Republican veteran Tony Sabio is on a ‘mission’ to win Va.’s most Democratic US House seat

Tony Sabio — a security expert who served in the U.S. military, Secret Service and CIA — has an uphill objective this November: the Republican nominee is working to unseat a six-term Democratic incumbent and represent Virginia’s reliably blue 8th Congressional District.

Sabio is drawing on his extensive background in national security and geopolitics to challenge longtime U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Alexandria, in a region home to the Pentagon and the country’s largest defense contractors.

The pragmatic Lorton resident, who also just wrapped up a short tenure budgeting capital projects as Purcellville’s interim Town Manager, is attempting to appeal to “all Americans” with “common sense” stances.

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“Everything I’ve done has been focused on solving issues,” Sabio said in a wide-ranging interview with  The Mercury. “It was never about myself. It was always about ‘what can we do to solve these issues to accomplish the mission. That’s the same thing I’d bring to Congress. I am mission focused.”

Sabio is attempting to beat Beyer, who has not won an election by less than 70% since 2014, with a constituency that deeply disapproves of President Donald Trump, whom the GOP nominee aligns with on most issues. 

A long resume in security 

As a counterintelligence and counterterrorism officer in the United States Central Intelligence Agency, Sabio’s job was to “locate and dismantle terrorist organizations” everywhere from Afghanistan and Iraq to South America. 

Now, Sabio continues that work by operating his own security consultancy in the Rockfinn Group. He collaborates with corporations and other clients to develop security plans and enact overseas safety missions. 

He named ABC News as a prominent partner, for whom he develops plans to rescue news correspondents when they are stuck overseas. He developed gear to help their camera crew be more mobile while documenting war in Ukraine. 

“It’s not politics. It’s not right side, left side. They’re all Americans,” Sabio said. “Taking care of people is something I have a passion for,” he continued. 

Sometimes Sabio is the man with the plan, and other times he embarks on extraction missions himself. 

He drew attention in 2022 for rescuing a 15-year-old boy from Ukraine at the start of the country’s ongoing war with Russia. Sabio told People Magazine at the time that declining the mission “just wasn’t an option,” despite the dangers. 

After the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, Sabio conducted a ground operation in Gaza to identify the locations of Israeli hostages taken by the Palestinian militant group and political party Hamas. He would not say which client sponsored the mission. 

“We were going in the streets and just identifying possible areas, we were talking with people, getting intel where these hostages were being kept at and gathering a ground network of intelligence,” Sabio recalled. 

Sabio hopes the voters of Arlington, Alexandria and parts of Fairfax County will recognize his foreign relations experience at the ballot box this November. 

Sabio’s ‘Promise for America’ entails nuclear energy, private sector expansion

Sabio’s list of “ready-to-go” policy proposals revolve around his vision to transform the economy of Northern Virginia to be less reliant on the federal government and more centered around private sector manufacturing. 

“So when the federal government plays its games and shuts down, it doesn’t affect Northern Virginia as hard,” Sabio said.

Sabio hopes to alleviate rising energy costs by integrating nuclear energy within the regional economy, particularly by producing small modular reactors to power data centers. Northern Virginia is home to the densest cluster of data centers in the world.

Beyer, who is asking voters to elect him to a seventh term in Congress, has also advocated for nuclear energy production, and previously called himself a top “champion” on the Hill for bringing fusion energy to Virginia.

Sabio said his plan is “more robust” than Beyer’s, in that he would make Virginia one of a handful of designated “nuclear grid nodes” that would export to the rest of the country. 

Other pillars of Sabio’s policy framework include creating tax incentives for small business owners, increasing funding to law enforcement agencies — including immigration enforcement — and reforming healthcare to retain the “good parts of Medicare for All” while maintaining free market competition. 

Sabio said safety nets for people with preexisting conditions should be preserved. But he does not want to force American families into a “one-size-fits-all” Medicare plan. 

To win, Sabio must overcome rising costs, DOGE grief 

Voters focused the district’s Democratic primary in August on the rising cost of living and sweeping federal layoffs initiated by Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency — both issues Beyer’s campaign has addressed head on.  

Sabio said he is “80-90% in agreement” with the Trump Administration’s policies. 

Asked of how he would win over voters frustrated with Trump, some of whom are former federal workers experiencing months-long waits for their pensions to process, Sabio reiterated his idea of creating a larger, “more sustainable” private sector job ecosystem. 

“Like right now, as a federal worker, you’re gonna get your money back,” Sabio said. “You may be sitting at home for 60 days. It’s gonna be stressful. You’re gonna tighten up the belt, because you’re gonna pay for your essentials, your mortgage, your electric bill, and so on. But you’re not gonna go out. You’re not gonna do all the small things that you normally would do. Not until you’re done being furloughed, and the checks are coming back in.”

Sabio is concerned about the small businesses that rely on revenue coming in from federal workers that have to shut down when the job market takes a hit. 

Beyer “says a lot of things,” but has failed to deliver on promises to constituents, according to Sabio.

“Its all playing upon politics. It depends upon what his party wants. Nothing he does is for Northern Virginia,” he added. “We have a Congress that has lost the ability to understand that they work for the people, not the other way around.” 

A spokesperson for Beyer declined to comment. 

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