Navy Vet Hung Cao Challenges Tim Kaine In Crowded VA Senate Race

PURCELLVILLE, VA — Republican Hung Cao is joining the 2024 race to represent Virginia in the U.S. Senate and unseat Democrat Tim Kaine, Cao said Tuesday.

Cao is a Navy veteran who lives in Purcellville. In 2022, he unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Democrat Jennifer Wexton in the race for Virginia's 10th congressional district.

Cao joins an already crowded Senate race with the incumbent Kaine, and Republicans Jonathan Emord, Craig Ennis, Eddie Garcia, Kimberly Lowe, Gwendolyn Hickman, Scott Parkinson and Chuck Smith.

"I'm running for United States Senate because I have an obligation to fight back against those who want to control our lives and disrupt our families," Cao wrote on Twitter. "We need real fighters. Not politicians, not bureaucrats, not keyboard warriors."

Cao's family immigrated to the United States from Vietnam in the 1970s. In a video announcing his campaign, Cao applauded the generosity of the U.S. and warned about the dangers of communism.

"I spent my life trying to repay my debt to America," Cao said in the video. "But now our country has taken a dark turn."

In the video, Cao criticized "Joe Biden's justice department," and expressed his support for gun rights, abortion restrictions, and former President Donald Trump.

Democrats believe Cao's positions, including his opposition to abortion, show he's "too extreme."

"Voters in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District already rejected Hung Cao in his bid for the U.S. House, and I can assure you he’s too extreme for the U.S. Senate,” Democratic Party of Virginia Chairwoman Susan Swecker said in a statement to the Associated Press.

According to records from the Federal Election Commission, Kaine's campaign has more than $6 million in cash available. The eight Republican candidates have a combined $562, 882 on hand.