5th District Candidate Tom Perriello (D)
Campaign website:
https://www.tomperriello.com/
Candidate Questionnaire from VPM:
Perriello initially submitted answers to three questions. VPM News followed up, and his campaign indicated on Sept. 18 he would send answers to the remaining questions, but he has not yet done so. VPM News elected to fill those blanks in with statements he’s made on the campaign trail.
Where in Virginia do you live?
According to his website, Tom Perriello lives outside Charlottesville.
What is your current job? How would you describe your career?
Perriello is a former congressman and diplomat who was a special envoy to Sudan until 2025.
List any college degrees or professional certifications you hold.
Perriello has a bachelor’s degree and law degree from Yale University.
Have you served in an elected or appointed political office before? When, where and in what position?
Perriello was a congressman for one term in the 5th Congressional District when it was configured differently. The district originally contained more of Northern Virginia.
Please describe any ways you’ve used generative artificial intelligence in your campaign.
Perriello was a visiting scholar at the Stanford Cyber Policy Center and has spoken frequently about the need to set up AI guardrails.
What should constituents know about you?
On Perriello’s website, he says he targets corporate lobbyists, utility monopolies and the Trump administration.
In a word or phrase, tell us: What do you think your race is about?
Perriello also paints himself as a “common sense” candidate who vows to fight corruption and lower costs.
How should the federal government address the ongoing affordability challenges?
Perriello has said on his website he intends to end tariffs and the war in Iran.
What is one topic you think the current Congress has failed to address, and why?
CBS 19 News reported that Perriello has previously said Congress has failed to address the rising cost of living in the United States.
What do you see as Congress’ role in acting as a check and balance on the other branches of the federal government?
Perriello told Charlottesville Right Now that he wants to restore Congress’ role checking executive power, especially targeting tariffs, corruption and the war in Iran.
What kinds of proposals should Congress consider as data centers become more common nationwide?
Well, first and foremost, the people are doing it, which is they’re rising up against these data centers in a transpartisan way, and we’re standing with communities and fighting those data centers. McGuire has been giving them tax credits and incentives and I’ve been standing with people to try and prevent these things from coming into their communities that they don’t want. You know, the main thing we’re looking at is just a direct attack on property rights and on the ability of people to protect their own lands and to keep those as farmlands.
I think there’s a broader set of conversations about how we want to put some guardrails up on artificial intelligence more generally. And again I think this is an area that you could see some real bipartisan support, but Washington is tone deaf. You’ve had both red states and blue states pass laws to limit the negative impacts of artificial intelligence, and instead, Donald Trump and John McGuire have voted to prevent states from protecting kids and families from the negative effects of AI.
So I think data centers are part of a broader question about whether people are okay with this Congress handing massive tax benefits and federal preemption from there being any limits on the impacts of artificial intelligence. And the folks in Washington like John McGuire have just completely missed the boat on selling out, and what’s exciting to me is not just that this is going to help us win, but that we’re building a bipartisan, big-tent coalition to address these bigger questions about what we want the impacts of artificial intelligence to be on our lives.
On what issues do you see yourself cooperating with the other party? What approach do you both share with regard to that issue?
Perriello has said he favors trying to build consensus that includes independents and Republicans.
What is your stance on the United States’ foreign policy with Iran?
Perriello wants to end the war in Iran.
What is your stance on the use of Flock or other automatic license plate readers in your district?
We’ve been opposed, I’ve been opposed to them, I think that we have a broader issue here about building out a surveillance state that is very concerning to people on both the right and the left. I think there are concerns about people’s privacy, and I think this is a broader question about an unprecedented concentration of data and power in the hands of a few companies as well as the federal government without any accountability, and that’s not what this country is about.
We believe that we do have civil liberties and constitutional freedoms that need to be respected. Where we can balance that with legitimate public security needs, then that’s fine, but the starting point has to be that people have a right to understand when their privacy is being invaded, and I think again, like these other issues, you’re seeing a new transpartisan alliance growing about these concerns.
You saw this when Anthropic pushed back on [Secretary of Defense] Pete Hegseth in saying they didn’t want their AI to be used in the use of autonomous lethal drones or domestic surveillance. The crazy thing is those two should just be nonnegotiable. Everyone should agree that those are red lines not to cross. Use in the domestic surveillance state and autonomous lethal drones, and even that, Hegseth and the Trump administration would not go along with it.
And I think this is where people like McGuire have just missed the boat on where the right, left, and center are in the district right now. They do not like this idea of unchecked, infinite power, and the hands of a few, and that’s the reason why issues like liberty and freedom matter to the right, left, and center and they have to be considered when we’re looking at these, whether it’s Flock cameras of the abuse of eminent domain in the case of the Valley Link transmission line.
What is the largest issue facing your district right now, and how would you work to address it from Washington, DC?
Perriello has frequently said that affordability is the number one issue facing his district.
How would you use your position to help alleviate the housing crisis in your district, Virginia and nationally?
I’ve been long an advocate for affordable housing, and I think there are a number of federal programs that can be restored and expanded. There’s obviously a lot at the local level that is involved in housing, and so some of this is about a willingness to work with our local and state officials to understand that we’re not off by a little bit — we’re off by a lot, on the ability of people to afford to own a home, or even to rent at this point.
And that certainly is partly a supply issue, and it’s an affordability issue, so we need to get paychecks up and costs down so folks have money to spend on this and we need to make sure that there’s an adequate and growing supply of affordable housing.
How would you plan to work or collaborate with the Spanberger administration?
Gov. Abigail Spanberger is endorsing Perriello; he endorsed her when she was running for governor, and the two campaign together.
Where do you stand on the pending Dominion Energy–NextEra merger?
Perriello opposes the merger.
Who won the 2020 presidential election?
Perriello has not publicly commented on the 2020 presidential election on the campaign trail as far as VPM News is aware, but since he worked in the Biden administration, it seems likely that he believes Joe Biden was the winner.