7th District Republican primary candidates answer Star-Exponent questions

Army combat veteran Derrick Anderson, Spotsylvania Supervisor David Ross, state Sen. Bryce Reeves and Prince William Sheriff’s Deputy Yesli Vega responded to the newspaper’s query. Initially, Gina Ciarcia and Crystal Vanuch did not respond. Ciarcia replied Sunday morning, saying our query slipped under the radar during an “incredibly busy” campaign week.

The GOP primary’s winner will challenge U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th.

Here are the candidates’ answers, appearing in the order in which their names appear on the ballot:

GINA CIARCIA

A. If you’re elected, what will be your top three policy priorities?

The No. 1 issue now is the economy. Multiple factors are creating a synergistic effect that’s stealing $460 per month out of the American family’s wallet. Long term, we must address federal spending, which has been reckless. Voters should elect a representative who will say “no” to a proposed budget that isn’t balanced.

In the short term, we must address with vigor the cost of fuel. This means increasing our oil and gas production here at home, both of which we have in abundance. This would allow us the time to invest in future energy technologies, such as nuclear and fusion, that can meet our demand while decreasing our dependency on fossil fuels in a reasonable and responsible manner.

Second, we must classify fentanyl as a chemical weapon so that under the Patriot Act we can treat those who bring it across our borders as terrorists. We should pursue a mass-media campaign targeting teens to dissuade drug use.

Third, we should invest in a trade school in the 7th District and/or monies for apprenticeship programs. Not all kids are college-bound; let’s equip them to pursue trades.

B. Why are you the best candidate in the 7th District’s June 21 Republican primary?

A supporter stated, "Gina's not going to go up to D.C. to get caught up in the 'machine.' Gina's a maverick." This is true. I’ve been very careful to keep myself from political entanglements so I can be free to represent the people of VA-07 and do what’s right for them.

More than any other candidate, I have spoken to the issues most directly and thoroughly. Now is not the time for platitudes that tickle our ears. Our nation is facing too many problems. Behind the smiling face, there must be a candidate who has substance, understanding and fortitude. I am that candidate.

C. Do you believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen? Why or why not?

What convinces me most fully is not what happened on Election Day and the days leading up to it (unprecedented amounts of mail-in ballots, unsecured ballot boxes, mules, ill-kept voter rolls, suitcases of ballots under tables, voting machines flipping votes, a complicit media, etc.), but what has happened since Biden has been in office. Everything he touches turns into total disaster. His spectacular failures are astounding. They leave us all speechless. The book of Proverbs tells us, “Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit.” This saying is embodied by Joe Biden; we are witnessing it before our very eyes.

D. What do you think about the U.S. Capitol events of Jan. 6, 2021? Should rioters and law-breakers be held accountable? Was it an attempt to overturn the results of the presidential election?

Should I answer? I may be fined $100k for expressing my opinion, and my campaign doesn’t have that kind of money.

DERRICK ANDERSON

A: If you’re elected, what will be your top three policy priorities?

I will be heavily focused on our veterans, infrastructure and standing up for our farmers. The newest VA hospital in Virginia will be in Fredericksburg, and as a veteran myself, I will make it a top priority that our service members are given the care they deserve. In fact, I will be setting up a congressional office in this VA facility if I am elected.

Interstate 95 runs through the heart of the district, and people rely on it to commute to and from their jobs, schools, grocery stores. And right now, it is unsustainable. We must make sure that our infrastructure can sustain the rapid growth of the district and the population that passes through the district.

Our farmers feed the commonwealth and the country, yet they are taking on undue burdens with rising fuel costs and supply-chain problems. I will make sure our farmers and the agricultural industry as a whole in the district have a fighter in Washington looking out for them.

Lastly, and I know this makes four, we must secure our border. The fentanyl alone spilling into our country is a pandemic, not to mention the danger and crime coming into our neighborhoods and communities.

B: Why are you the best candidate in the 7th District’s June 21 Republican primary?

