ROANOKE, Va. – Beth Macy, former Roanoke Times reporter and author of the 2018 book Dopesick, announced she is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Virginia’s 6th District as a Democrat in the 2026 midterm elections.
Macy officially announced her candidacy in Roanoke on Tuesday at the Historic Fire Station #1. This sets up a contested Democratic primary in the 6th District against Ken Mitchell, the party’s nominee in 2024, and Pete Barlow, a former FEMA emergency manager.
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The seat has been held by Rep. Ben Cline since 2019. The district is reliably Republican; no Democrat has won the seat since 1990. It also went to Republican nominee Winsome Earle-Sears by around 16 percentage points in the 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election.