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Democrats Hope Trump Turmoil Helps Downballot in Fifth Congressional District

One of the hottest congressional races on the ballot this fall is the Fifth Congressional District, which stretches from Charlottesville to Danville. It’s a district currently held by Republicans, but Democrats are hoping the turmoil of the Donald Trump campaign might be giving them new momentum.

If Democrats are ever going to retake the House of Representatives, this is the kind of seat they’ll need to pick up — an open seat in a swing district in a swing state, where Republican Tom Garrett says he fully condemns Trumps behavior.

“Donald Trump has said some very indefensible things, and I want to be clear. Hillary Clinton has done some very indefensible things."

During a televised debate this week, Garrett had a long list of scandals -- some that stretched back to the 1990s, things like Whitewater and cattle futures. But his opponent, Democrat Jane Dittmar, says his reaction to Trump’s comments about sexual assault was woefully inadequate.

“So he didn’t really address the content or the criminality of it."

Dittmar and other Democrats are trying to press Republicans to distance themselves from the top of their ticket.

“After all the litany of ways he’s insulted women, I couldn’t see how anyone … anyone … could vote for Donald Trump."

The Fifth Congressional District was represented for many years by Virgil Goode, who lost to a Democrat who lost to a Republican. Now Democrats have identified it as a district as one they hope to turn from red to blue.

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