August 26, 2017 – Jenna Portnoy, Washington Post
State Sen. Jennifer Wexton (D-Loudoun) on Saturday tried to put Rep. Barbara Comstock (R) on the spot by holding a town hall meeting when the congresswoman has declined to do the same.
Wexton is one of eight Democrats competing for the nomination to challenge Comstock in Northern Virginia’s 10th District, the only potentially competitive midterm race in the Washington region.
If Wexton can defeat Comstock, Democrats say that she will do it in vote-rich Loudoun County, where she has been a state lawmaker and prosecutor.
About 50 people showed up at the Rust Library in Leesburg on a sunny afternoon for the sedate first of two town halls Wexton is holding as a candidate for Congress. The other will be held Aug. 31 at the Chantilly Library.
Attendees wrote questions on index cards during the hour-long event. Wexton stood at a lectern and flipped through the stack, answering questions on two-dozen subjects, including health care, transportation, foreign policy and education.
Democratic complaints that Comstock has not been accessible to constituents have grown in the months following the election, in which she won a second term by 6 points despite sharing a ballot with President Trump, who lost the district by 10.
Asked how she would be responsive to residents, Wexton said: “Well for one thing I’m here.” She added, “Call me, email me, I’m happy to meet with anyone and talk with you. . . . That’s what you’re supposed to do as a public servant.”