide range of bipartisan legislation including police funding and a stock-trading ban to appeal to centrist voters — alongside the abortion attacks, according to data from the Virginia Public Access Project.”

  • “That’s compared with virtually no broadcast spending from Vega, though VPAP records millions from national Republicans to make up the difference, evidence of the importance of the district to the GOP in controlling Congress.”

  • “‘The difficulty as I see it for Vega is, unlike Glenn Youngkin, she’s at a significant financial disadvantage, and she’s being out-communicated by Spanberger every step of the way,’ Wasserman said, referring to Virginia’s multimillionaire Republican governor. ‘If Spanberger controls the narrative and makes it about Vega’s position on abortion, then it will be very difficult for Vega to break through.’”

  • “Spanberger has repeatedly sought to disqualify Vega for the taped comments, amplifying Vega’s opposition to abortion in multiple ads that accuse her of wanting to ban abortion nationally without exception.”

###





Please make sure that the form field below is filled out correctly before submitting.