The worst-kept secret in Virginia politics, if it was a secret at all, is out of the bag now – Ben Cline, on Monday, announced his campaign for re-election to Congress.
What’s telling here to me: that he held off until after everything was settled with the legal challenges to the April 21 referendum, of which he was a part.
I mean, I’d assumed Cline had announced his re-election bid a while ago, and I’d somehow just missed it.
That this is news today seems to me to be a strong indication that Cline wasn’t going to run in the Sixth District if the MAGA scheme to overturn the April 21 referendum, in which more than 1.6 million voters cast their lots with the 10-1 congressional map that had been proposed by Virginia Democrats earlier this year, had somehow come up short.
The legal part of the MAGA scheme to overturn April 21 was only settled on Friday, with the U.S. Supreme Court handing down a one-sentence order telling us that it’s not going to hear arguments in the case.
ICYMI
- Four Virginia Supreme Court justices white out 1,604,276 ‘Yes’ votes
- Trump Court will not hear appeal of Virginia redistricting ruling
That order comes down, and Ben, first thing he does is, well, he took the weekend off, because of course you take the weekend off, but after the weekend off, he threw his hat into the ring for a fifth term.
The Sixth, as it has been drawn since the MAGAs on the Supreme Court of Virginia gave us the new maps in 2022, was +17.4 R in the 2025 gubernatorial election, so, it will take a lot for the Democratic frontrunner, Beth Macy, a journalist and best-selling author, to pull the upset.
The Sixth in the 10-1 map was +5 D in 2025.
Sir Ben, the Brave.
“Despite Democrats’ efforts to silence nearly half of the state and erase our community’s values through illegal gerrymandering, we are still here, and we are still standing strong for our shared common-sense, conservative priorities,” Cline said in his announcement.
By “silence half the state,” is he referring to the 67-32-1 R-D-I split in the House of Delegates that he voted for in 2011, a year ahead of Virginia voting for Barack Obama for president, two ahead of Virginia voting for a Democrat for governor?
Asking for a friend.
“Our Commonwealth has been under attack by Democrat leaders who prioritize political power, illegal aliens, and environmental radicalism over the needs of American citizens,” Cline said. “Representing the people of the Sixth District, I have been working tirelessly to roll back government overreach, defend our constitutional rights, promote fiscal responsibility, and enhance the safety of our communities.”
Fact check: eight years in, Cline has not one piece of signature legislation to hang his hat on.
ICYMI
“I will never stop championing our shared common-sense, conservative values and ensuring the voices of Sixth District citizens are heard in Washington, D.C.,” Cline said. “I am running for re-election because our Commonwealth and nation need strong, conservative leaders who have a steadfast commitment to Making America — and the great Commonwealth of Virginia — Great Again.”
Fact check: Cline is a rubber stamp for Donald Trump.
Per Heritage Action, the research arm of the Heritage Foundation, the author of Project 2025, Cline has voted with the Heritage Foundation on 100 percent of congressional votes in the 2025-2026 term.
The average Republican member scores 84 percent on that scale.
That’s not even asking how high when they tell you to jump, right there.
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Chris Graham
