Hung Cao wins the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Virginia with 64.3% of the vote

Hung Cao (R) won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Virginia on June 18. Cao received 64.3% of the vote. Eddie Garcia (R) received 10.0%, and Scott Parkinson (R) received 9.8%. Chuck Smith (R) and Jonathan Walker Emord (R) also ran in the primary.

Cao will face incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine (D) in the general election. Kaine has served since 2013.

Political commentators framed the primary within national politics, with the presidential election as a central issue. Virginia Mercury’s Graham Moomaw said, “The Republicans hoping to run against Kaine have … sought to tie the incumbent to the not-particularly-popular leader of the Democratic Party, portraying Kaine as a reliable ally to Biden and a supporter of Democratic economic and immigration policies that have contributed to Biden’s low approval ratings.”

Another prominent issue was the role of competing national endorsements. Former President Donald Trump (R) endorsed Cao on May 26. Trump congressional allies, such as U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), endorsed Parkinson. Also of note, Parkinson worked for the Club for Growth. The group had a history of disagreements with Trump, including issuing competing endorsements in major congressional races and not inviting Trump to a donor retreat.

Cao is a retired Navy captain. He immigrated to the United States as a refugee from Vietnam in 1975. Cao said, “We are losing our country … we can’t let that happen. I’ve been all over the world; believe me when I tell you if America fails, there’s nowhere else to go. … I still believe America can be the land of opportunity. I have an obligation to fight back against those who want to control our lives and disrupt our families.”

Parkinson is the vice president of government affairs for the Club for Growth. He said he would be “a warrior for the middle class, honing in on the fiscal insanity in Washington, championing economic growth policies, defending parental rights in education, and restoring public safety on our streets” and “will fight for parents’ rights, veterans’ benefits against the bureaucracy, and senior citizens against Leftist radicals that want to end Medicare as we know it.”