I am the only constitutional conservative combat veteran in the race. I’m a former Green Beret, with six tours overseas and over 80 combat missions in Afghanistan.

Furthermore, not only will I outwork the field to win this nomination and to beat Abigail Spanberger in November, that same work ethic will carry over as your next member of Congress. I will always put my constituents first.

This district is my home, it is where I am from, it raised me and molded me into the person I am today, and I will never turn my back on my home.

Anderson did not answer the Q&A’s last two queries—about whether he believes the 2020 presidential election was stolen, and what he thinks about the U.S. Capitol events of Jan. 6, 2021.

DAVID ROSS

A. If you’re elected, what will be your top three policy priorities?

There are so many priorities, to include securing our southern border, ending government covid mandates, restoring energy independence, cutting government spending (which has caused our current inflation issue), unleashing the free market, and more. My top three priorities are, first and foremost, abolishing the Department of Education while installing school choice (public, home schooling, private, Christian) for our students and letting parents decide what is best for their children for education. The constituents of the 7th Congressional District all support this and with choice, comes a better education for everyone.

Second, we need to get election integrity on track, we need to trust that our election system works and is fair, and voter identification needs to be for everyone. We should all agree that in America, we want our elections to be fair.

Finally, I would focus on restoring our Second Amendment right to bear arms, which is unfortunately once again under attack. I support constitutional carry, which is now in effect in 25 states. And I support due process, and not red-flag laws.

B. Why are you the best candidate in the 7th District’s June 21 Republican primary?

I am humbly the best candidate running for the Republican nomination because I have the education, leadership experience and proven record that no other candidate offers.

I have an undergraduate degree in finance and a graduate degree in labor economics. I have 20 years’ leadership experience in the U.S. Marine Corps and have raised our family of six children in the heart of the new 7th District the past 22 years. I have served as a Spotsylvania County supervisor for a decade and am known for my integrity and fighting for low taxes, parental rights and our conservative principles.

C. Do you believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen? Why or why not?

I personally strongly believe, as has been proven, that there was voter fraud in the 2020 election. I don’t believe there was enough to change the election results. However, there are still many cases being heard and outstanding that need to be resolved as soon as possible.

We need election integrity in America because if we don’t have a unified belief that we have election integrity where everyone gets one and only one vote, we will lose our nation. We need, at a minimum, voter identification and paper forensic audits on each and every future election to ensure this confidence.

D. What do you think about the U.S. Capitol events of Jan. 6, 2021? Should rioters and lawbreakers be held accountable? Was it an attempt to overturn the results of the presidential election?

America is a land of liberty and a land of law. Lawbreakers always need to be held accountable for their actions. If we don’t hold lawbreakers accountable, we essentially have no law, and that would be bad for all of us. It is why we have due process and why we have the court system in place in order to do so. Without holding lawbreakers accountable for their actions, we do not have a safe environment to pursue life, liberty and happiness.

I do not believe the events that happened at the U.S. Capitol were an insurrection. If anyone broke the law there, they need to be given due process in a timely manner and held accountable. Also, anyone who has broken the law--such as the many riots we saw across our country, from Richmond, to Chicago, to Fredericksburg, to Minneapolis--also need to be held accountable if they broke the law.

We again are a land of law and liberty. No one should be above the law. And everyone should be afforded timely due process as we each have a right to in our Constitution.

BRYCE REEVES

A. If you’re elected, what will be your top three policy priorities?

The biggest crisis facing our nation is out-of-control spending. People are one paycheck away from the streets, and we need to make sure we stand up for the least, the last and the lost among us.

First, we need to give businesses the tools they need to grow. President Trump’s regulatory policies were successful in strengthening business and growing our economy. However, a vast majority of them were enacted by executive order – allowing President Biden to undo them immediately. I will fight to enshrine many of these policies in law so that they longer exist at the whim of the executive branch.

