Mark Hand

Businesswoman Kate Zabriskie, who was born in Charlottesville and lives in Lynchburg, announced Sunday she is running as a Democrat for Virginia’s 5th District seat in Congress in 2026.

Zabriskie is the third Democratic candidate to announce a campaign to unseat U.S. Rep. John McGuire, a Republican who was elected to his first term in Congress last November.

Mike Pruitt , who represents Albemarle County’s Scottsville District on the board of supervisors, and Paul Riley , a Crozet resident, Army veteran and previous candidate for the Democratic nomination, announced their bids earlier this summer.

Zabriskie, whose mother was born in the Hill City, held a campaign launch event in the garden of the Lynchburg home she shares with her husband, Chris, a U.S. Air Force veteran an

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