Roger Dean Huffstetler, a Harvard alum, Marine Corps veteran, former congressional staffer and Silicon Valley entrepreneur, has become the first Democrat to announce his candidacy in the Virginia 5th, a seat currently held by House Freedom Caucus member Tom Garrett.
He said in his announcement on Facebook:
In a hyper-partisan era when our government seems unable to meet the challenges we face, it can be tempting to surrender to cynicism. But now is not the time to give up - it’s the time to step up. Progress will come only when we elect leaders who put service to their country above all else, and when we stop belittling those we disagree with and start engaging them.
The 5th District was once held by current Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Tom Perriello, but he was defeated for re-election in the 2010 GOP wave and the district has since been gerrymandered with more rural counties; the 5th is now the size of New Jersey.
Huffstetler told The Daily Progress in Charlottesville that he still feels the district is in play:
We're going to focus like a laser on the economy and creating jobs, which ties together my life experience of working in Silicon Valley and the Marine Corps, and I think when we do that, we focus on the fundamentals. I think we've got a great shot.
The Charlottesville Democratic Party co-chair said, “We sense that there is a lot of dissatisfaction with the Republican Party in general and with Mr. Garrett in particular.”
Huffstetler was particularly critical of the Freedom Caucus:
“I think we should be clear that, in the history of the country, there has been no more partisan or reckless group than the House Freedom Caucus. They don't believe in progress, they don't believe in compromise, and those are going to be two pillars of my campaign.”
Writer and economist Ian Hathaway gushed about his former colleague: “He is fair-minded, reasonable, and genuinely wants to put this country back on track—not just through legislating and governing, but through a uniting rhetoric, and through a leadership that brings us together as a nation.”
In 2014, Huffstetler wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Post explaining his personal evolution on gay marriage. “We don’t need to look backward for a chance to stand up for principles. Life isn’t about always being right — I was wrong for a long time — but about learning from mistakes and making amends.”
A year later, Huffstetler was named chief of staff for Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts. Moulton said in a statement at the time, “As an entrepreneur and Marine, Roger Dean brings extraordinary leadership skills and shares my commitment to fixing the VA and ensuring our veterans have the benefits and care they have earned.”
Geoff Skelley, associate editor at Larry J. Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, said a Democrat carrying Virginia’s 5th District — which President Donald Trump won by 11 points — is an uphill battle, but “I can see reasons to think that he could make the Virginia 5th race interesting.”