Nick Freitas

Nick Freitas
Freitas in 2018
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the 30th district
Assumed office
January 13, 2016
Preceded by Ed Scott
Personal details
Born (1979-08-29) August 29, 1979
Chico, California, U.S.
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Tina Freitas
Children 3
Education Henley-Putnam University (BA)
Website Campaign website
Military service
Allegiance  United States
Service/branch  United States Army
Years of service 1998–2009
Rank Sergeant First Class[1]
Unit 1st Special Forces Group
Battles/wars Iraq War

Nicholas J. Freitas (born August 29, 1979)[2] is an American politician who is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and was a candidate for the US Senate in 2018. He was first elected in 2015, and represents the 30th district comprising Madison County, Orange County, and the Southern half of Culpeper County as a Republican. Freitas is a United States Army veteran who served two tours in Iraq.[3]

Early life and education

Freitas, who is of Portuguese ancestry, was born in Chico, California, on August 29, 1979. After graduating high school, Freitas joined the United States Army. He also during this time graduated at Henley-Putnam University.[4]

Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, Freitas joined the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) and served two tours in Iraq. After being honorably discharged in 2009, Freitas moved to Culpeper County, Virginia in 2010 and served as an operations director for a service-disabled veteran-owned company.[5]

Political career

Freitas became the chairman of the Culpeper County Republican Committee in 2010. In 2015, Freitas ran for the Virginia House of Delegates for the 30th district, then held by Republican 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.[6][7] He ran for re-election in 2017 and won with 62% of the vote over Democrat Ben Hixon.[8]

Freitas currently serves on the Finance, Militia, Police, and Public Safety, and Science and Technology Committees.[2]

Freitas sought the Republican nomination for the 2018 Senate election in Virginia.[9] He was endorsed by Senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee.[10] On June 12, Freitas narrowly lost the Republican nomination by 1.7% to Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart.

In a fiery speech given in March 2018 on the floor of the House of Delegates, Freitas voiced opposition to further gun control proposals following the Parkland, Florida school shooting.[11] The speech drew over 11 million views on Freitas' Facebook page.[12]

Political views

In the House of Delegates, Freitas has been described as having a "conservative voting record and libertarian streak."[13]

Freitas is a supporter of a non-interventionist foreign policy and says that the U.S. Constitution dictates it.[14]

Personal life

Freitas is a Protestant Christian and attends Mountain View Church in Culpeper. He is married to Tina M. Pierce, whom he met in high school. The couple has three children: Lillyana, Luke, and Alexandria. In addition, Freitas is a member of the Heritage Foundation and the National Rifle Association (NRA).[4][15]

References

  1. ↑ RallyPoint, retrieved January 8, 2018
  2. 1 2 "Bio for Nicholas J. Frietas". Virginia House of Delegates. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  3. ↑ Bill Bartel Virginia Republican Senate candidates repeatedly attack Obama, barely mention Kaine, The Virginian-Pilot (May 1, 2018).
  4. 1 2 "Bio for Nicholas J. Frietas". Virginia House of Delegates. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  5. ↑ Close, Gary (January 13, 2015). "Freitas to challenge Scott for delegate nomination". Culpeper Star-Exponent. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  6. ↑ Champion, Allison (February 11, 2015). "Reeves endorses Freitas for delegate". Culpeper Star-Exponent. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  7. ↑ Close, Gary; Sherman, Anita (November 5, 2015). "Walther and Jenkins ride to victory on election day". Culpeper Times. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  8. ↑ "2017 November General". results.elections.virginia.gov. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  9. ↑ Wilson, Patrick (December 9, 2017). "Virginia Republicans assess November's electoral defeats and plan for the future at annual retreat". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Rand Paul endorses "liberty Republican" Nick Freitas to challenge Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine". Rare.us. 5 January 2018.
  11. ↑ Gregory S. Schneider, Gun-control issue boils over in Virginia House after fiery speech from delegate, Washington Post (March 2, 2018).
  12. ↑ Graham Moomaw, As Freitas' guns speech goes viral, Virginia Democrats say slavery remarks reopened racial wounds, Richmond Times-Dispatch (March 5, 2018).
  13. ↑ "Delegate Joins Senate Race to Challenge Tim Kaine". Associated Press. December 10, 2017.
  14. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqdC9TAFPHY
  15. ↑ "Issues | Nick Freitas for U.S. Senate". Nick Freitas for U.S. Senate. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
Virginia House of Delegates
Preceded by
Ed Scott		 Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the 30th district
2016–present		 Incumbent
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