Biography & Campaign Analysis
2026 race
Doug Ollivant, a former director for Iraq at the U.S. National Security Council who served on the council under President George W. Bush, is the Republican nominee for Virginia's 7th congressional district.
The seat is held by Democrat Eugene Vindman, a freshman who won it with 51.2% of the vote in 2024. Ollivant won the Republican primary with 56.6% of the vote, ahead of a minister and entrepreneur who took 30.6% and pastor Ricky Smithers, who took 12.8%.
On October 5, he announced that he had been diagnosed with a treatable form of acute myeloid leukemia and that he was staying in the race. In the general election on November 3, 2026, he faces Vindman and four other candidates, including Libertarian Taner Lopez and independent Randall Terry.