Nick Freitas

Nicholas J. Freitas (born August 29, 1979) 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, which comprises 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.

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.

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.

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. He ran for re-election in 2017 and won with 62% of the vote over Democrat Ben Hixon.

Freitas currently serves on the Militia, Police, and Public Safety; Finance; and Science and Technology committees.

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

In a 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. The speech drew over 11 million views on Freitas' Facebook page.

On July 18, 2019, Freitas withdrew from the 2019 election for House of Delegates after failing to submit required paperwork to the Board of Elections in the Commonwealth of Virginia by the deadline. On August 8, 2019 Freitas announced that he would mount a write-in campaign for re-election and won with 57.89% of the vote.

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

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

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). His wife Tina Freitas ran a primary challenge against fellow Republican Senator Emmett Hanger in 2019, but failed to secure the primary.