STAFFORD, Va. (AP) — While campaigning recently for Democrat Abigail Spanberger in northern Virginia’s competitive 7th Congressional District, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine made the case that the former CIA officer and two-term incumbent had carved out a dramatically outsized influence during her relatively short tenure.

He also had a warning for the few dozen supporters gathered outside a polling place about an hour’s drive from the nation’s capital: Should either chamber flip in this year’s midterm elections, Republicans would “throw an emergency brake” on President Joe Biden’s administration.

On that point, Spanberger’s Republican challenger, Yesli Vega, wholeheartedly agrees.

“The madness, the chaos — it ends in 11 days,” Vega said at a rally last week at the same government center, her voice reaching a near-shout as she rallied an energetic lunchtime crowd with a call-and-response style message.

“We have a country to take back,” she said.

The race, featuring two women with law enforcement backgrounds — one a centrist Democrat and a star in her state party, the other a local elected official seeking to become Virginia’s first Latina member of Congress — appears to be a nail-biter in the final stretch. The contest that could help determine party control of the House is among the country’s most expensive and competitive, with each campaign asserting it has the momentum heading into Election Day.

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