Republican veteran Doug Ollivant seeks to unseat Rep. Eugene Vindman in Virginia's 7th Congressional District
Doug Ollivant, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and first-time candidate, won the Republican primary in Virginia's 7th Congressional District on August 4 with 56.6% of the vote. He will face incumbent Democratic Rep. Eugene Vindman in the November 3 general election. Vindman won the seat in 2024 with 51% of the vote, a margin Republicans say makes the district their strongest opportunity to flip a House seat in Virginia.
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Doug Ollivant, 58, is a retired Army lieutenant colonel who completed two combat tours in Iraq, advised coalition forces in Afghanistan, taught at West Point, and served as director for Iraq at the National Security Council. After his military career, he became a senior fellow at New America and the Foreign Policy Research Institute, and he now leads a global consulting firm that advises U.S. companies operating in regions the firm describes as prone to corruption, including Iraq and parts of Asia.
Ollivant was born in Hillsboro, Oregon, attended Indiana University, James Madison University, and Wheaton College — earning advanced degrees from all three, according to his campaign biography — and has lived in Virginia for a decade, settling in Culpeper County in 2020. He and his wife Sabrina have seven children and two grandchildren.
The district was previously held by Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who left Congress to run for governor. Vindman won the seat in 2024 with 51% of the vote, and Republicans have identified Virginia's 7th as their strongest opportunity to flip a House seat in the state.