GOP candidate for Congress Tony Sabio calls himself a moderate who supports Trump

Tony Sabio, the Republican candidate running against Rep. Don Beyer in the upcoming midterm elections, characterizes himself as a “Reagan conservative” who can bring both sides of the political divide together.

Despite his characterization of himself as a “moderate with commonsense solutions,” Sabio told Annandale Today he supports “80 to 90 percent” of what the Trump administration is doing, including the war in Iran and tariffs.

Sabio faces a steep uphill battle in the heavily Blue 8th District against Beyer, a popular Democrat who’s served in Congress since 2015. Early voting for the Nov. 3 election starts Sept. 18 at three locations. 

Iran is a threat

Born in Puerto Rico, Sabio spent most of his childhood in National City, Calif., a crime-ridden suburb of San Diego. After serving in the military, Sabio joined the Secret Service in 2007, where he was assigned to protect President George W. Bush, then moved on to the Global Response Staff at the CIA.

After leaving the CIA, he established a small security company focusing on counterintelligence. His only previous political experience was an unsuccessful run to the Fairfax County School Board in 2023.

Related story: Rep. Beyer wins the Democratic Primary

“Coming from the CIA, I understand the war with Iran,” he said. “Iran is a threat. They want to destroy America.”

“We can’t let them have nuclear weapons,” he said. “They are not looking for peace. They are looking for the complete destruction of the Western World.”

“A lot of people are bothered by the high prices of gasoline,” he acknowledged, but that’s a price we have to pay “when you have an adversary willing to do the worst of the worst.”

Beyer opposes the conflict, saying “President Trump’s war is not smart, it is not legal, it is not morally right, and it is not in our national interest.”

Tariffs vs. the IRS

As an advocate for free trade, Sabio agrees with Trump’s use of tariffs as a negotiating tactic “to bring other countries to the table.”

He believes tariffs will result in an increase in manufacturing in the U.S., but acknowledges it won’t happen overnight.

“If the U.S. has a tariff-based tax system, we need to get rid of the IRS. I don’t want to be double-taxed,” he said. “Either you do one or the other.”

He doesn’t see a need to impose higher taxes on billionaires. “I’m a free market, less government type of person,” he said. “I don’t want to curb innovation.” 

One of Sabio’s main priorities is expanding nuclear energy, which he calls “clean and reliable.” He proposes developing the nuclear energy industry in Northern Virginia and “using small modern nuclear reactors to power data centers and increase the amount of energy in our grid.”

Sabio said we need data centers to compete against China on AI, but “they should not all be in Northern Virginia. We need to push them to different parts of the country.”

Data centers and the substations that serve them shouldn’t be close to residential homes, like the project on Edsall Road, he said. “They need to have dead space around them.”

Sabio said he agrees with Beyer that we need guardrails for regulating AI, but says, “a complete pause is not the right way.”

Related story: Beyer urges Planning Commission to reject data center substation

“We need to keep investing in AI to develop security measures against China, Russia, and criminal organizations,” he said. “If China gets ahead of us on AI, they will use it against us.”

Sabio’s other priorities include the creation of a “new job ecosystem” that would make the 8th District less dependent on the federal government, support for small businesses, a workforce plan for colleges and trade schools, and “making sure communities are secure.”

A Reagan conservative

When it comes to immigration, Sabio said he supports strengthening the border and reforming the system so “people come here the right way.” He said he’s gone against the GOP by supporting the bipartisan Dignity Act of 2025, which has stalled in Congress.

“We don’t want criminals here,” he said. In response to a question about ICE agents shooting innocent people, he said, “10 percent of the people in every industry are bad characters. If ICE agents are doing things they’re not supposed to be doing, they need to be held accountable.”

“Having a badge does not mean you have immunity,” he said. “But we do need to go after people who are a menace to the community.”

Despite the fact that the Republican Party is now the party of Trump and his MAGA allies, Sabio said, “If the party proposes issues I don’t agree with, I would stand up and come up with solutions.” On Trump’s proposed arch, for example, he said he would consider whether it has a return on investment for the American people.

“I look at things pragmatically. There are more people in the middle than on the far left or far right,” he said. “One thing I want to do in Congress is influence people to do better, one conversation at a time. … I don’t look at Democrats as my enemy.”

So, why isn’t he running as an independent? “I still believe in the conservative principles of Reagan,” he said. “As an independent, I will have no voice.”

“We’re all Americans,” he said. “We just have different views on how to get to a certain point.”