Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told a Richmond-area rally that Virginia Democrats will decide whether his party takes the House — the same man who couldn't untangle supply chains or manage a train derailment now positioning himself as the arbiter of congressional control.
"The road to that majority runs right through here, and it depends on you," Buttigieg told more than 200 sign-waving supporters Monday, according to the Washington Post. Democrats need a net gain of just four seats to flip the chamber.
Three challengers shared the stage with the 2028 presidential prospect, each targeting a Republican incumbent. Former Rep. Elaine Luria is challenging Rep. Jen Kiggans in the 2nd District, anchored in Virginia Beach and its Navy installations. Henrico prosecutor Shannon Taylor is taking on 19-year incumbent Rep. Rob Wittman in the 1st District — a race the Richmond Times-Dispatch identifies as a "Red-to-Blue" target with "big money backing" Taylor. And former Rep. Tom Perriello is challenging Rep. John McGuire in the 5th District's three-way race.
The war in Iran dominated the rally messaging. Luria, a Navy veteran, accused the administration of dishonesty about casualties: "This war … is sending our sailors overseas under an administration that's lying about the number of casualties." Perriello said he's running partly "to end this war." Taylor also cited her opponent's support for the conflict.
The Post framed the war as "unpopular" and a "drag on Republicans" roiling oil markets, noting that in a military-dependent state like Virginia the consequences go "beyond the pocketbook." What neither outlet explored: what a Democratic majority empowered by antiwar sentiment would actually do about it — or whether the party's own foreign policy establishment, which Buttigieg represents, has any intention of ending the involvement.
The Times-Dispatch noted the big money flowing into Virginia's 1st District to back Taylor but didn't identify whose money or what interests it serves. That's the question that matters. Buttigieg, a military veteran himself, has been a reliable voice for the institutional wing of the Democratic Party. The candidates he's boosting are running on ending a war — but the party apparatus behind them has a long record of sustaining the very commitments these challengers now denounce.
Buttigieg's kingmaker turn is also a 2028 audition. A Democratic House majority anointed in part by his efforts would owe him — and would shape the presidential primary landscape in his favor. The man who couldn't deliver on infrastructure competence is now selling himself as the face of a majority-making machine.
The open question: if Virginia's challengers ride antiwar sentiment to Washington, will they break the bipartisan consensus that keeps American sailors and dollars committed overseas — or just become the newest votes for the next authorization?
