President Donald Trump’s decision on who he will appoint as Virginia’s two top federal prosecutors may be coming soon. And who he chooses could impact the state legislature’s elections in November.
Just last week, Virginia House of Delegates Minority Leader Todd Gilbert told Virginia Scope that he was ready to step down from his leadership position if the GOP caucus called for new elections for House leaders. The Republican said that the caucus “can’t afford sudden disruptions” stemming from his candidacy for United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, adding that electing Republican leaders before this November’s elections where all 100 House seats are up is “absolutely critical.”
Senior Assistant Attorney General in the Virginia Office of the Attorney General and former Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Tracci has also been nominated for the Western District slot, and while working as section chief for major crimes for the attorney general, he has collected the endorsement of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association and the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police.
“I’m proud to have earned [their] support for this position,” he told The Daily Signal, pointing to his experience prosecuting cases like the ones in the aftermath of the deadly riots in Charlottesville in the summer of 2017.
A notable subtext is the interest that the congressmen from the western part of the state have taken in this process. Representatives from the offices of Reps. Ben Cline, Morgan Griffith, and John McGuire have all interviewed both candidates, though this is not a position that the U.S. House of Representatives has a role in determining. It appears that they may be preparing advice for the president, who will ultimately make the nomination.
Meanwhile, in the Eastern District of Virginia, the choice is between Michael Gill, assistant general counsel and director of investigations for Huntington Ingalls Industries, and Erik Siebert, currently serving as the interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
They are also awaiting the president’s nomination, but news coverage about the Eastern District slot has been mostly about the tragic death of the former U.S. attorney there, Jessica Aber, and Siebert’s participation in the FBI arrest of accused MS-13 gang kingpin Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos in Dale City in March.
Gilbert’s view of the importance of this year’s General Assembly races in Virginia is seemingly shared by the Democratic Party, as Gilbert’s Democrat doppelganger, House Speaker Don Scott, joined the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the national organization dedicated to electing Democrats to statehouses, to further prioritize national support for Virginia’s upcoming state races.
“All eyes are on Virginia in 2025,” declared Democratic Leadership Campaign Committee Director Heather Williams as she pledged a “seven-figure” investment in Virginia House races. “Opportunities to move policy and build power aren’t happening in Washington—they’re happening in the statehouses,” she said.
Between Jan. 1 and March 31, Virginia House Democrats outraised Virginia Republicans, $3.72 million to $1.47 million. Rick Buchanan, GOP chair of Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, put it more bluntly, telling The Daily Signal, “If Republicans lose the governor’s mansion and don’t [take the majority in] the Virginia House of Delegates, the national Democrats will go into hyperdrive [using it as a springboard to] recapture Congress” in next year’s congressional midterm elections.
He also warned Virginia Republicans who have been reading news articles in the legacy media of how the party is doomed in 2025 that Democratic Party majorities in both chambers with a Democrat governor will “turn Virginia into California East.”
Of course, that’s when a political party drops the ball. When a U.S. attorney makes a mistake, victims of crime don’t have justice and dangerous people go free to victimize Democrats and Republicans alike.
Sources indicate that the nominations for U.S. attorney may come as soon as this week. At the pace that the Trump administration works, that wouldn’t be surprising.
