2nd District Candidate Matt Baker (I)
Campaign Website: https://www.mattbakerindependent.com/
Candidate Questionnaire from WHRO:
Question: Where in Virginia do you live?
I live in Norfolk, Virginia, where my wife and I have made our home for 14 years and raised our three kids. For my first decade here, my neighborhood sat inside VA-02. When the district lines were redrawn, my community was mapped out of the district I'd lived in my whole time in Hampton Roads — I didn't move, the lines did. The U.S. Constitution only requires a House candidate to reside in the state, not the specific district — Virginia can't impose a stricter rule than that. So while the mapmakers moved my neighborhood out of VA-02, my Virginia residency is all the qualification the law requires for me to run here.
Editor's Note: Virginia's congressional districts were last redrawn in 2021. Baker's Federal Election Commission paperwork (a Statement of Candidacy) lists his address in Washington, D.C. He has been cleared by the Virginia Department of Elections to run in the 2nd district.
Question: What is your current job? How do you describe your career?
I work full time as the Senior Vice President for Grid Modernization at Typhoon HIL, where I lead a team applying hardware-in-the-loop simulation to modernize power infrastructure for utilities, the military, and industry. Before that, I spent 28 years as a Marine Corps infantry officer, retiring as a Colonel. I describe my career as a mix of operations — leading people under pressure — and engineering — making sure complex systems work.
Question: List any college degrees or professional certifications you hold.
Bachelor of Science, Aerospace Engineering, U.S. Naval Academy (1987). Master of Science, Aerospace Engineering, University of Maryland (1988). Master of Business Administration, International Affairs minor, Old Dominion University (May 2001).
Question: Have you served in an elected or appointed political office before? When, where and in what position?
No. I have never been elected or appointed to a political office.
Question: Please describe any ways you've used generative artificial intelligence in your campaign (to produce photos, mailers, signs, develop a website, public statements, etc.).
Yes — I don't have the funds for full-time staff, and I've leveraged AI to fill that gap. I use it mainly as a research and drafting tool: fact-checking in particular is important to me. I can check sources and quickly generate drafts of policy answers and written communications like this one. I do not use it to generate photos, images, or video of people or events that aren't real. Every position is mine, every fact gets checked against a real source, and every final word is one I've personally reviewed and approved.
Question: What should constituents know about you?
I'm a Naval Academy graduate, retired Marine Colonel, and grid-modernization engineer running as an independent. I spent 28 years as a Marine infantry officer, commanding 1,200 Marines and Sailors in combat in Afghanistan's Helmand Province, and deployed to Desert Storm and Iraq as well. I retired from the Marine Corps in 2015 and have spent the last 11 years in the energy industry modernizing electric power infrastructure for utility, energy storage, government and academic customers. My wife and I have called Tidewater home for 14 years, raising three kids here. I'm running as an independent because neither party can be trusted to represent this district entirely and without bias. This campaign takes no PAC money — not corporate, not party, not billionaire super PACs. I will answer to the people I represent, all of them, not to a party and not to special interests.
Question: In a word or phrase, tell us: What do you think your race is about?
People and country are the priority, not parties.
Question: What is the largest issue facing your district right now, and how would you work to address it from Washington, DC?
Preparing for what comes next. A $40 trillion national debt is all our responsibility — no tax-cut giveaway or unfunded entitlement changes that math. The fleet is coming home and needs real maintenance to return to readiness. Prices are high and unlikely to drop soon. Data centers are straining the grid and driving up power bills. Sea levels are rising on our coastline. None of these get solved by picking a side — they get solved by addressing them honestly, together. In Washington, that means voting the district's interest, not a party's, on every one of these: real oversight of defense spending, utility rate reform on data centers, and federal cost-sharing on flood infrastructure this region has funded alone.
Question: How should the federal government address the ongoing affordability challenges?
Costs are rising faster than paychecks — housing, health care, groceries, utilities, and now power bills as data centers strain the grid. I don't support gimmicks that buy a headline while someone else eats the real cost, or tax cuts sold as broad relief that is actually skewed toward the top of the income scale. On data centers specifically: require they pay their own power costs instead of spreading it across every ratepayer's bill. Affordability shouldn't be a shell game — that pattern by both parties over decades is why we are $40 trillion in debt. I'll approach it like an engineer: real numbers, and equal parts fighting higher costs and fighting for higher wages.
Question: What is one topic you think the current Congress has failed to address, and why?
The last Congress was one of the least productive in decades: 209 laws enacted, against an average of 372 per session since 2000. This Congress is on pace for more of the same — passing token bills like post office renamings while the actual budget gets handled through another stopgap continuing resolution, then leaving town to campaign instead of finishing the job. It's bad enough that no Congress has passed a full annual budget on time in nearly 30 years — the last time was 1997. The why is worse than the performance: they don't get anything done because they won't vote outside party lines. They'd rather let affordability, health care, military readiness, immigration, AI regulation, farm bills, and war powers all burn than compromise. And PACs and billionaires — money both party candidates in this race have gladly taken — help keep it that way. We've let these parties polarize us this much. Let's send a message to Washington by voting for an independent.
