Former Rep. Scott Taylor (R-Va.) will drop his challenge to Sen. Mark Warner (D) and will instead run for his old seat in Congress.
Two sources familiar with Taylor’s thinking said he has begun making calls in recent days to Virginia Republicans to tell them of his decision. Taylor’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday morning.{mosads}
Taylor, a former member of Virginia’s General Assembly, won election to replace Rep. Scott Rigell (R) in 2016. Two years later, he lost his seat to Rep. Elaine Luria (D) by 2 percentage points, or about 6,000 votes. He was one of three Virginia Republicans to lose reelection as Democrats reclaimed control of Congress.
Luria’s Virginia Beach–based district has been competitive in recent presidential election cycles. President Trump beat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton there by about 2.5 percentage points, and both Mitt Romney and John McCain carried the district narrowly in 2012 and 2008, respectively, even as Barack Obama won Virginia’s electoral votes.
Taylor reported raising $312,000 in the five months since announcing he would challenge Warner. He raised and spent more than $4 million during his reelection bid last year, though Luria outspent him by a slim margin.
Luria ended the third quarter of the year with more than $1.1 million in the bank, Federal Election Commission reports show.