VA-05: Democratic Candidate Mike Pruitt Ends Campaign, Endorses Tom Perriello

SCOTTSVILLE, VA – Navy Veteran, civil rights attorney, Albemarle County Supervisor, and Congressional candidate Mike Pruitt, released the following statement:

“I got into this fight because a broken Washington is failing blue collar, rural communities like the one I grew up in. Working people from South Boston to Batesville are mad, and that’s a fire I ran to sing across this district, because it burns in me too.

I know what it’s like to have a parent laid off after 40 years on the factory floor, to watch friends and family struggle in a dead-end town, and to dare to hope for something better. When I was 17, I went back into the closet to serve in our military, and put my life on the line to fight for the America that I believe in.

As I’ve traveled throughout rural Virginia the past 7 months, I’ve talked to folks who see opportunities for jobs or for housing stuffed deeper and deeper behind tiers of online portals, algorithmic filters, and applicant fees that churn out faceless denials and keep families from thriving. They see their children’s self-esteem destroyed and their attention spans fried while Silicon Valley titans figure out how to shape their insecurities into new opportunities to sell products.


https://bluevirginia.us/2026/02/va05-democratic-candidate-mike-pruitt-ends-campaign-endorses-tom-perriello/