Question: What do you see as Congress' role in acting as a check and balance on the other branches of the federal government?
Congress's job is to hold the power the Constitution gives it, not hand it away just because a party leader tells them to. Article I gives Congress the power to declare war and the power of the purse — both have been eroding for years, under presidents of both parties. This year alone, the Supreme Court ruled the President exceeded his own authority on most of the tariffs he imposed by decree, forcing roughly $166 billion in refunds — a decision required because Congress let that power drift to the executive in the first place. I'd support reasserting Congress's role: real votes on the use of force, not after-the-fact briefings; real oversight hearings that get real answers, including from this administration; and no more governing by ninety-day extensions instead of legislation. No man is above the law, and no branch should be able to act as though it is.
Question: What kinds of proposals should Congress consider as data centers become more common nationwide?
Yes to real standards, and yes to real accountability. The technology exists today to build data centers quiet, water-efficient, and energy self-sufficient with on-site storage and renewables. I'd support: a moratorium on new projects until they meet real efficiency and grid-impact standards; legislation requiring tech companies to pay the full cost of the power and grid upgrades their projects demand instead of shifting it to residential bills; and utility rate reform putting data centers in their own rate class so ordinary ratepayers stop subsidizing server farms. Get the engineering and regulation right first, or growth outruns the grid and everyone pays for it.
Question: On what issues do you see yourself cooperating with the other party? What approach do you both share with regard to that issue?
As an independent I will always work toward consensus and compromise. Chesapeake Bay conservation funding is genuine common ground — Republicans and Democrats in this district both support fully funding the EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program, because a healthy Bay is a shared economic and quality-of-life interest, not a partisan one. More broadly, I intend to work with the Problem Solvers Caucus from day one — these members of both parties sit down and legislate together, even if some are caught by party leadership and forced to vote one way only to perform for the crowd after the bill is dead. As an independent, my committee assignments are negotiable; my vote is not. That's the trade I'll make to get things done instead of just taking sides.
Question: Do you support Congressman Hakeem Jeffries or Congressman Mike Johnson for Speaker of the U.S. House?
I will vote for a speaker I think can bring the two sides and newly elected independents to a consensus. There are 435 members of Congress to choose from.
Question: What trade policy changes do you think the next Congress should pursue?
Tariffs are a tax, and this administration imposed one of the largest since 1940 without asking Congress. The effective tariff rate hit 7.7 percent in 2025 — the highest since 1947 — and independent estimates put the average household cost at around $820 this year. The stated reason for implementing tariffs was to protect American jobs, and that simply hasn't happened. Manufacturing didn't come home: factories cut 89,000 jobs since the tariffs took effect in April 2025, and the same analysis projects roughly 338,000 full-time-equivalent jobs lost economy-wide in the long run. The Supreme Court then ruled the President exceeded his authority on most of these tariffs, forcing roughly $166 billion in refunds — proof this wasn't done through real debate. Meanwhile, the Port of Virginia's cargo throughput fell 2 million tons in 2025 and imports dropped over 12 percent. 2nd District families who move that freight felt that loss first. I'm not against narrow tariffs Congress actually legislates. I'm against a President taxing every family by decree, changing the rate more than fifty times, and calling it a strategy. The next Congress should pursue real trade legislation, not another blank check to the executive branch.
Editor's Note: The Center for American Progress estimated manufacturing job cuts in March 2026. Port of Virginia statistics can be viewed here.
Question: Where do you stand on abortion, and do you believe there's a role for federal legislation in regulating abortion?
A woman should have the freedom to choose, but I hope she chooses life. Those aren't contradictions — one is what government has no business controlling, the other is what I believe and hope for as a father. On federal legislation: I would not support a federal ban on abortion any more than a federal law mandating it. This decision belongs to the woman, in consultation with her physician and her faith — not to Washington, and not to fifty statehouses deciding which medications she can buy or which state lines she can cross for care.
Question: If elected, how would you use your position to help alleviate the housing crisis in your district, Virginia and nationally?
Housing costs are outrunning paychecks here just like everywhere else, and the fix starts with supply, not just subsidies. In Congress, I'd push for federal incentives that reward localities for cutting permitting timelines and updating outdated zoning that blocks starter homes and multifamily construction — incentives, not federal zoning mandates from Washington. I'd also protect and expand programs that specifically help veterans and first-time buyers get into homes, since this district has more of both than almost anywhere in the country. And I'd support Virginia's own efforts already underway to speed up housing production, rather than adding a competing federal layer on top of them.
Question: How do you personally use artificial intelligence in your life? What specific regulations do you propose for companies producing AI?
