Early voting is underway, and voters in Virginia’s First Congressional District face a consequential choice.

Campaigns encourage us to judge candidates by the accusation of the moment. A better question is what each candidate would bring to Congress – and what the district would give up by changing course.

By that measure, Rob Wittman is the superior choice.

Wittman has represented the First District since 2007. Before that, he served as a town councilman, mayor, county supervisor and member of the House of Delegates. He also spent more than two decades working for the Virginia Department of Health.

That is the record of someone who learned government from the ground up: first by serving a town, then a county, then the Commonwealth and ultimately his country.

Today, Wittman is vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and chairman of its Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee. He has become one of Congress’s most knowledgeable voices on national defense, military readiness and the industrial base necessary to protect the nation.

Those positions are not honorary. They place Wittman near the center of decisions affecting military installations, shipbuilding, defense contractors, service members and thousands of Virginia families whose livelihoods depend upon a strong national defense.

Virginia needs an experienced advocate in those rooms. Wittman is already there.

His value extends beyond defense. Trained as a scientist, he understands the Chesapeake Bay as an ecosystem, an economic engine and a way of life. Watermen, farmers and coastal communities need someone who recognizes that environmental stewardship and economic survival must work together.

Wittman also understands that representation is intensely personal. It means helping a veteran navigate a federal agency, resolving a Social Security problem, locating a delayed passport or assisting a student applying to a military service academy.

In 2025, his office reports responding to more than 155,000 constituent inquiries, holding nearly 600 meetings and returning more than $3.8 million to constituents. That work seldom generates headlines. It matters enormously when someone needs help.

Wittman’s appeal has never been confined to Republicans. Independents and more than a few Democrats have supported him because they regard him as serious, accessible and decent, even when they disagree with him.

I would not be surprised if some of the people now working hardest to defeat him have voted for him in the past. That would not mean they had abandoned their principles. It would mean they recognized effective public service when they saw it.

During this campaign, voters will hear sweeping claims about Washington, personal motives and political corruption. Distrust of Congress is understandable, and members of both parties should be held to demanding ethical standards. But judgment should rest on an actual record.

This year, Wittman voted for legislation prohibiting members of Congress, their spouses and dependent children from purchasing individual stocks while the member remains in office. The measure may not satisfy everyone seeking broader reform, but supporting tighter restrictions and greater accountability is hardly a defense of business as usual.

I know Wittman personally and have watched him interact with constituents. I have also heard members of Congress from across the country describe him in remarkably consistent terms: prepared, thoughtful, respected and effective.

When I attended the State of the Union as his guest earlier this year, several members volunteered that losing Wittman would be a loss not only for Virginia but for Congress. They were not reciting campaign talking points. They were describing the colleague they know.

Their comments illuminate something voters do not always see.

Congressional influence is an asset accumulated over time – not only by an officeholder, but by the district that elected him. It is built through knowledge, relationships, credibility and trust. A district benefits from that investment every time its representative enters a negotiation, advances legislation or advocates for a local priority.

When an experienced member leaves, that accumulated influence cannot be transferred to a successor. It disappears.

A new representative, regardless of talent or good intentions, begins near the bottom of the institution. Replacing Wittman would mean surrendering nearly two decades of experience and a leadership position on one of the committees most important to Virginia.

The First District would be trading demonstrated influence for untested potential.

Reasonable people can disagree with Wittman on particular votes. No member of Congress should be beyond criticism, and no candidate should ask voters for blind allegiance.

But elections should be decided on the complete record: character, judgment, accessibility, effectiveness and the ability to deliver for the people one represents.

By those standards, Wittman has earned another term.

Before casting a ballot, voters should consider not only what they are being promised, but what the First District already possesses.

Some congressional seats may be interchangeable.

This one is not.

David Botkins is CEO of Botkins Strategies, LLC, and a former newspaper reporter and communications executive. He serves on several Virginia historical and civic boards and is a member of the Republican Party of Virginia State Central Committee.