Tulsi Gabbard Joins Virginia Republican Challenger Yesli Vega on Campaign Trail for Parental Rights, Government Accountability

Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (L) speaks at a rally for Republican congressional candidate Yesli Vega (R) in Fredericksburg, Va., on Oct. 22, 2022. Terri Wu/The Epoch Times

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va.—Virginia Republican congressional candidate Yesli Vega held two rallies on Oct. 22 with former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who recently left the Democratic Party for disagreeing with “so-called woke Democratic Party ideologues.”

“I don’t know about you all, but I’m sick and tired of the government getting bigger and bigger!” Vega told a crowd of about 200 people in Fredericksburg. “I’m sick and tired of a government that is telling me how to lead my life, how to spend my money, and most importantly, how to raise my children!”

A daughter of El Salvador immigrants, she vowed to protect freedom in the country.

“If we lose freedom here, we have no other place to go,” Vega said.

Gabbard echoed her sentiment by criticizing the elites in Washington.

“They have created a government of, by, and for the elites serving themselves,” she said. “I cannot wait. I cannot wait to see her [Vega] bring her fire [to Washington]. Nothing matches the fire that burns in the heart of a mom trying to protect her kids.”

Vega, a current member of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors and a former police officer, is challenging two-term incumbent Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) in Virginia’s most competitive congressional race. Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, which mainly spans Prince William, Stafford, and Spotsylvania counties, has become slightly more Democrat-leaning after redistricting in 2021.

According to Virginia Public Access Project, a nonprofit organization connecting Virginians with nonpartisan political information, the total spending on political ads for the race is more than $20 million.

Republican 7th District candidate Yesli Vega at a campaign event in Fredericksburg, Va., on Oct. 17, 2022. (Terri Wu/The Epoch Times)

Both candidates have won the support of a former legislator of the opposite party. Former Virginia Rep. Denver Riggleman, a Republican until June, endorsed Spanberger. However, veteran Virginia political analyst Bob Holsworth is skeptical about Gabbard or Riggleman’s influence.

“Voters in that district are not waiting to have those people tell them what to do,” Holsworth told The Epoch Times.

However, he said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s endorsement of Spanberger is “a real sign of bipartisan support and will have far more impact than Gabbard or Riggleman.”

Holsworth doubts whether the parental rights issue would cause people to switch.

“I don’t see a lot of people switching,“ he said. ”On these issues, I think maybe they mobilize people who are already on your side.”

Former GOP state Sen. Richard Black attended a Vega rally at her campaign headquarters in Triangle, Virginia.

Complimenting the “tremendous energy” in the campaign, he told The Epoch Times, “I think having Tulsi Gabbard here is a signal that this is a candidate who really cares about the people.”

Black doesn’t think the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s endorsement will have a significant effect.

“The Chamber of Commerce has never really affected ordinary voters. It didn’t in the 20 years of my career,” he said.

Black says that at this point in the campaign cycle, it’s all about turnout rather than trying to sway independents.

Anne Salas, a sixth-grade history teacher in Stafford County, was at Vega’s rally in Fredericksburg. The top three issues for her are the life rights of the unborn, parental rights, and economics. She said she’s worried more about “longer-term issues,” having cut nonessential spending, and is “well-prepared” for the economic downturn.

She said she wanted Vega to be in Congress to vote on legislation that would influence the Department of Education.

“The Biden administration, working through the Department of Education, has the power to withhold money going down to the states if states are noncompliant on certain issues,” she told The Epoch Times.

Competing for Hispanic Votes

Hispanic voters make up 15 percent of the voting-age population in Virginia’s 7th District. And since 2016, Democrats’ nearly 40-point lead among registered Hispanic voters is predicted to have dwindled to 27 points, according to a recent Washington Post-Ipsos poll.

If Vega wins, she'll be the first Latina congresswoman in Virginia’s history.

She co-led the Hispanic outreach efforts for Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who stumped for her in Fredericksburg on Oct. 17. He said the “red wave” movement that propelled him to victory in last year’s gubernatorial race is “happening again.”

“The future of our children depends on us winning elections,” he said.

He also told the crowd to put up signs, go vote, and tell their friends to vote and volunteer as poll watchers.

Virginia Gov. Glen Youngkin (L) and Republican congressional district candidate Yesli Vega at a campaign event in Fredericksburg, Va., on Oct. 17, 2022. (Terri Wu/The Epoch Times)

Calling Spanberger “one of the best Democratic candidates in the state,” Holsworth said she has more bipartisan credentials than Vega, while noting that Vega could potentially win some Latino votes over to the Republican side.

Until recently, Virginia Del. Elizabeth Guzmán, a Democrat, has led some Hispanic outreach efforts for Spanberger; her efforts were discontinued after she told the media on Oct. 13 that she wanted to propose legislation that might penalize parents who disagreed with their children’s gender identity. The Democrat leadership in Virginia said later that Guzmán had no intention of introducing such legislation.

On Oct. 22, scores of members of CASA in Action, the political arm of the nonprofit immigrant advocacy organization CASA, and Moms Demand Action, a gun control advocacy group, attended Spanberger’s Spanish language canvass launch event in Woodbridge.

Ivania Castillo, diversity outreach lead for the 7th Congressional District Democratic Committee and event organizer, said Guzman wasn’t involved.

“We love her and respect her, but this event is for congresswoman Abigail Spanberger,” Castillo told The Epoch Times.

At the event, Spanberger encouraged her supporters who were going to knock on doors in Hispanic neighborhoods in Prince William County.

“When we are asking our neighbors to vote, when we are explaining to them why this race matters, why this campaign matters, why you are spending this beautiful Saturday supporting our campaign, that gets people excited,” she said.

“And it reminds people that this democracy is ours. We have to work hard to protect it.”

Silvia Ramirez (L), a member of CASA in Action, the political arm of the immigration rights nonprofit, with Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) in Woodbridge, Va., on Oct. 22, 2022. (Terri Wu/The Epoch Times)

Silvia Ramirez, a Hispanic member of CASA in Action, told The Epoch Times through an interpreter, “We just want the same rights that everybody else has. There’s a lot of discrimination and racism in this country.”

CASA supports Hispanic immigrants regardless of their legal status.

“There exists a lot of racism within our communities,” Ramirez said. “It’s not to say that she [Yesli Vega] is a racist, but our communities feel more supported by somebody like Abigail.”

Speaking about the Hispanic community, Vega told The Epoch Times after her rally in Fredericksburg, “I’m a Hispanic woman. So it doesn’t matter what they say; whether they like it or not, I represent the Hispanic community. And I’ve been doing so for the last three years.”

Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) (C) with supporters in Woodbridge, Va., on Oct. 22, 2022. (Terri Wu/The Epoch Times)

She said Democrats wanted people to believe that the Hispanic community is about getting government handouts. In Vega’s view, the community is, on the contrary, about realizing the American dream.

“Hispanic voters are not monolithic. And I think that’s where the Democrat Party has made a big mistake,” Vega said. “We are going to win the Hispanic vote in 17 days.”