Personally, I use AI as a tool the same way I'd use any other piece of engineering software: to speed up research, check facts, and get to a better first draft faster — not to replace my own judgment or do my thinking for me. On regulation: I'd focus on the areas where the harm is concrete and already visible rather than trying to regulate the technology in the abstract. That means requiring clear disclosure when political ads or campaign content use AI-generated images, audio, or video — especially close to an election — and real transparency requirements for the energy and water these systems consume, since that cost is already landing on utility ratepayers through data centers, an issue I've been vocal about in this district. I'd also want baseline safety and liability standards so companies producing these tools carry real accountability for foreseeable harms, the same way any other manufacturer does.
Question: What is your stance on the use of Flock or other automatic license plate readers in your district?
How these are used and who can access the data is what matters. Local police have used them to solve real crimes, including homicides and hit-and-runs, sometimes within minutes. But this year alone, Virginia has seen documented cases of that same data being accessed by federal immigration enforcement without a warrant or a formal agreement, and a Washington Post investigation found dozens of officers nationwide who misused the systems for personal reasons that had nothing to do with public safety. I'd support keeping the technology where it demonstrably works, paired with real guardrails: mandatory audit trails, a hard legal wall against sharing this data with out-of-state or federal agencies absent a warrant, and regular public reporting on how it's used. Safety and privacy aren't in conflict if the rules are actually enforced.
Question: How would you plan to work or collaborate with the Spanberger administration?
Where there's real overlap, I'll work it, regardless of party. Governor Spanberger has made data centers paying their fair share of energy costs a stated priority of her administration, and pushed for permitting and zoning reform to increase housing supply — both positions I share, and both areas where federal and state action need to move together rather than duplicate or contradict each other. I don't expect to agree with every governor on every issue, and I won't pretend to. But where the goal is the same — lower costs, a grid that can handle real demand, more housing supply — I'll take the win for this district over the credit for my own side.
Question: A hospital or multiple health care centers in your district are at risk of service cuts/closure due to Medicaid changes. How would you advocate for your district's health and wellness?
None of the ten Virginia hospitals currently listed as "at risk" sit in VA-02 — they're mostly Southside, Southwest, and Northern Virginia. That's no reason to shrug. Our Eastern Shore has exactly one hospital for two counties, and there's no slack in that system either. What's not in dispute: HR1 cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid nationally, and rural hospitals run on Medicaid patients and thin margins. Congress attached a $50 billion "fix" — the Rural Health Transformation Fund — but capped direct patient-care spending at 15 percent, and despite 57 percent of Virginia's counties being rural, our $189.5 million award over five years ranks in the bottom third of all states. I'd fix that math, push more of that fund straight to keeping doors open and staff paid, and fight further Medicaid cuts rural and coastal facilities can't absorb. Out here, a hospital isn't optional.
Editor's Note: Virginia's Joint Commission on Health Care identified Southside Memorial Hospital in Franklin as a hospital in danger of closing. Franklin is in the 2nd District.
Question: Where do you stand on the pending Dominion Energy–NextEra merger?
Virginia regulators need to scrutinize this deal hard before signing off. NextEra is proposing a $67 billion all-stock acquisition of Dominion. NextEra's Florida utility, Florida Power & Light, just got approved for a $7 billion rate hike — the largest electric rate increase in U.S. history by dollar value — while posting profit margins nearly double the industry average. That's the track record Virginia ratepayers would be inheriting. My posture on energy generally — nuclear, gas, wind, and solar — is that it has to be engineered correctly for efficiency, safety, and environmental impact, and political donors don't get a vote in that math. Before this merger closes, I want Virginia's regulators to force real, binding rate protections for Virginia customers, not promises.
Question: As a Virginian, what are your thoughts on Ballot Question 1?
Ballot Question 1 asks whether Virginia's Constitution should protect the freedom to make personal decisions about pregnancy, birth control, and fertility care, while allowing the Commonwealth to regulate abortion in the third trimester except when a patient's health is at risk or the pregnancy isn't viable. That framework — decisions made by the patient and her physician, with government's role limited rather than eliminated — lines up with where I've been all along: a woman has the right to choose, I hope she chooses life, and neither Washington nor Richmond should be the ones making that call for her. I'll be voting yes.
Question: As a Virginian, what are your thoughts on Ballot Question 2?
I support the freedom to choose whomever you wish to marry. I will vote yes on this ballot.
Question: As a Virginian, what are your thoughts on Ballot Question 3?
I support it. If you've served your sentence, you've paid your debt — the idea that a governor has to personally sign off before you get your voice back doesn't match how I think about accountability and second chances, including for veterans I served with who made mistakes and earned their way back.
Question: How confident are you that the 2026 Virginia midterm elections will be free and fair?
Very confident. Virginia runs its elections well, with paper ballot backups, bipartisan poll oversight, and an established audit process — the kind of system that should give every voter, regardless of party, real confidence in the count. I'd encourage every VA-02 voter to vote, and to trust the result when it comes in, win or lose. That confidence is worth defending out loud, especially right now, because the same people who cast doubt on results they don't like are often the ones eroding the very system the rest of us depend on.
Question: Who won the 2020 presidential election?
Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. It wasn't stolen, and I say that plainly — it's a truth that some party-bound candidates won't say out loud.