By Uriah Kiser
Doug Ollivant, a retired U.S. Army officer and former National Security Council director, has announced his campaign for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District — a politically competitive seat stretching from eastern Prince William County through Stafford, Spotsylvania, Fredericksburg, and west to Culpeper, Greene, and a small slice of Albemarle County.
Ollivant, a Republican, appeared on Potomac Local News to discuss his decision to enter the race and his strategy for reaching voters in a district that has leaned Democratic in recent cycles.
“I woke up one morning and Eugene Vindman was my congressman, and I just found that utterly unacceptable,” Ollivant said. “I’m running to bring common sense, conservative, national security experience to the 7th District.”
A veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Ollivant served on the National Security Council under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and later taught politics at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He now lives in Culpeper County with his family.
Ollivant acknowledged that Republicans face “a tough slog uphill” following recent statewide losses but said the results were not hopeless.
“We had a perfect storm for Virginia Republicans,” he said. “A government shutdown, concerns over SNAP benefits, and a candidate who didn’t connect with voters all worked against us. But those conditions won’t repeat in 2026.”
He emphasized the need for Republicans to engage younger voters, including those energized by conservative student movements such as Turning Point USA, as well as growing immigrant populations across the district.
“We need to be speaking to the younger generation and new citizens from Central and South America, Iraq, Afghanistan, and India,” Ollivant said. “It’s an indictment of us that we haven’t found a way to talk to them effectively.”
Ollivant joins a growing field of Republicans seeking to unseat Democrat Eugene Vindman, who first won the seat after redistricting in 2021. State Sen. Tara Durant (R–Fredericksburg) has also announced her candidacy.
Ollivant said he plans to focus on economic issues, national security, and government accountability — key concerns he believes can unite conservative and independent voters.
“We need to diagnose what went wrong in this past election and move beyond our base,” he said. “Republicans can’t win if we only talk to ourselves.”
Virginia’s 7th District was redrawn in 2021 by court order after an independent redistricting commission failed to reach an agreement. The district includes rapidly growing suburban areas and historically conservative rural communities, making it one of the state’s most competitive congressional seats.
Ollivant’s campaign website is dougforvirginia.com.
Republican candidate Doug Ollivant joins Potomac Local News to discuss his campaign for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District (VA-07) — covering Eastern Prince William, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Fredericksburg, Culpeper, Greene, and a small portion of Albemarle County. Ollivant, a retired Army officer and former National Security Council director, shares his outlook on GOP strategy after recent elections, his thoughts on Donald Trump’s influence in Virginia, and his plan to connect with younger voters and shifting suburban demographics.
By Uriah Kiser
“Tuesday night’s election was a bloodbath for Virginia Republicans,” Doug Olivant wrote on X after the party’s sweeping statewide losses. “The party lost all three of the top state offices—Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General—as well as a still undetermined, but double-digit, number of Delegate seats.”
Olivant, a Republican candidate for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District—which includes Prince William, Stafford, Spotsylvania, King George, Caroline, and Fredericksburg—outlined a five-point critique of the GOP’s performance, citing leadership failures, fractured local committees, and weak voter outreach. “Richmond bet it all on an imposed candidate they selected—and lost big,” he wrote, calling for “wholescale reform and housecleaning.”
Despite the setback, Olivant said the party’s path forward depends on unity and authenticity. “The lesson from last night is not to despair,” he wrote. “The lesson from last night is to reform—at light speed.” The 7th District seat is currently held by Democrat Eugene Vindman.
Vows to Restore Fiscal Responsibility, Strengthen National Security, and Protect Virginia Families
Culpeper County, VA — Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Doug Ollivant, a combat veteran, national security expert, and business leader, officially announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the United States Congress in Virginia’s 7th Congressional district today. A husband, father of seven, and grandfather of two, Ollivant says he is ready to bring a results-driven, common-sense approach to Washington to confront rising costs, economic uncertainty, and threats to both public safety and national security facing the United States and Virginia’s families.
“Virginia needs leaders who understand service, integrity, and the value of every taxpayer dollar,” said Ollivant. “In Congress, I will fight to restore fiscal responsibility, rebuild American industry, and strengthen national security—while defending the values that make our rural communities and fast-growing suburbs strong.”
Ollivant’s distinguished career includes two combat tours in Iraq, advising coalition forces in Afghanistan, teaching at West Point, and serving as Director for Iraq at the National Security Council. Today he leads a global consulting firm that works to combat corruption and promote U.S. businesses in some of the world’s most challenging regions. He is a recognized national security expert and is a frequent voice on national television.
Key priorities for this campaign include:
Lowering Taxes and Cutting Wasteful Spending: Promoting a leaner, more efficient government that works for taxpayers.
Peace Through Strength: Ensuring America’s military remains the strongest in the world to deter adversaries and protect our freedoms.
Food as a Keystone to Health: Increasing access to healthy and wholesome foods that promote wellness, are minimally processed, and are grown locally when possible. Promote consumer labeling for processed and imported foods to enable families to make healthier choices.
