Nicholas J. Freitas (born August 29, 1979) is an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, he has been a member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...

since 2015.Bill Barte
Virginia Republican Senate candidates repeatedly attack Obama, barely mention Kaine
, ''The Virginian-Pilot'' (May 1, 2018). He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

in 2018, losing in the primary election to Corey Stewart. He was the Republican nominee in the 2020 election to represent

Virginia's 7th congressional district Virginia's 7th congressional district is a United States congressional district in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The district is currently represented by Democrat Abigail Spanberger, first elected in 2018. 2016 redistricting The Virginia L ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, which he lost to Abigail Spanberger, the incumbent Democratic congresswoman.Nick Freitas (Republican Party) is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing District 30. He assumed office in 2016. His current term ends on January 10, 2024. Freitas (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Virginia House of Delegates to represent District 30. He won in the general election on November 2, 202
Virginia Election Results: Seventh Congressional District
''New York Times'' (2020). Before entering politics, he served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

Early life and education

Freitas, who is of

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

ancestry, was born in Chico,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, on August 29, 1979, the son of Robin McMichael and John Freitas. After graduating

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, Freitas joined the

and subsequently graduated from Henley-Putnam School of Strategic Security. Following the

September 11 terrorist attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

, Freitas joined the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) and served two tours in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

. After being

honorably discharged A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and th ...

in 2009, Freitas moved to

Culpeper County, Virginia Culpeper County is a county located along the borderlands of the northern and central region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 52,552. Its county seat and only incorporated community is Culp ...

in 2010 and served as an operations director for a service-disabled veteran-owned company.

Political career

Freitas became the chairman of the Culpeper County Republican Committee in 2010.

Virginia House of Delegates

2015

In 2015, Freitas ran for the

for the 30th district, then held by

Ed Scott. After Scott announced his retirement, Freitas was unopposed in both the Republican primary and the general election, and took office in January 2016. The 30th district comprises Madison County,

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

, and the southern half of

Culpeper County Culpeper County is a county located along the borderlands of the northern and central region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 52,552. Its county seat and only incorporated community is Cul ...

2017

He ran for re-election in 2017 and won with 62% of the vote over Democrat Ben Hixon.

2019

On July 18, 2019, Freitas withdrew from the 2019 election for House of Delegates after failing to submit required paperwork to the Board of Elections in the Commonwealth of Virginia by the deadline. On August 8, 2019, Freitas announced that he would mount a write-in campaign for re-election and won with 57.89% of the vote. As a member of the House of Delegates, Freitas serves on the following committees: Science and Technology; Militia, Police and Public Safety; and Finance.

Congressional campaigns

2018 U.S. Senate election

Freitas sought the Republican nomination for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

seat in the 2018 election. He was endorsed by Senators Rand Paul and

Mike Lee Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Lee began his career as a clerk for the U ...

. During the Republican primary campaign, Freitas characterized his rival,

Prince William County Prince William County is located on the Potomac River in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 482,204, making it Virginia's second-most populous county. Its county seat is the independent city of Manassas ...

Chairman Corey Stewart, as a "hate-monger." He said, "we must reject Corey Stewart's dog-whistling of White supremacists, anti-Semites, and racists." In the June 2018 primary, Freitas narrowly lost the Republican nomination. Stewart took 44.9% of the vote, Freitas took 43.1% of the vote, and E. W. Jackson took 12.0% of the vote."

2020 U.S. House election

In December 2019, Freitas announced his candidacy for

, in which he sought and won the Republican Party nomination to challenge incumbent Representative Abigail Spanberger in the 2020 general election. Freitas earned early endorsements from conservative organizations the

Club for Growth The Club for Growth is a 501(c)(4) conservative organization active in the United States, with an agenda focused on cutting taxes and other economic policy issues. Club for Growth's largest funders are the billionaires Jeff Yass and Richard U ...

and

FreedomWorks FreedomWorks is a conservative and libertarian advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. FreedomWorks trains volunteers, assists in campaigns, and encourages them to mobilize, interacting with both fellow citizens and their political representat ...

