Nick Freitas


Nicholas J. Freitas is a United States Army veteran who served two tours in Iraq. and politician who has been a member of the Virginia House of Delegates since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Freitas was a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2018, losing the Republican nomination to Corey Stewart. On July 18th he secured the Republican nomination for Virginia's 7th congressional district for the 2020 election.

Early life and education

Freitas, who is of Portuguese ancestry, was born in Chico, California, on August 29, 1979. After graduating high school, Freitas joined the United States Army. He also during this time graduated at Henley-Putnam University.
Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, Freitas joined the U.S. Army Special Forces and served two tours in Iraq. After being honorably discharged in 2009, Freitas moved to Culpeper County, Virginia in 2010 and served as an operations director for a service-disabled veteran-owned company.

Political career

Freitas became the chairman of the Culpeper County Republican Committee in 2010.

Virginia House of Delegates

2015

In 2015, Freitas ran for the Virginia House of Delegates for the 30th district, then held by Republican Ed Scott. After Scott announced his retirement, Freitas was unopposed in both the Republican primary and the general election, and took office in January 2016.
The 30th district, which comprises Madison County, Orange County, and the southern half of Culpeper County.

2017

He ran for re-election in 2017 and won with 62% of the vote over Democrat Ben Hixon.

2019

On July 18, 2019, Freitas withdrew from the 2019 election for House of Delegates after failing to submit required paperwork to the Board of Elections in the Commonwealth of Virginia by the deadline. On August 8, 2019, Freitas announced that he would mount a write-in campaign for re-election and won with 57.89% of the vote.
As a member of the House of Delegates, Freitas serves on the following committees: Science and Technology; Militia, Police and Public Safety; and Finance.

Congressional campaigns

2018 U.S. Senate election

Freitas sought the Republican nomination for the 2018 Senate election in Virginia. He was endorsed by Senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee. During the campaign, Freitas characterized the Stewart campaign as "hate-mongers." He said, "we must reject Corey Stewart’s dog-whistling of White supremacists, anti-Semites, and racists."
On June 12, Freitas narrowly lost the Republican nomination by 1.7% to Prince William County Chairman Corey Stewart.

2020 U.S. House election

In December 2019, Freitas announced his candidacy for Virginia's 7th congressional district, in which he sought and won the Republican Party nomination to challenge incumbent Representative Abigail Spanberger in the 2020 general election. Freitas earned an early endorsement from the conservative organizations Club for Growth and FreedomWorks. Freitas swa considered to be an early front-runner for the Republican nomination due to opinion polls giving him the lead in support and name recognition.

Political views

In the House of Delegates, Freitas has been described as having a "conservative voting record and libertarian streak."
He has called for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, describing it as a "cancer." He supports the construction of a wall on the border with Mexico. In 2016, he urged the Culpeper County School Board to disregard an Obama administration mandate that transgender students be allowed the use the restrooms that correspond to their gender identity. He called it unconstitutional, and said the Obama administration does not "get to arbitrarily redefine what gender means."
In 2018, Freitas praised Donald Trump, saying he had been a stronger leader in his first year than Obama had been during his eight years. Freitas has called for abolishing the federal income taxes, replacing it with a national sales tax. He supported the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. In 2018, Freitas opposed the Iran deal and supported Trump's decision to end it.
Freitas voted in favor of marijuana decriminalization during the January 2020 session of the General Assembly. He stated: “I’d rather we use law enforcement resources to go after violent criminals and people that are creating victims.”
In a speech given in March 2018 on the floor of the House of Delegates, Freitas voiced opposition to further gun control proposals following the Parkland, Florida school shooting. The speech went viral and drew over 11 million views on Freitas' Facebook page.

Personal life

Freitas is a Protestant Christian and attends Mountain View Church in Culpeper. He married Tina M. Pierce, whom he met in high school. The couple has three children: Lillyana, Luke, and Alexandria. In addition, Freitas is a member of the Heritage Foundation and the National Rifle Association.
In 2019, his wife Tina Freitas challenged incumbent Republican Emmett Hanger for his Senate seat in Virginia's 24th district. Freitas enjoyed the support of right-leaning conservative and libertarian groups, who criticized Hanger for his vote to accept the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, his support of Virginia's concealed carry permitting system, and for supporting a tax increase to fund transportation. She was defeated in the primary, gaining 43% of the vote to Hanger's 57%.