Securing the border and stopping fentanyl and other illegal drugs and ingredients: Treating illegal immigration and drug trafficking as national security threats.
Pro Family, Pro Worker, Pro Business: Expanding economic opportunity, protecting parental rights, promoting skilled trades, reform permitting for smarter economic growth.
Supporting Law Enforcement: Backing and properly resourcing the men and women who keep our communities safe.
Protecting Girls in Sports and Spaces: Safeguarding fairness, privacy, and safety. As the father of two daughters, Doug understands the importance of this issue.
Doug holds advanced degrees from Wheaton College, James Madison University, and Indiana University. He and his wife, Sabrina, live on the banks of the Rappahannock River in Culpeper County with their rescue dog and chickens.
“This campaign is about building a stronger, safer, healthier, and more affordable America for the next generation,” Ollivant added, “I’ve served my country in uniform and in combat and now I’m ready to serve Virginia families in Congress.”
For more information on Doug Ollivant’s campaign visit DougForVirginia.com
By Douglas Ollivant
As I wrote just a few weeks ago, Eugene Vindman’s campaign for Congress here in Virginia seems deeply entangled in a growing web of ethical concerns. This week doesn’t bring a brand-new scandal, but it does extend—and arguably deepen—an already troubling pattern of behavior.
According to new reporting from The New York Post, the conservative watchdog group Americans for Public Trust has filed a formal campaign finance complaint against Eugene Vindman. This complaint doesn’t emerge from thin air—it follows previous reporting that Vindman’s campaign spent over $38,000 of donor money to purchase copies of a book written by his brother, Alex Vindman, the former Army officer turned impeachment witness and political commentator.
Alexander’s book promotes unconditional U.S. support for Ukraine, a position that Eugene Vindman has echoed repeatedly. But the issue here isn’t the policy—it’s the use of campaign funds to support what looks like a family business transaction.
What’s new in this complaint, and perhaps more revealing, is that on February 27, Eugene Vindman used his campaign’s email list to directly encourage supporters to purchase his brother’s book. That promotion “crosses the streams.” You can’t use your public campaign dollars to help someone else make private money.
This filing serves to highlight a drumbeat of questionable ethical decisions on the part of the Vindman campaign—and likewise with interrelated business dealings alongside his twin brother Alex Vindman.
Let’s review a few of the other serious allegations—none of which have gone away:
Now sure, none of these are felony murder charges. But taken together, they paint a picture of a campaign operating on the edge of legality—and at the very least—taking shortcuts and pushing the envelope. As we used to say in the Army, this shows a “pattern of misconduct.”
If this is what the campaign looks like, what is going on behind doors in the congressional office?
By Douglas Ollivant
The New York Post reported on April 24, 2025 that Eugene Vindman’s campaign “shelled out $38,783 in what it labeled a “fundraising expense” last month at a Florida bookstore where his brother held signing events for his bestselling book….” Further, a look at the records filed with the Federal Election Commission indicate that “Books & Books was the only Florida-based company that received payments from Vindman’s campaign during the first quarter of 2025.” So unless there are some delayed payments that will appear in next quarter’s report, it appears unlikely that Books & Books was the location of a Florida fundraiser later that night. The most logical explanation for this expense is that Eugene Vindman spent almost $40,000 buying copies of his brother’s book. Perhaps this purchase (and others hidden elsewhere?) has something to do with why it is “bestselling.”
If the one Vindman uses copies of the other Vindman’s book as a gift to donors, this is a permissible expense…technically. But this is at the very least a “you scratch my back; I scratch yours” style arrangement. In other words, while probably (barely) legal, it stinks. Congressional offices are not moneymaking arrangements for extended families.
The voters of Virginia’s 7th District should be keeping a close eye for further ethical shortcuts. For instance, there remain real questions as to whether Vindman used 14 taxpayer funded trips to Ukraine — under State Department auspices — to do business development for the private defense company he founded with his brother. Interestingly, while he campaigned for Congress under the Anglicized first name “Eugene,” the literature for his defense firm lists him under his legal Ukrainian name “Yevgeny.” It is hard to avoid the conclusion that he is talented at presenting whatever a certain audience wishes to see.
This is Virginia. Here, appearances matter. The constituents of Virginia’s 7th District deserve better than a Congressman who appears more devoted to enriching his extended family (and rescuing their books from the bargain discount bin) than to representing the very real needs of Virginia families.
Douglas A. Ollivant, a retired army officer and a seasoned national security expert, resides on the banks of the Rappahannock River in Culpeper County, Virginia. He served multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, including as Chief of Plans for Multi-National Division Baghdad, where he led the team behind the coalition’s portion of the Baghdad Security Plan during the Surge. He later served as Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor in Afghanistan. Ollivant serves as Managing Partner of Mantid International, a global strategic consulting firm with operations in both the Middle East and the Pacific Islands.
