| Vulnerable Congressman Rob Wittman has never faced a challenger like prosecutor Shannon Taylor.
Don’t take our word for it: that’s what the NBC News analysts had to say about the strength of Shannon’s candidacy shortly after she officially secured the nomination to take on Wittman.
NBC correspondent and former WWBT Richmond reporter Ryan Nobles pointed out that Shannon has “taken on an establishment Republican candidate before,” calling her “the Democrats’ best hope” to knock off the entrenched career politician.
WATCH FOR YOURSELF:
TRANSCRIPT HIGHLIGHTS:
NBC News’ Ryan Nobles: Well, first let me talk about Shannon Taylor. I covered her first race for Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney. And I actually went back and looked at my notes on it.
Anchor: Was this when you were in local?
NBC News’ Ryan Nobles: This was when I was at WWBT in Richmond. Shannon Taylor took on the Republican establishment in Henrico County, which at that time was dominant. You may remember the name Eric Cantor. He was the House Majority Leader at that time. He ran Henrico County. There hadn’t been a [Democratic]-elected Commonwealth’s Attorney since 1987 when she won that race, I believe.
[…]
She overcame a massive disadvantage, not only getting into the race late, but a huge funding advantage that the Republicans had at that time. The Republican nominee refused to get out of the race. They put in a sitting Republican delegate who ran as an independent, but had the backing of Eric Cantor and that machine. She still won. She hasn’t lost a race there since.
[…]
The point I’m trying to make here is she’s taken on an establishment Republican candidate before.
That’s what she’s doing here. Rob Wittman has never had any sort of serious competition in Virginia’s 1st Congressional District. He doesn’t know what it’s like to have a candidate that could mount a serious race. Now, I would still give him, you know, it’s his race to lose still, because it’s still a district that leans right. It certainly was a different situation if the redistricting had gone through, but this will be a race. And Shannon Taylor is probably the Democrats’ best hope, and also a moderate candidate…
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