GOP House Candidate Uses Fake Family For Photos
September 27, 2024

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G.O.P. Candidates, Looking to Soften Their Image, Turn to Their Wives

Ads featuring candidates’ families have long been a campaign staple. But they have taken on new urgency, especially for vulnerable Republicans, in a year when reproductive rights are a pivotal issue.

By Annie Karni and Catie Edmondson
Reporting from Washington
Sept. 27, 2024
Updated 4:15 p.m. ET

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The campaign of Derrick Anderson, a former Army Green Beret who is running in a competitive race for an open seat in Virginia’s Seventh District, has posted footage of him posing with a woman and her three daughters in what looks like a photo that might be used for an annual holiday card. In another scene filmed for potential use in a campaign ad, Mr. Anderson is seated around the dining room table with the same woman and three girls, chatting and smiling.

But the people are not relatives. They are the wife and children of a longtime friend. Mr. Anderson, who announced this month that he was engaged, does not have any children of his own. His campaign website says he lives with his dog and does not display any of the photos.

A spokesman for Mr. Anderson criticized The New York Times’s decision to focus on the footage and said that “Derrick’s opponent and every other candidate in America are in similar pictures and video with supporters of all kinds.” The spokesman said the video simply showed Mr. Anderson “with female supporters and their kids.”

The footage has not yet been used in any ad. It can be found on Mr. Anderson’s official YouTube page and is also posted on a website paid for by the National Republican Campaign Committee, where the organization provides resources for independent outside groups that are not allowed to communicate directly with campaigns but can use the information posted there to guide their paid media strategy.


Derrick Anderson, who is running for an open seat in Virginia’s Seventh District, in a photo with the wife and children of a longtime friend. National Republican Congressional Committee

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Annie Karni is a congressional correspondent for The Times. She writes features and profiles, with a recent focus on House Republican leadership. More about Annie Karni

Catie Edmondson covers Congress for The Times. More about Catie Edmondson