Both campaigns in the tight 86th House District race have been granted protective orders against the other, related to allegations that the incumbent Republican in the race harassed a Democrat “while armed with a gun” in a government building.
The campaign of Virgil Thornton, the Democrat challenging incumbent Republican AC Cordoza, announced in a press release on Saturday that a judge had granted the protection order against Cordoza following what the Thornton campaign called an “ongoing patter of intimidation.”
ICYMI
“A protective order was issued against Delegate AC Cordoza after he harassed a supporter of the Virgil Thornton campaign yesterday at the Hampton City registrar’s office while armed with a gun – just four days after harassing Virgil’s niece. This ongoing pattern of intimidation is dangerous, unacceptable, and makes clear that Delegate Cordoza is unfit to hold public office,” the press release reported.
The PR included a copy of the protective order, which is dated Oct. 24 – so, Friday.
Earlier in the week, Cordoza obtained a protective order after convincing a local magistrate that a Thornton staffer had threatened to “put a knot” in his head as he attempted to speak with someone at the registrar’s office.
Cordoza obtained that protective order on Tuesday.
“I was engaging with voters at the poll, talking about my record, and one of my opponent’s campaign workers got upset and decided it was a great idea to threaten me, and in today’s day and age with the left’s political violence and just where we are in this climate, I wasn’t going to take any chances,” Cordoza told Fox News, which reported on the Cordoza protective order on Friday, and has yet to follow up with the details of the protective order granted to the Thornton folks.
Go figure.
The Thornton campaign released a statement telling its side of the story on the Thornton claims:
Earlier today AC Cordoza and staffers surrounded Virgil’s niece at the Hampton city registrar’s office. The delegate, known for carrying a gun, used his size to intimidate her, and refused to back away after being asked. Cordoza then falsely accused her of trying to assault him and the detective responding to the incident did not find any reason to file charges. For the safety of all our volunteers and employees we are asking them to keep a safe distance from the delegate.
The race in the 86th, which represents the City of Poquoson, a portion of the City of Hampton and a portion of York County, made my list of 20 House seats currently held by Republicans that are possible flips to the Democrat side in the 2025 cycle.
Cordoza won his first race for the seat, in the 2021 cycle, by a razor-thin 94-vote margin; in 2023, he won re-election by a more comfortable 12.8-point margin.
Kamala Harris won the presidential vote in the district’s environs in 2024 by a 1.1-point margin over Donald Trump.
According to data from the Virginia Public Access Project, Thornton has a nearly 4:1 fundraising advantage, reporting nearly $1.3 million in campaign contributions, as Cordoza has raised $365,305.
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Chris Graham
