Pictured from left are the District 10 Congressional candidates, Republican Mike Clancy and Democrat Suhas Subramanyam. (Photos courtesy of respective campaigns)
State Sen. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Loudoun, and Republican nominee Mike Clancy are vying to represent Virginia’s 10th Congressional District and succeed Democratic U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton, who is retiring after being diagnosed with a severe neurological disorder.
Subramanyam opposes Project 2025 — a proposed conservative plan to change how the federal government operates — and said it is a key issue in his race. He is also prioritizing the cost of living and the economy in his campaign.
Clancy said he does not support the project, but sees a path forward for himself focusing on areas that matter to voters, namely the economy, parental rights and public safety.
District 10
Virginia Congressional District 10 (courtesy Supreme Court of Virginia)
Over the past three congressional elections, Democrats have maintained control of the district even after it was redrawn to include the counties of Loudoun, Fauquier and Rappahannock, the cities of Manassas, Manassas Park, and parts of Prince William and Fairfax Counties.
Wexton, who has represented the district in the U.S. Congress since 2019, won her first two races by at least 12 percentage points in 2018 and 2020. However, in her final election in 2022, she narrowly won the redrawn district by six percentage points to Republican nominee Hung Cao, who is now running for U.S. Senate.
After serving three straight terms in Congress and announcing her decision not to seek reelection, Wexton endorsed Subramanyam over several Democratic primary candidates hoping to succeed her. If elected, Subramanyam said he wants to carry on Wexton’s work in advocating for federal funding — potentially on the appropriations committee — for infrastructure projects and keeping the federal government open to avoid shutdowns that impact federal government employees.
“Jennifer Wexton was a leader in trying to push legislation to prevent shutdowns and being outspoken and her support of federal workers and contractors, so I want to continue that work because it’s important to our community and it’s what makes us so special,” said Subramanyam.
He added that the federal government should spend more resources in District 10 to keep it functioning because of the many civil servants who live and work there.
If elected, Clancy would be the first Republican to hold the seat since Wexton unseated former congresswoman Barbara Comstock, who succeeded longtime congressman Frank Wolf. Wolf has endorsed Clancy.
“He was solution-focused, and that’s what I want to be,” Clancy said about Wolf. “(I) want to make sure that we’re representing the people of our constituency in the 10th District, doing what’s good for the people.” Like Wolf, Clancy added that he is “very focused on human rights issues.”
Project 2025 and federal workers
More than 34,000 federal government workers and contractors reside in the 10th District, according to a Sept. 23 report by the Congressional Research Service. There is a growing concern among residents and government employees about the impact of the recommendations outlined in Project 2025 if implemented by a Republican presidential administration, particularly the proposal to replace federal workers with political appointees.
Members of the American Federation, the largest federal workers union in the nation, wrote that such a proposal would negatively impact employees.
“It’s a takeover of our federal government in a manner that is not loyal to the Constitution and the law, has no interest in listening to the people, and will force employees to take orders, legal or not, or be terminated,” AFGE President Everett Kelley said in a July statement.
Clancy, a tech executive and lawyer, told The Mercury rejects the project’s proposal targeting federal government workers, refuting claims from his opponent and some media that he has connections to the Heritage Foundation. This conservative think tank published Project 2025.
“I want to create jobs for the 10th District, not to decrease them,” Clancy said. “And here in Northern Virginia, in our district, a key component of the job market here is not only federal government employees, but government contractors, and that’s an important constituency that we’re trying to promote.”
Clancy admitted to donating to the organization in the past but said he is not a member of the Heritage Foundation, despite a Newsmax webpage stating he is a member. He calls Subramanyam’s attempt to tie him to Project 2025 and the Heritage Foundation a way to “distract” voters from the “failed” decisions made by the Biden-Harris administration on the economy, border security, fentanyl and “weak” foreign policy that led to two wars.
“Other than a small donation to the Heritage Foundation several years ago, I have never had any ‘connection’ to the Heritage Foundation,” Clancy said in a statement. “I have never worked with Heritage or attended any of their events. I have no connection to Project 2025. I never heard of Project 2025 until the Democrats started fear-mongering over it. I do not support and never have supported Project 2025.”
