GOP frets Va. Senate candidate may affect House races

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia Republicans have nominated a polarizing Senate candidate known for taking personal potshots at his opponents and agitating aggressively for the preservation of Confederate monuments – a pick that ultimately could have a ripple effect on which party controls Congress after the November midterm elections.

Virginia Republicans are quietly worried – and Democrats openly hopeful – that the fallout could reach to a handful of competitive House districts.

Corey Stewart will top the Republican ticket this fall with his unapologetically aggressive approach on everything from immigration to how he deals with opponents.

He’s mocked fellow Republicans’ looks and sex drives and said he would let the state’s Confederate monuments come down only “over my dead body.” He likes to boast that he was “Trump before Trump was Trump.”

It was enough for a narrow win Tuesday in the Republican primary and brought a congratulatory tweet from President Donald Trump. But Stewart, long shunned by the GOP establishment in Virginia, begins the general election campaign as a decided underdog against Sen. Tim Kaine, Democrats’ 2016 vice presidential nominee who’s running for his second Senate term.

Democrats immediately sought to capitalize, with the state party in Virginia publicly asking House Republican candidates if they think Stewart is a racist and whether they will campaign with him.

Alan Suderman and Bill Barrow