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Michael Van Meter

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Michael Van Meter
Image of Michael Van Meter

Candidate, U.S. House Virginia District 11

Elections and appointments
Next election

November 3, 2026

Education

Bachelor's

University of Florida, 1988

Graduate

Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School of Addiction Studies, 2022

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Navy

Years of service

1988 - 1996

Personal
Profession
Therapist
Contact

Michael Van Meter (Republican Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Virginia's 11th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.[source]

Biography

Michael Van Meter served in the U.S. Navy from 1988 to 1996. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida in 1988, a master's degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1996, and a master's degree in addiction and co-occurring disorders from the Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School for Addiction Studies in 2022. His career experience includes working as a therapist.[1][2][3]

Elections

2026

See also: Virginia's 11th Congressional District election, 2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House Virginia District 11

The following candidates are running in the general election for U.S. House Virginia District 11 on November 3, 2026.


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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Endorsements

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2024

See also: Virginia's 11th Congressional District election, 2024

Virginia's 11th Congressional District election, 2024 (June 18 Democratic primary)

Virginia's 11th Congressional District election, 2024 (June 18 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Virginia District 11

Incumbent Gerald Edward Connolly defeated Michael Van Meter in the general election for U.S. House Virginia District 11 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Gerald Edward Connolly
Gerald Edward Connolly (D)
 
66.7
 
273,529
Image of Michael Van Meter
Michael Van Meter (R) Candidate Connection
 
32.9
 
134,802
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.5
 
1,855

Total votes: 410,186
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Virginia District 11

Incumbent Gerald Edward Connolly defeated Ahsan Nasar in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Virginia District 11 on June 18, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Gerald Edward Connolly
Gerald Edward Connolly
 
85.6
 
37,378
Image of Ahsan Nasar
Ahsan Nasar Candidate Connection
 
14.4
 
6,270

Total votes: 43,648
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Michael Van Meter advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Virginia District 11.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Van Meter in this election.

2023

See also: Virginia State Senate elections, 2023

General election

General election for Virginia State Senate District 33

Jennifer D. Carroll Foy defeated Michael Van Meter in the general election for Virginia State Senate District 33 on November 7, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Jennifer D. Carroll Foy
Jennifer D. Carroll Foy (D)
 
62.8
 
35,003
Image of Michael Van Meter
Michael Van Meter (R) Candidate Connection
 
36.9
 
20,525
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.3
 
169

Total votes: 55,697
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Virginia State Senate District 33

Jennifer D. Carroll Foy defeated Hala Ayala in the Democratic primary for Virginia State Senate District 33 on June 20, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Jennifer D. Carroll Foy
Jennifer D. Carroll Foy
 
62.8
 
9,627
Image of Hala Ayala
Hala Ayala
 
37.2
 
5,691

Total votes: 15,318
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Michael Van Meter advanced from the Republican primary for Virginia State Senate District 33.

Endorsements

Van Meter received the following endorsements.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Michael Van Meter has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Michael Van Meter asking him to fill out the survey. If you are Michael Van Meter, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?

Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for.  More than 22,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.

You can ask Michael Van Meter to fill out this survey by using the buttons below or emailing vanmeterforvirginia@gmail.com.

Twitter
Email

2024

Candidate Connection

Michael Van Meter completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Van Meter's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign website

Van Meter’s campaign website stated the following:

Reduce Crime

​In the last couple of years our Police and First Responders have been under attack. This has led to an increase of crime across the country, especially violent crime. The communities that have been negatively impacted the most are our minority communities. Defunding and attacking our police are not the answer. What we should be doing is to improve training, increase funding for specialized training units, and look for ways to assist police in not just enforcing laws, but helping and educating our community. My experience in law enforcement as well as the addiction and mental health field give me unique qualifications that very few people have. I will work very hard to make our police and first responders the best in the nation.


Improve the Economy

The pandemic has been devastating in so many ways, not the least of which has been to our economy. It appears our government has done everything in its power to make our economic recovery more difficult. I will do everything in my power to ensure that Virginians have every opportunity to thrive in an economy that is as free as possible from government interference. We must find ways to reduce taxes and promote economic growth so that every Virginian can enjoy economic growth and prosperity. Virginia must attract and retain as much business as possible so that we can drive opportunities that will help us realize our economic potential. We must never again allow our government to overstep its authority by closing businesses and creating hardships on citizens who are already suffering.


Educate not Indoctrinate

Education has become a major issue in the last couple of years and is now one of my top priorities. The United States is continuing to fall behind in producing the top technical minds in the world, and this is due to losing our focus on what our public education should be doing in the first place. Our schools should not be used for political indoctrination. Our schools should be the places where our students are learning the foundations that will make them competitive in a global marketplace. Our homes, churches, community groups, and social networks are where our students learn the values of their families and communities. We cannot tolerate a public education system that is producing students that are lacking the fundamentals that will enable them to succeed.


Protect the 2nd Amendment

Americans have the right to bear arms, this is enshrined in our constitution. I will protect this freedom knowing that those who hurt others should be punished and not law-abiding Virginians. I have long recognized that those who commit crimes with weapons are usually those who have had untreated or ignored psychiatric issues. In Virginia, we already have laws in place designed to prevent felons and people with diagnosed mental illness from purchasing weapons. Creating more laws is not the answer. I will work very hard to ensure that our current laws are enforced, and work just as hard to expand care for those struggling with mental health issues. We must also support our law enforcement officers as they strive to prevent those who should not possess weapons from doing so. [4]

—Michael Van Meter’s campaign website (2024)[5]

2023

Candidate Connection

Michael Van Meter completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Van Meter's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

My name is Michael Van Meter and I live in Springfield, Virginia and I am running for the Virginia State Senate, 33rd District in 2023. I am a Navy Veteran, former Police Officer, and retired FBI agent. I am a Constitutional Conservative who believes in the need to support all of our First Responders through education, funding, and responsibility. I believe the opiate and addiction epidemic is a priority as well as our floundering economy. We must do everything in our power to help Virginians recover financially post epidemic and regain the means to succeed. We must ensure that our communities are safe from the exponential increase in crime we have been experiencing and ensure our schools are the best in the nation.
  • Our First Responders deserve our support, and we must provide them the best training, equipment, and leadership we can.
  • Our economy is floundering and our citizens are suffering as a result. We must do everything we can to help all Virginians recover financially
  • Virginia’s schools are suffering and we need to invest in making them the best in the country
I am very passionate about the incredible surge in deaths from addiction, increases in suicide rates, and depression in our community. I believe we need to increase awareness, support, and resources for these issues. The pandemic and economic decline has contributed significantly to these issues and we need to do all we can to help our community recover.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


Michael Van Meter campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2026* U.S. House Virginia District 11Candidacy Declared general$4,579 $7,678
2024* U.S. House Virginia District 11Lost general$67,275 $64,176
2023Virginia State Senate District 33Lost general$41,226 $20,120
Grand total$113,080 $91,974
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 20, 2022.
  2. Information submitted to Ballotpedia on March 7, 2024
  3. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 28, 2024
  4. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  5. Van Meter for Virginia, “Platform,” accessed June 14, 2024


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District 11
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Democratic Party (7)
Republican Party (5)
Vacancies (1)