8th District Candidate Tony Sabio (R)

Sabio for Congress

Campaign Website: https://sabioforcongress.com/

Candidate Questionnaire from WAMU:

1. In 20 words or fewer, what is your top campaign priority?

Renewing the American Dream which includes restoring opportunity, bringing Americans together across party lines and believing our greatest days are still ahead.

2. Why do you want to run for Congress in Virginia's 8th District?

I’m running for Congress in Virginia’s 8th District because I believe we need a new generation of leadership focused less on division and more on solving the problems people face every day.

Northern Virginia is an extraordinary place, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to afford. My Promise for America agenda offers specific proposals to lower energy costs, create good paying private sector jobs, strengthen small businesses and manufacturing, improve healthcare, and make our region less dependent on the federal government.

I also believe we can secure our border and enforce our laws while preserving America’s tradition of legal immigration. We need an immigration system that is secure, orderly, fair and practical.

Most importantly, I believe we have far more in common than our politics suggests. I’m a Republican, but Democrats are not my enemy, and good ideas don’t belong to one party. A member of Congress should represent the entire district and be willing to work with anyone who can help improve people’s lives.

I’ve spent much of my adult life in public service, and I still believe in what Americans can accomplish together. We can make life more affordable, create new opportunities, secure our country and disagree without treating one another as enemies.

That’s the leadership I want to bring to Congress, because I believe America’s Greatest Days Are Still Ahead of Us.

3. How do you use artificial intelligence in your daily life? What specific regulations would you propose on the use of AI?

I use AI to improve productivity, research ideas, explore different perspectives and develop solutions in minutes rather than hours. Like the computer revolution, AI can unleash a new era of American innovation and opportunity. But progress must come with responsibility. I support targeted safeguards against AI-enabled fraud, identity theft, malicious deepfakes, exploitation of children, and misuse of personal information – while ensuring we don't burden the innovators building our future.

My security background has taught me that innovation and security must work together. We should continually assess emerging threats, strengthen protections and allow American ingenuity to flourish. America has never prospered by fearing the future; we prosper by leading it. If we don't lead the AI revolution, nations like China and Russia will. America should embrace AI responsibly and ensure the next great era of innovation is led here at home.

4. 20,000 Virginians lost their federal jobs last year, including many in the 8th District. How would you support people in your district who are still recovering from those job losses?

The loss of thousands of federal jobs exposed a vulnerability in Northern Virginia’s economy; we are too dependent on the federal government. We need to support displaced workers today while building new opportunities, so our region is more economically resilient tomorrow.

My Promise for America agenda focuses on creating a new private-sector job ecosystem in Northern Virginia, including making our region a national leader in advanced nuclear energy.

Expanding small modular reactor technology will require engineers, skilled trades, cybersecurity professionals, technicians, manufacturers, and an American supply chain capable of producing the thousands of components these reactors require.

I want Northern Virginia – and particularly the 8th District – competing for those jobs and that investment. That means expanding workforce and apprenticeship programs, partnering with our universities and community colleges, and creating incentives to bring advanced manufacturing and energy companies here.

We have one of the most educated and talented workforces in America. Instead of accepting federal job losses as our economic future, we should use this moment to diversify our economy, create good-paying private-sector careers, and make Northern Virginia a leader in the industries America will need for the next generation.

5. Where do you stand on the proposed Dominion Energy–NextEra merger?

I support the merger if it lowers costs and protects ratepayers; if not, I don’t.

6. What are your thoughts on the White House’s current position on immigration enforcement, and how specifically would you use your position in Congress to influence federal immigration policy?

I support the White House securing the border, enforcing our immigration laws, and prioritizing the removal of dangerous criminals. But enforcement alone will not solve an immigration system Congress has failed to fix for decades.

I support the Dignity Act of 2025 as a first step toward real immigration reform, but I would work to strengthen it. I do not support amnesty or creating a pathway to citizenship for those who entered the country illegally. I support expanding its Dignity work program, which requires participants to register, pass background checks, work or attend school, pay taxes and restitution, obey our laws and provide for their own healthcare.

My proposal would allow qualifying individuals to earn renewable legal work status – not citizenship – while remaining ineligible for taxpayer-funded benefits based on that status. At the same time, I support mandatory E-Verify [enrollment], strong border enforcement, removal of dangerous criminals, and improvements to our legal immigration and asylum systems.

America is both a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. Those principles do not have to conflict. We can secure the border, protect American workers, respect those who followed the legal immigration process, and create a practical work-based solution for people already here
without granting amnesty or citizenship.

Congress needs to stop using immigration as a political weapon and finally fix the system.

7. Northern Virginia is facing an affordability crisis. What specific policy idea would you push to help lower costs for your constituents?

Affordability is at the heart of my Promise for America – lowering energy and healthcare costs, creating better paying private-sector jobs and helping families keep more of what they earn. But in Northern Virginia, one of the greatest pressures on families is the cost of housing.

My Attainable Housing Plan would increase the supply of starter and workforce homes by creating incentives for builders to construct homes that working and middle-income families can actually afford, while reducing unnecessary federal barriers that add time and cost to construction.

I would also create targeted homeownership incentives for first-time buyers and essential workers – police officers, firefighters, teachers and medical personnel – to help them purchase homes in or near the communities they serve.

[Homeownership incentives] matter because a strong community is one where the teacher educating our children, the police officer protecting our neighborhoods, the firefighter responding to emergencies and the medical professional caring for our families can afford to be there.

We cannot simply subsidize our way out of the housing crisis. We have to build more attainable homes, reduce the costs of building them and expand pathways to ownership.

If you work hard and serve your community in Northern Virginia, you should have a real opportunity to afford a home and build your future here.