With the country gripped by a pandemic and racial unrest, Webb is a Black doctor and lawyer from Charlottesville who is the director of health policy and equity at the University of Virginia.
“I feel like the moment is one that my campaign is literally built for,” Webb said in an interview with The Associated Press Wednesday, a day after he handily won the Democratic primary in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District.
Webb’s victory Tuesday comes as two Black progressive candidates — Kentucky’s Charles Booker and New York’s Jamaal Bowman — may be on the verge of knocking off establishment-backed congressional candidates.
Don Gathers, who founded the Charlottesville chapter of Black Lives Matter, said Webb’s victory shows issues important to Black voters have a broad appeal.
Riggleman’s departure and Webb’s unexpectedly strong showing now make the district more competitive, said Kyle Kondik, who analyzes elections for the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