. Freitas was considered to be an early front-runner for the Republican nomination due to opinion polls giving him the lead in support and name recognition. Freitas's state delegate district includes much of the congressional district's northern portion. Freitas lost the closely fought election, receiving about 49% of the vote to Spanberger's 51% of the vote. Spanberger dominated in the most populous parts of the district, in Chesterfield and Henrico counties in Greater Richmond, while Freitas led in the less-populous parts of the district in outlying Culpeper,

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

, Spotsylvania, Louisa, Goochland,

Powhatan The Powhatan people (; also spelled Powatan) may refer to any of the indigenous Algonquian people that are traditionally from eastern Virginia. All of the Powhatan groups descend from the Powhatan Confederacy. In some instances, The Powhatan ...

, Amelia, and Nottoway counties. Ultimately, Spanberger's combined 43,000-vote margin in Henrico and Chesterfield proved too much for Freitas to overcome; it was more than five times Spanberger's overall margin of 8,400 votes. Nick Freitas (Republican Party) is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing District 30. He assumed office in 2016. His current term ends on January 10, 2024. Freitas (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Virginia House of Delegates to represent District 30. He won in the general election on November 2, 2021.

Political views

In the House of Delegates, Freitas has been described as having a "conservative voting record and libertarian streak." He has called for the repeal of the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

(Obamacare), describing it as a "cancer." He supports the construction of a wall on the border with Mexico. In 2016, he urged the Culpeper County School Board to disregard an Obama administration mandate that transgender students be allowed the use of the restrooms that correspond to their gender identity. He called it unconstitutional, and said the Obama administration does not "get to arbitrarily redefine what gender means." In 2018, Freitas praised

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

, saying he had been a stronger leader in his first year than

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

had been during his eight years. Freitas has called for abolishing the

federal income tax Income taxes in the United States are imposed by the federal government, and most states. The income taxes are determined by applying a tax rate, which may increase as income increases, to taxable income, which is the total income less allow ...

, replacing it with a national sales tax. He supported the 2017 Republican tax legislation. In 2018, Freitas opposed the

Iran nuclear agreement The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; fa, برنامه جامع اقدام مشترک , barnāmeye jāme'e eqdāme moshtarak (, ''BARJAM'')), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement on the Iranian nuclear ...

and supported Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from it. In 2020, Freitas voted against legislation in the Virginia General Assembly to gradually increase the state minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2023. He opposes proposals to increase the

federal minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

. Freitas voted in favor of marijuana decriminalization during the January 2020 session of the General Assembly. He stated: "I'd rather we use law enforcement resources to go after violent criminals and people that are creating victims." In a speech given in March 2018 on the floor of the House of Delegates, Freitas voiced opposition to further gun control proposals following the

mass shooting There is a lack of consensus on how to define a mass shooting. Most terms define a minimum of three or four victims of gun violence (not including the shooter or in an inner city) in a short period of time, although an Australian study from 20 ...

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSDH or MSD) is a public high school in Parkland, Florida, United States. It was established in 1990 and is part of the Broward County Public Schools district. It is named after the writer Marjory Stoneman D ...

in Parkland, Florida. The speech went viral and drew over 11 million views on Freitas's

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

page.

Personal life

Freitas is a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

Christian and attends Mountain View Church in Culpeper. He married Tina M. Pierce, whom he met in high school. The couple has three children. Freitas is a member of the

Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the preside ...

and the National Rifle Association. In 2019, Freitas's wife, Tina, challenged incumbent Republican

Emmett Hanger Emmett Wilson Hanger Jr. (born August 2, 1948, in Staunton, Virginia) is an American politician of the Republican Party. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1983 to 1991, when he was unseated by Creigh Deeds. Since 1996 he h ...

for his Senate seat in Virginia's 24th district. She was defeated in the primary, gaining 43% of the vote to Hanger's 57%. Freitas hosts a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel called 'The Why Minutes' where his stated goal is to "provide insight regarding some of the most pressing questions we ask about how society works. We explore the underlying reasons, motivations, and philosophies that inform decisions, promote greater understanding, and advance a society dedicated to preserving and advancing freedom."

References

External links

U.S. House campaign website

Nick Freitas
at the Virginia Public Access Project
Appearances
on C-SPAN {{DEFAULTSORT:Freitas, Nicholas 1979 births Living people 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Protestants United States Army personnel of the Iraq War American gun rights activists American libertarians American Protestants Candidates in the 2018 United States Senate elections Christian libertarians Christians from Virginia Members of the United States Army Special Forces Republican Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Non-interventionism People from Chico, California People from Culpeper County, Virginia Right-wing populism in the United States United States Army non-commissioned officers American people of Portuguese descent