win statewide, although narrowly, but in PW by a much wider margin, maybe just because he's THEIR asshole.

There was also a 3rd candidate, a black conservative Christian minister, who only garnered about 12% of the vote, but it probably hurt the runner up candidate he most, a former Green Beret and current conservative/libertarian, two-term member of the House of Delegates, Nick Freitas, providing the perfect storm for Stewart's win. Frietas ran unopposed in both the 2015 primary and general election to fill another retiring GOP delegate's seat. He was then re-elected last November, 62% vs. 38%, in his only contested election, running against a first-time candidate who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. So he wasn't exactly battle-tested.

It's hard to imagine a weaker set of party primary candidates for a U.S. Senate seat, i.e., a multi-term county supervisor, a 1+ term current state delegate, and an two-time also-ran, a former Democrat and two-time GOP primary candidate, who's never held a public office, losing a 2012 loooong shot primary bid for the U.S. Senate, winning the other in 2013 for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, but then losing in the general election (to the current Governor). The typical progression in Virginia is from Governor/State Senator/U.S. Representative to U.S. Senator, not from county supervisor or House of Delegates.