Jane Dittmar, the Democratic nominee for Virginia’s fifth congressional district, received an endorsement from President Barack Obama Oct. 24. Dittmar is running against Republican state Sen. Tom Garrett for the district’s seat in the House of Representatives.
“It’s wonderful that Barack Obama has recognized the great work that our campaign is doing to help uplift the economy of the fifth district,” Maggie Thornton, Dittmar’s deputy campaign manager, said. “His background is as a community organizer, and that’s what campaigns are fundamentally about, organizing communities … getting out the vote, so we’re really gratified that he recognized that in our campaign.”
Dittmar is one of 30 House candidates who received an endorsement from Obama, including another Democratic candidate in Virginia — LuAnn Bennett, who is running in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District.
“Obama really sees that we need to make sure that we are electing people who want to get things done,” Thornton said. “We have seen since this Republican Congress took hold in 2010, we have seen a Congress willing to shut down the government, willing to deny people health insurance, willing to go against the will of the American people when it comes to getting folks back on the Supreme Court.”
Thornton said Obama’s endorsement will do nothing but good for Dittmar’s campaign.
“I think that people really respect him even when they disagree, so I think this endorsement is ultimately very helpful,” she said.
Dittmar also has endorsements from the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, EMILY’s List and the Sierra Club.
Zach Werrell, campaign manager for opponent Garrett’s campaign, said he disagrees with Obama’s positive influence on Dittmar’s campaign.
“Jane is sort of out of touch with the values of the district,” Werrell said. “Obviously she’s fine for Charlottesville, but the district extends all the way down to the North Carolina border, so Obama weighing in is probably a negative for her.”
Garrett has received endorsements from Second Amendment, business, police and pro-life Organizations including the NRA, the Virginia Shooting Sports Alliance, the Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business, the Police Benevolent Association and the Susan B. Anthony List.
“Tom has received a ton of endorsements from all the right people for this district,” Werrell said.
Werrell also said Dittmar failed to make Obama’s endorsement known earlier, noting that this may be an indication of Obama’s potentially negative impact on her campaign.
“She didn’t post it on her Facebook, she didn’t even put anything out about it until she was called out by some people for not having done it,” he said. “She did not … bring it up, and the reason is Obama is not well liked in the district.”
Two recent polls have had Garrett leading the race by six to 11 points.
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