The next way to rein in this problem is to institute a germaneness law, also known as a single-subject rule, like we have in Richmond. This ensures that every piece of legislation specifically deals with one issue and stops legislators from holding necessary spending hostage by tying it to unnecessary and wasteful government spending.

My third priority is locking down our southern border. We need to stem the flow of drugs and criminals into our country. As a former narcotics detective, I will make sure Border Patrol is well equipped to do that.

B. Why are you the best candidate in the 7th District’s June 21 Republican primary?

I have a proven conservative record and my ties across the district uniquely position me in both the Republican primary and the general election. Unlike Abigail Spanberger, I have spent much of my adult life living, working, representing and raising my family in this community.

I served as a police officer in Prince William for over nine years before launching my business, headquartered in Stafford County, which has 22 years of good reputation and a wide client base. I have also been honored to represent over 20 percent of the new 7th District in the Senate for the past 10 years.

C. Do you believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen? Why or why not?

Voter fraud does happen and needs to be investigated and prosecuted. One illegitimate vote is too many. We need laws to prevent this from happening. I supported a series of voter-integrity laws in Richmond this year that were killed by Democrats in the Senate. Eighty percent of Americans agree we should need an ID to vote.

Additionally, the attempt by Big Tech companies to shut down stories that we know are true, such as Hunter Biden’s laptop, should not be happening in a society that values and celebrates free speech.

D. What do you think about the U.S. Capitol events of Jan. 6, 2021? Should rioters and lawbreakers be held accountable? Was it an attempt to overturn the results of the presidential election?

It’s a fact that an overwhelming majority of protestors at our nation’s capital were peaceful. I believe in the rule of law. If laws were broken, those who broke the law should be held accountable.

I find it interesting that the mainstream media didn’t cover the countless BLM protests that turned into riots, resulting in death and thousands of dollars of property damage to our small businesses.

YESLI VEGA

A. If you’re elected, what will be your top three policy priorities?

First and foremost, we’re going to work together with Republicans to put a stop to Biden and Spanberger’s out-of-control inflation issue. There’s no Democrat discount at the gas pump or at the grocery store, no matter how hard Spanberger tries to convince folks otherwise.

Americans are hurting because of failed Democrat policies, and we’ll work to get our country back on track by getting American energy production up and running again and addressing the supply-chain issues head on instead of deflecting and ignoring the struggles everyone is facing.

We must secure our Southern border by finishing the wall, stemming illegal immigration to stop the flow of drugs, criminals, and human trafficking.

We’ll fight to stop the indoctrination of our children at school. As a parent myself, I understand what parents are facing as they fight against the Democrats’ attempts to radicalize our children. We want to send our children to school knowing that they are going to learn reading, writing and math, not be indoctrinated with left-wing ideology that tells our sons to be daughters or daughters to be sons.

B. Why are you the best candidate in the 7th District’s June 21 Republican primary?

I’ve been described as the most conservative and most electable in this race. In 2019, I won a blue-leaning Prince William County district by 13 points, just two years after Ralph Northam carried it by 8—a 21-point swing at the peak of the so-called blue wave. I did so not by running away from our conservative values, but by embracing them and boldly taking them to every corner of my district.

I was also the chair of Latinos for Youngkin, where I helped turn out 54 percent of the Hispanic vote for Glenn in his 2021 victory. And we’re poised to do it again. Prince William is the largest jurisdiction in the 7th and our nominee has to rally the base and win in Prince William to have any chance at defeating Spanberger.

C. Do you believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen? Why or why not?

The 2020 election has come and gone. There’s still clear-cut evidence of voter fraud that should concern all Americans.

D. What do you think about the U.S. Capitol events of Jan. 6, 2021? Should rioters and lawbreakers be held accountable? Was it an attempt to overturn the results of the presidential election?

Democrats know they are in trouble, that’s why they continue to cling to anything in an attempt to distract from their failures. It’s unfortunate that the media continues to play into their narrative as well. I’m not going to play into that narrative.