“Skin in the game”: New Democrat in Seventh District race quit CIA to run for Congress

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - Primary elections in Virginia are set for August 4 ahead of a crucial midterm in November, and although it’s still not clear what the district lines will ultimately look like pending a state Supreme Court ruling, that’s not stopping candidates from jumping into the race.

A Northern Virginia Democrat has thrown his hat into the ring in what would be the Commonwealth’s new Seventh Congressional District - stretching diagonally from western Augusta County, through northern Rockingham County and northeast to the D.C. suburbs.

Adam Dunigan is a Harvard-educated Marine Corps veteran, and former CIA officer who now resides in Alexandria. But he said his journey began in Los Angeles, with a childhood that was “neither stable, nor traditional.” According to Dunigan, his former life as a “wild kid” on the streets of L.A. led him to seek change.

“I think if you had a rocky childhood, that kind of pushes you out into the world faster than you might otherwise get there,” Dunigan said. “I grew up in L.A., joined the Marine Corps when I was 18, and never really looked back.”

Military service has become a tradition for the Dunigan bloodline: he said his father received two Purple Hearts fighting in Vietnam, and his grandfather was a “decorated” flight medic during World War II. After leaving the Marines, Dunigan obtained his Master’s in International Relations from Harvard University through the G.I. Bill, and made his way east to Virginia where a case officer job with the Central Intelligence Agency was waiting. That was 12 years ago.

Fast forward to 2026, when Dunigan chose to insert himself into politics after a number of awkward interactions with foreign adversaries. In a May 15 post on the website Substack, Dunigan wrote that he’d “tried to convince America’s enemies that we were still the good guys.”

His conclusion: “We aren’t the good guys anymore.”

“It’s hard to argue with all of the events on the world stage that the impact that the U.S., in terms of foreign policy or military policy is having a positive effect for anyone,” Dunigan said. “I feel bad for my colleagues that are still in right now, because I know there’s a lot of military and CIA analysts that are just being ignored on massive military strategy. This war in Iran is the best example.”

Dunigan said that’s when he quit his intelligence job, cashed out his retirement and went all-in on running for federal office. He initially filed to run in the 8th district - but under the new congressional map that’s currently on ice at the Supreme Court of Virginia, his home now lies within the boundaries of District 7.

According to Dunigan, his campaign is staked on four main tenets: accountability, economic opportunity, technological regulation and fighting to preserve democracy. While those are all separate items, his vision of America won’t allow one to exist without the others.

“Putting integrity and service back at the core of this government is the best way you can protect our democracy, he said. ”I think that all of the organs of government have been captured by backroom power and money networks. And without some real public servants that are willing to sacrifice to sit in these positions and start unwinding the capture of these institutions, we’re not going to get anywhere as a country."

Since Dunigan said he “blew up his life to do politics,” the stakes are high concerning the viability of his campaign. He’s been traveling the district alone - on his motorcycle - to begin building a report with Valley voters. And if those grassroots efforts lead to his election, he says he’ll make a concerted effort not to profit from the people who put him in Congress.

“I have skin in the game,” Dunigan said. “And I’m making an integrity pledge as part of my campaign to not self-enrich while in office at the expense of my district. So if I win, essentially 50% of my income that I make past my salary, all of it gets donated back to the district where I’m at to help services that benefit the community.”

Additional information about Dunigan and his platform is available on his campaign website.