WASHINGTON — Virginia Democrat Tom Perriello is the latest former lawmaker seeking a comeback to the House, launching a bid Tuesday against freshman Republican Rep. John McGuire in the 5th District.

“It is not right that Virginians are working harder and harder just to afford the rising cost of food, electricity, and health care,” Perriello said in a statement. “We shouldn’t have to pay more out of our pockets because John McGuire and this Congress are letting reckless tariffs and rampant corruption drive up prices.”

Perriello’s announcement comes as Democrats are bullish about expanding the House battleground next year after Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger’s strong performance in the commonwealth’s gubernatorial election last month. Democratic state legislators have also taken steps toward drawing a new congressional map for the 2026 elections, mirroring mid-decade redistricting efforts in states across the country.

Donald Trump carried the 5th District, which includes Charlottesville and parts of south-central Virginia, by 12 points last year, according to calculations by Inside Elections by Nathan L. Gonzales. While the seat isn’t currently on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s list of “districts in play,” it is among several Virginia seats that could become bluer under a new map.

Perriello was first elected to an earlier version of the 5th District in 2008, unseating Republican Virgil H. Goode Jr. in the closest House race of the cycle. He lost reelection two years later in the tea party wave after facing Republican attacks over his vote for the Affordable Care Act.

In a 2017, Los Angeles Times op-ed, Perriello wrote he had never regretted his vote for the 2010 health care law, despite it possibly costing him his seat.

“In voting to pass the ACA, I made a long-term bet that it would save lives well worth the short-term political costs,” he wrote at the time.

Perriello attempted a political comeback in 2017 with a bid for governor but lost in the Democratic primary to eventual Gov. Ralph Northam.

Since leaving Congress, he’s also served separate stints at the State Department under Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, most recently as Biden’s special envoy for Sudan until earlier this year. He led the political arm of the liberal Center for American Progress for two years and was executive director for U.S. programs at the Open Society Foundations, the philanthropy network founded by hedge fund billionaire George Soros.

“For the last 25 years, I’ve devoted myself to service to this community and to my country, fighting powerful interests to give everyday folks a shot,” Perriello said in his announcement video.

McGuire, a former state senator, is currently in his first term representing the 5th District. He narrowly defeated Rep. Bob Good, the former House Freedom Caucus chair, in a Republican primary last year after the incumbent drew Trump’s ire by endorsing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid. McGuire defeated Good by less than a point and went on to win the general election by 15 points.

Good said earlier this year he was weighing a primary challenge to McGuire in 2026.

Perriello will have company in the Democratic primary, where the present field includes Navy veteran and Albemarle County Supervisor Mike Pruitt, Army veteran Paul Riley and attorney Adele Stichel.

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