Mike Pruitt said today that he is suspending his campaign for a Democratic congressional nomination, and that he is endorsing former congressman Tom Perriello.
Complicating everything right now is that we won’t know, for a couple of months, the district lines for the 2026 midterms.
Virginia Democrats are working on a plan to redraw the congressional maps ahead of the November elections that would move the Charlottesville-Albemarle area from the Fifth District into the Sixth District, which would snake along the Blue Ridge from Harrisonburg, east into Charlottesville-Albemarle, connecting to Waynesboro and Staunton, down the east side of the Blue Ridge through Lynchburg, ending back to the west into Roanoke and Blacksburg.
This configuration puts Perriello and Roanoke-based journalist and best-selling author Beth Macy into the same primary race.
Pruitt, a member of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, clearly sees that there isn’t enough oxygen to sustain a bid against two political heavyweights.
Pruitt’s statement
“I got into this fight because a broken Washington is failing blue collar, rural communities like the one I grew up in. Working people from South Boston to Batesville are mad, and that’s a fire I ran to sing across this district, because it burns in me too.
“I know what it’s like to have a parent laid off after 40 years on the factory floor, to watch friends and family struggle in a dead-end town, and to dare to hope for something better. When I was 17, I went back into the closet to serve in our military, and put my life on the line to fight for the America that I believe in.
“As I’ve traveled throughout rural Virginia the past seven months, I’ve talked to folks who see opportunities for jobs or for housing stuffed deeper and deeper behind tiers of online portals, algorithmic filters, and applicant fees that churn out faceless denials and keep families from thriving. They see their children’s self-esteem destroyed and their attention spans fried while Silicon Valley titans figure out how to shape their insecurities into new opportunities to sell products.
“We deserve better than politicians like John McGuire who let corporations turn our lives into profit while our communities pay the price.
“I’m a fighter. I joined this race knowing I’d face a hard, uphill battle. But with the newly publicized district maps, I now know that such a fight will do more harm than good. Just as I know Tom Perriello will put in the work to stand up for rural, working Virginians in Congress. Today I am ending my campaign and announcing that I will support him in that effort. I will also independently continue to advocate for the communities that both parties have left behind.
“I want to thank everyone who believes in our campaign’s vision for a stronger, more just America. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together. We built record breaking grassroots momentum and outraised an incumbent with 90% of contributions under $100. We raised over $450,000 from over 7,500 donors in all 50 states. We visited 19 localities and had over 500 people sign up to volunteer.
“I will keep fighting to put a check on corporate power that aims to take every part of our human experience and turn it into a buck. I will keep fighting to invest in our rural, working class communities. I will keep fighting to make hope a strength, not a liability, for families like mine.”
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Chris Graham
