Don Beyer wins Democratic primary

Beyer

Don Beyer easily won the Democratic primary for the 8th Congressional District June 10 with 46 percent of the vote. Beyer hopes to succeed Rep. Jim Moran (D), who’s represented the 8th district since 1991. 

Beyer, 63, is the owner of nine dealerships in Northern Virginia, is a former Virginia lieutenant governor, former Democratic campaign chairman, and former ambassador to Switzerland.

After declaring victory, Beyer told his supporters that, focusing on November, “We must carry the Virginia ideals of integrity, community, progress, and compassion forward to all voters.”

Beyer will face Republican candidate Micah Edmond on the November ballot, along with a couple of independent candidates. The 8th district, which includes Arlington, Alexandra, the City of Falls Church, and parts of Fairfax County, is heavily Democratic.

Patrick Hope, who represents Arlington in the House of Delegates, came in second in the Democratic primary with 18 percent of the vote. State Sen. Adam Ebbin came in third, with 14 percent, followed by Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille with 8 percent, talk show host Mark Levine with 7 percent, former Urban League leader Lavern Chatman with 6 percent, and Virginia Tech professor Derek Hyra with 1 percent.

Beyer got the most votes in all of the 12 precincts in the Mason District that are in the 8th Congressional District—ranging from 39 percent in the Holmes precinct (where Ebbin came in second with 22 percent) to 61 percent in Edsall. In the Plaza precinct, Levine came in second with 16 percent.

Beyer got 52 percent of the vote in the portion of Fairfax County in the 8th district. Chatman and Levine did better in Fairfax than the district as a whole, while Hope and Ebbin did worse.