Subramanyam, a former tech policy advisor to former President Barack Obama, said Project 2025 would be “a complete disaster” for the 10th District if implemented by impacting businesses that rely on customers who are likely federal government workers and contractors.
“It will affect everyone, and in a time where people are worried about the economy and rising costs and being able to afford things like housing and childcare and prescription drugs, we don’t need a self-imposed recession,” Subramanyam said.
Parental rights
In District 10, parents have challenged local school divisions and boards and cited concerns about how schools operate, including what is taught and what students learn. Like elsewhere in the state, schools in the 10th District are facing lawsuits and confrontations from parents over controversial social issues, such as the types of books that are allowed in libraries and the treatment of transgender students.
Clancy said he supports parental rights, or a parents legal authority to make decisions about their child’s care and education. He said he also understands Project 2025 may overlap with his views, especially in the area of education by supporting school choice, or the idea that parents should be able to use tax dollars designated for their child’s public education and send them to a private or charter school of their choice.
“Things shouldn’t just be for the rich,” Clancy said. “We should be able to empower parents at the middle-income and low-income levels to give them opportunities for school choice.”
He also claimed that his opponent voted against the interest of parents and children during his time in the Virginia House of Delegates, pointing to legislation requiring schools to notify parents of sexually explicit instructional materials in school libraries, which Subramanyam opposed.
One of those books being considered was “Beloved” by author Toni Morrison, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature for the book.
“I support current Virginia law; the fundamental right for parents to be involved in their child’s education,” Subramanyam said in response. “I’m a father to two daughters, and being an involved parent is important to me.”
Cost of living
Both candidates said they are committed to addressing inflation for Virginians in District 10.
According to data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to the Senate Joint Economic Committee in August, the average Virginia household has spent $30,688 more annually due to inflation since January 2021. Clancy and local Republicans have said Subramanyam’s votes against tax cuts have cost Virginians.
Subramanyam denied that and said Democrats have done “a lot” to ensure Virginia has a “fair tax system.”
“I have not increased income taxes since getting into the General Assembly, and I don’t plan on increasing personal income taxes in Congress,” he said, adding that he would like to find ways to cut taxes for people in the middle class, and continue his work by addressing rising costs and boosting the economy.
Clancy stated Subramanyam’s votes, including one opposing a tax relief bill in 2023, show the state senator does not represent the entire constituency of the 10th District. The Republican nominee said he hopes to support district voters by revitalizing the economy and minimizing President Joe Biden’s spending, curtailing inflation through “American innovation, American energy production,” and saving “small businesses from burdensome, stifling regulatory burdens.”
In a follow-up to the Mercury’s interview, Subramanyam’s campaign said the then-delegate ultimately voted in favor of the tax relief legislation within the budget, which included over $1 billion in tax reductions.
The relief package provided an immediate tax rebate of $200 for individual filers, $400 for families and joint filers, and increased the standard deduction to $8,500 for individual filers and $17,000 for families and joint filers.
“My opponent is wrong — in the General Assembly, I supported tax relief for families and worked in a bipartisan way to do so, including a version of the very proposal my opponent cites,” Subramanyam said.
Immigration
Immigrants often come to the U.S. to leave adverse conditions in their home countries and seek safer living conditions and opportunities for employment. While migrants have become a staple of the country’s workforce, immigration has created backlash among some Americans concerned about migrants entering the country illegally and being granted rights and benefits without being a U.S. citizen.
Clancy and Subramanyam agree that something must be done to address challenges stemming from immigration.
If elected, Clancy said he would advocate for “strong border security” legislation that would address sanctuary cities and legally mandate local governments to work with federal agencies and law enforcement.
Subramanyam said Republicans had a chance to address immigration and have failed to do anything.
Earlier this year, the state senator told the Mercury that the U.S. immigration system is “broken” and he supports the country taking a comprehensive approach to the problem. He said one of the steps begins with securing the border and ensuring that people doing “the right things the right way and contributing to our economy“ have a path to citizenship.
He said the country must also fix its “broken” asylum system.
Visit the Virginia Mercury’s voter guide to see what congressional candidates had to say on other key issues, including abortion, education, inflation, immigration and more.
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