VIRGINIA BEACH — A former state delegate will square off with a political newcomer in the Republican primary for . The candidates are Tim Anderson, 50, an attorney, and Christina Felder, 28, a substitute school teacher.
The seat is considered competitive. to Democrat Michael Feggans in 2023 and are hoping to oust him to win it back.
Anderson, an attorney who represented House District 83 from 2021-2023 and later ran unsuccessfully for a Virginia Senate seat, is in an effort to flip the Democratic-controlled majority in the House.
“This seat by far is the absolutely No. 1 flippable seat in the commonwealth of Virginia,” Anderson said. “The district is really 50/50.”
Anderson wants to substantially lower the car tax that residents pay each year, and instead use Virginia’s budget surplus to reimburse localities for the lost revenue.
“Basically reallocating Virginia’s budget surplus to give people meaningful tax relief,” he said.
He’s banking on his prior experience in the state legislature and his communication skills to propel him through the primary. Anderson enjoys using social media to dissect and summarize current issues, an effort he began during the pandemic.
“I’m going to like getting back in there and being in the center of what’s happening and letting people know what’s going on with their government from the inside,” he said.
Felder is fired up about running for state office for the first time. Last year, in District 3 and faced two opponents including incumbent Michael Berlucchi who held onto his seat.
“I was new, fresh, didn’t really know the ropes,” she said.
Felder worked with a charitable group that helped young mothers in need and that led her to run for state office where she feels she could make a significant impact on people’s lives by sponsoring bills, she said.
“I definitely want to help my community,” Felder said. “I take it very seriously.”
She has a 1-year-old child and has been a teacher in Virginia ӽ紫ý Public Schools for several years. Felder is currently a substitute teacher in Virginia ӽ紫ý.
If elected, she would work to improve education and oppose vape shops near schools, she said.
Anderson has moved to different districts in order to run for office. He moved to run for the District 97 seat. Anderson to represent House District 83, a competitive seat that at the time covered western Virginia ӽ紫ý and a sliver of Norfolk’s Ocean View. He resigned in 2023 and moved because redistricting placed him in the same boundary lines as Republican Del. Rob Bloxom.
But he was unsuccessful in a primary bid for Virginia Senate District 19 fellow Republican Christie New Craig, who now holds the seat.
Felder officially joined the Republican Party earlier this year. She lags far behind Anderson in campaign fundraising, with $1,152 for the first quarter of this year, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
Anderson’s campaign has $112,192 for the first quarter of 2025, according to VPAP. His top donor is Jeff Bruzessi, owner of the Closet Factory Hampton Roads. Bruzessi, who also ran in the 2023 Senate District 19 Republican primary, has donated $71,000 to Anderson’s campaign as of March 31.
Other donors to Anderson include developer Bruce Thompson, $5,000, and former Gov. Bob McDonnell, $1,000.
Anderson plans to use those resources to ramp up a campaign crusade against Feggans’ platforms if he wins the primary.
The district includes parts of Virginia ӽ紫ý and has 63,024 registered voters. Feggans with 52% of the vote in 2023. Early voting is underway leading up to the election June 17.
Anderson earned his law degree from Regent University. He’s a father of two sons and a recreational pilot. He often flies his Cessna for work, representing cases across Virginia.
“That’s probably my happy place,” Anderson said of flying.
Felder has faced questions from Anderson and others about her credentials and public statements she’s made.
She became defensive in explaining her affiliation with the Republican party and her personal background at the local party’s city committee ӽ紫ý last month, as seen on a video of the event. Felder said she’s not afraid to admit she’s an impassioned person.
“It shows I care,” she said.
In a recording obtained by The Virginian-Pilot of a Republican breakfast forum in April, Felder stated she voted for President Barack Obama when she was 18, but Obama last ran in 2012, and Felder would have been 15 years old.
The Pilot confirmed she has embellished some personal details on , where she states that she attended Ivy League colleges and was “the youngest homeowner in Virginia ӽ紫ý in 2020.”
Felder clarified those statements in an interview last week, explaining that she “never left Virginia ӽ紫ý,” and earned degrees and certifications online only including undergraduate degrees from Tidewater Community College and Old Dominion University, post-graduate degrees from Liberty University, and certifications from Yale and Oxford universities. The Pilot is in the process of verifying her degrees with the schools.
As for the statement about being the youngest homeowner in 2020, Felder said her realtor at the time told her he had never worked with someone as young as her.
“I was just so happy,” she said.
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com
