Olivia Troye, former Pence adviser turned Trump critic, launches Democratic bid for US House from Virginia – WTOP News

Troye became the first candidate to declare for the race in the proposed new 7th District. A crowded field of potential contenders is taking shape, including former Virginia first lady Dorothy McAuliffe and several state lawmakers.

Olivia Troye, a former adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, announced April 14 that she would run for Congress as a Democrat in Virginia’s proposed new 7th District, pending passage of a sweeping redistricting referendum this month.

(CNN) — Olivia Troye, a former adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, announced Tuesday that she would run for Congress as a Democrat in Virginia’s proposed new 7th District, pending passage of a sweeping redistricting referendum this month.

Troye publicly broke with the Republican Party in 2020 after serving in political and national security roles, signing onto a letter with more than 130 fellow GOP officials endorsing Joe Biden’s campaign and arguing that “Donald Trump has failed our country.”

In the years since, Troye has emerged as an outspoken critic of the Republican Party under Trump. She was a featured speaker at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

“The evil I saw in that White House was staggering. In 2020, I finally said ‘enough,’” Troye said in a video announcing her congressional bid. “Trump doesn’t scare me. I took him on when it mattered the most, and I’m ready to do it again.”

With the announcement Tuesday, Troye – now officially a Democrat – became the first candidate to declare for the race in the proposed new 7th District. A crowded field of potential contenders is taking shape, including former Virginia first lady Dorothy McAuliffe and several state lawmakers.

First, however, Democrats must prevail in the high-stakes redistricting referendum on April 21 that will determine whether the new 7th District exists at all. It’s the latest front in a nationwide fight over gerrymandering which, if passed, could enable Democrats to gain four seats and take a 10-1 advantage in the state’s congressional delegation.

Republicans have disparagingly branded the new 7th as the “lobster claw district,” a reference to its contortions aimed at maximizing Democratic vote share.

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