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 ...

. 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-numbe ...

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 powe ...

in 2018, losing in the

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

Corey Stewart Corey Alan Stewart (born August 1, 1968) is an American retired politician who served four terms as at-large chair of the Board of Supervisors of Prince William County, Virginia from December 2006 to December 2019. Stewart was the Republica ...

. 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 ...

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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, which he lost to

Abigail Spanberger Abigail Anne Spanberger (née Davis, August 7, 1979) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Her district includes most of the northern suburbs of Richmond, as well a ...

, 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 service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

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 Chico () means ''small'', ''boy'' or ''child'' in the Spanish language. It is also the nickname for Francisco in the Portuguese language (). Chico may refer to: Places *Chico, California, a city *Chico, Montana, an unincorporated community *Chic ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, 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 The Henley-Putnam School of Strategic Security, previously Henley-Putnam University, is an online school within National American University focusing on intelligence management, counterterrorism studies and protection management. Henley-Putnam off ...

. 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 commercial ...

, Freitas joined the

U.S. Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army. The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal m ...

(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 Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. 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 the ...

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 Culp ...

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 Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American physician and politician serving as the junior U.S. senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he is a son of former three-time presidential candidate and 12 ...

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 Chairman

, as a "hate-monger." He said, "we must reject Corey Stewart's

dog-whistling In politics, a dog whistle is the use of Loaded language, coded or suggestive language in political messaging to garner support from a particular group without provoking opposition. The concept is named after Ultrasound, ultrasonic dog whistles, ...

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

in the

2020 general election The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...

. Freitas earned early endorsements from conservative organizations the Club for Growth and FreedomWorks. 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 Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

and Henrico counties in

Greater Richmond The Greater Richmond Region, the Richmond metropolitan area or Central Virginia, is a region and metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Virginia, centered on Richmond. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines the area as the Richmo ...

, while Freitas led in the less-populous parts of the district in outlying Culpeper, Orange, Spotsylvania, Louisa, Goochland, 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 Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

streak." He has called for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (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, saying he had been a stronger leader in his first year than Barack Obama had been during his eight years. Freitas has called for abolishing the federal income tax, 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 The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and (in regards to medical) how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. These ...

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 Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...

proposals following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in

Parkland, Florida Parkland is a suburban city, 42 miles northwest of Miami, in northern Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Parkland was 34,670. Parkland is part of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6,166 ...

. The speech went viral and drew over 11 million views on Freitas's Facebook page.

Personal life

Freitas is a Protestant

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

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 and the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

. 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 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 Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

{{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