WASHINGTON — Democrats have been lining up to challenge Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock in next year’s election, and now Comstock is also facing a challenge from a fellow Republican.
Shak Hill, a former United States Air Force combat pilot, announced in an online video that he is jumping in the 2018 race for Comstock’s seat in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District.
“Washington continues to break promises,” Hill said. “Establishment politicians are more concerned about power for themselves than liberty for the people.”
Comstock did not face a Republican primary challenger in last year’s election and went on to beat Democrat LuAnn Bennett by six points.
But Hill said he would take on Comstock this time around, claiming she “lied” by saying she wanted to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, often called “Obamacare.”
In May, Comstock voted against legislation in the House of Representatives to repeal the law.
“I agree with the president on his conservative initiatives, and Barbara has been a major obstacle,” Hill said. “It’s time to repeal and replace Barbara.”
Following her vote on the legislation, Comstock said her “goals on health care reform are to provide patient-centered reforms that provide better access to high quality, affordable care and covers pre-existing conditions without lifetime limits.”
Comstock said she could not support the repeal effort “because of the many uncertainties in achieving those goals.”
The Northern Virginia district Comstock represents includes all of Frederick and Loudoun counties, and parts of Fairfax and Prince William counties. It was handily won by Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. She defeated President Trump by 10 points.
Since then, Democrats have viewed Comstock’s seat as a potential win for them in the future.
According to Federal Election Commission records, seven Democrats have formally launched campaigns, although more are considering a run.
The Democrats already in the race include Army veteran Dan Helmer, State Sen. Jennifer Wexton, communications strategist Lindsey Davis Stover, former State Department official and human trafficking expert Alison Friedman, Loudoun School for the Gifted founder Deep Sran, former Naval intelligence officer David Hanson and perennial candidate Julien Modica.
