Tim Hugo

Timothy Douglas Hugo is an American businessman, military veteran, and Republican politician in the Commonwealth of Virginia. He served as a member of the Virginia [House of Delegates] from 2003 to 2020, representing the 40th district. Hugo was defeated for re-election in 2019 [Virginia House of Delegates election|2019] by Democrat Dan Helmer.

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Overview

From 2003 to 2020, Hugo served in the Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 40th district in Fairfax and Prince [William County, Virginia|Prince William] counties. The district encompassed both the incorporated and unincorporated areas of Clifton in Fairfax County. It also included unincorporated parts of Centreville, Fairfax, and Fairfax Station in Fairfax County as well as unincorporated sections of Catharpin, Gainesville, Haymarket, and Manassas in Prince William County. Approximately 80% of the district's population and 65% of its landmass is located in Fairfax County.
A member of the Republican Party, Hugo was the House of Delegates' majority caucus chairman. Hugo served on the Commerce and Labor, Education, Finance, Privileges and Elections, Science and Technology, and Transportation committees.
While the 40th district is historically Republican-leaning, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton bested Republican nominee Donald Trump by an eight-point margin in the 2016 presidential election. In the 2017 elections, Democrat Donte Tanner challenged Hugo, but narrowly lost. Despite having about 14% of the state's population residing within its boundaries, following the 2017 elections, Hugo remained the only Republican in the Virginia General Assembly to represent a district based in Fairfax County. Hugo lost reelection in 2019 to Democrat Dan Helmer. At the time of his defeat, he was the last Republican to represent a significant portion of Fairfax County above the county level.

Education and professional career

In 1986, Hugo earned a Bachelor of Arts from the College of William & Mary. In 1987, he received a Kodak Fellowship from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Between 1990 and 1998, he served in the United States Army Reserve.
Hugo held several staff positions within the United States House of Representatives. He was the legislative director for representative Jennifer Dunn of Washington, and was the chief of staff to representative Bud Shuster of Pennsylvania, chairman of the United States House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Hugo is the executive director of Free File Alliance, an association of tax preparation companies.
In 2023, Hugo was appointed by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin to become the Chairman of the Board for the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority.

Electoral history

Hugo was first elected in a December 2002 special election. He replaced Republican incumbent Jay O'Brien, who vacated the seat after he won a November 2002 special election to represent the 39th district in the Senate of Virginia. Hugo was re-elected in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2015, never receiving less than 57% of the vote. Following Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's winning of the 40th district by an eight-point margin in 2016, Democrats targeted Hugo in 2017. On November 7, 2017, Hugo had apparently lost by 68 votes to Democratic nominee Donte Tanner, but the following morning, election officials found an error in the reported results, and the results flipped to a 32-vote lead for Hugo. After further canvassing, Hugo's lead increased to 115 votes. As of November 8, the race was too close to call. On November 27, the state board of elections certified the results, giving Hugo a 106-vote victory, but on November 29, the Tanner campaign filed for a recount. A recount was conducted, and on December 14, the recount confirmed that Hugo won the election by 99 votes. Hugo lost in the 2019 election to Dan Helmer.