WOODBRIDGE, Virginia — Entrepreneur Philip Harding announced on Tuesday night that he will be running in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District as a Republican. This is the seat Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) held for three consecutive terms.
The Republican congressional hopeful is pitching himself as a political outsider. He’s a Harvard-educated former associate pastor and founder of a global business network.
“I’m running because I want to hand my children a country where anything is possible,” Harding told supporters at his campaign launch on Tuesday. “Virginia’s 7th District deserves a representative who knows how to build, not just how to talk.”
Harding said his campaign has a plan “either way” the latest redistricting push in Virginia shakes out. Voters will determine via a referendum this month whether to approve a one-time redraw of the maps that heavily favors Democrats and leaves Republicans just one of the state’s 11 seats.
Harding said he feels redrawing the maps is unnecessary and unfair.
“We’re obviously pushing hard for a vote no to keep the lines the way that the people voted already,” Harding told the Washington Examiner in an exclusive interview. “We’d love to see that stay. If you’re about fairness, you respect that vote and then focus on the real issues that matter.”
Harding is focusing his campaign on three core principles: helping small businesses, immigration, and strengthening the family with a focus on faith.
“We will make Virginia’s 7th District the best place in America to start and grow a business,” Harding said to cheers from supporters.
The district leans Democratic and is currently represented by Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-VA), who won it in 2024 by less than three points. Voters in the district chose former Vice President Kamala Harris over President Donald Trump by roughly three points that year as well.
Harding founded Impact Junkie, a global entrepreneurial training and investment network, where he helps people all over the world start businesses. He said that experience, not time in the political stratosphere, is what makes him best suited to take on Virginia’s debt, affordability, and economic growth in Congress.
“I think people are ready for something different,” Harding said. “We do not need more dependents. We need more builders.”
Harding and his wife of 21 years have lived in Virginia for 11 years. A father of three children, Harding said he wants to use his time in office to focus on family values. Harding argued the government and schools should support, not replace, parents, and that it’s time to get back to “common sense.”
“Strong families build strong nations, and right now the family is under pressure, economically, culturally, institutionally,” Harding said. “We will fight for parents, for children, for parental rights, for faith, for safe communities, because schools should educate, not replace parents.”
Illegal immigration and crime have been a hot topic in Virginia. When it comes to immigration, Harding said his experiences working abroad have shaped his appreciation for being an American.
“It is humbling to know people risk their lives every day for the dream of becoming an American,” Harding said. “To protect that dream, we must protect America by securing our border and deporting violent and criminal illegal aliens who endanger our communities. By restoring order, enforcing the law, and modernizing our system, we can protect American citizens while remaining true to the principles that make America the country of dreams.”
Supporters in attendance said Harding’s impact is already being felt in Virginia. Small business owners, who spoke to the Washington Examiner at the campaign launch event, credit Harding with helping them start and grow their own businesses.
“In the last three years, we’ve already expanded three times. We are tripling in our sales,” Clarissa Buckley, the owner of The Queen’s Library Tea Room in Richmond, said. “It’s because we’ve applied the business approach from Philip Harding. We need more entrepreneurs in positions of Congress.”
“Philip has been really helpful in encouraging me with my own consulting practice and engaging with me.” Will Archer, who is a business owner in the 7th District, said. Harding’s faith is another reason he has Archer’s support. “We need people that have a strong set of core values, that are problem solvers. … We need leaders that don’t just talk, but leaders that build and do.”
Many small business leaders showed up to the event, which saw between 50 and 100 people in attendance.
Harding said he hears from Virginians about the new pressures they are feeling from Spanberger’s policies as governor, including raising the minimum wage. The new governor’s promotion is not the sole reason he decided to run, however. He said the campaign is something he prayed over and feels is “a deeper calling.”
EX-MIKE PENCE AIDE LAUNCHES DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN IN VIRGINIA
“I’ve heard a lot of concerns from business owners and families here across Virginia,” Harding said. “People are concerned about the policies that are being put in against business, against family, and it’s a concern. We want to continue to fight for Virginians, and that’s what we’re here to do.”
Harding joins a crowded Republican field as Tara Durant, John Gray, Darius Mayfield, Douglas Ollivant, and Waverly Washington are all running for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, according to Ballotpedia.
The Republican primary will occur on Aug. 4, 2026.
If the redistricting referendum in Virginia passes, the new map would draw the 7th District in a “lobster” shape, displacing Vindman, who would run in the newly proposed 1st District.
