Former aide to VP Pence runs for Congress as a Democrat

Olivia Troye, a national security expert who was an advisor to former Vice President Mike Pence during President Trump’s first term, is running for Congress as a Democrat.

Troye joined a crowded field of candidates from both parties who plan to run for the 7th Congressional District if the constitutional amendment on redistricting passes. The special election on redistricting is Tuesday, April 21.

Troye was a special advisor to Pence for homeland security and counterterrorism from May 2018 to August 2020. “The evil I saw in that White House was staggering,” she says in a video.

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“I saw how dangerous MAGA can be from the inside. I did my best to limit the damage, but in 2020, I couldn’t take it anymore,” Troye wrote on Facebook.

“So I spoke out. I became the most senior person in the administration to resign in order to campaign against Trump – ultimately helping defeat him in 2020,” she continued. “I faced death threats and lawsuits. I earned the wrath of Stephen Miller. Now Trump’s back – and things are worse than even I ever imagined.”

She currently hosts a Substack, called Olivia of Troye, where she offers “unfiltered insights into the Trump era, authoritarian threats, intelligence failures, and the fight for accountability.”

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Under the redrawn congressional map for Virginia, the 7th District would be expanded to include parts of Fairfax County, including Annandale and Burke, and would extend north to Arlington, southwest to the Shenandoah Valley, and south to the Richmond suburbs.

Rep. Eugene Vindman (D), the current representative of the 7th District, plans to run in the redrawn 1st District if the redistricting amendment passes.

Joe Schiarizzi, a 30-year-old inventor, entrepreneur, and affordable housing activist, launched a campaign for the 7th Congressional District last week. If elected, he pledges to “declare a national housing emergency and deliver real solutions for the working families being priced out of the communities they helped build.”

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The other Democrats running in the 7th District include Former Virginia First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe, Virginia Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim, Del. Dan Helmer, Del. Adele McClure, former federal prosecutor J.P. Cooney, federal contractor Jonathan Shmeelk, and Army veteran Alex Thymmons.

The Republican candidates for the 7th District include state Sen. Tara Durant, consultant Douglas Ollivant, consultant Darius Mayfield, and MAGA faithful John Gray.