CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Mike Pruitt and Tom Perriello will hold a call Friday. Pruitt is the last remaining major candidate for the 5th District who remains in the field since most left the race following Perriello declaring his candidacy this week.

If Perriello asks Pruitt to drop out of the race, what will the Navy veteran and current Albemarle County Board of Supervisors member say?

“I am a man of my word,” Pruitt told Cville Right Now on Thursday. “I’ve said pretty publicly and pretty consistently that I’m in this fight and I’m going to stay in this fight.”

Pruitt said he was surprised by Perriello entering the Democratic primary race for the 5th District, which hasn’t been won by a Democrat since Perriello’s victory in 2008.

“This is not something that I think I had on my bingo card,” Pruitt said. “I will be honest, I wasn’t even sure if he was still in the neighborhood. I know he’s been doing a lot of work internationally. That’s one way to learn he’s still in town.”

Pruitt emphasized that he has been working locally, pushing for affordable housing, the expansion of broadband internet access and the creation of jobs that pay a living wage, including those that don’t require a college degree.

While Perriello’s candidacy has grabbed the headlines in the race for the 5th, Pruitt said the focus should be on Republican incumbent John McGuire.

“I think the most serious choice we have is whether or not we’re going to accept another term from someone who has absolutely shirked his duty to legislate,” Pruitt said. “Someone has absolutely shirked his duty to represent working people across this district, and that’s John McGuire, the man I’m actually freaking running against.

“People will hit on him for not doing a town hall. I could care less if he’s not doing a town hall if he was actually showing up and doing the job. But he’s not. He’s not fighting for people in this district. He is telling them what he thinks they want to hear.”

Pruitt said McGuire talks about supporting the Affordable Care Act tax credits, Medicaid and the Virginia Mining Moratorium, but then votes against them. He criticized McGuire’s support of AI and data centers.

“He will vote to take food off the plates of kids in Title I schools,” Pruitt said. “He will vote to cut your spouse’s federal job. He will vote to threaten your parents’ and grandparents’ retirement. He is not someone who we can trust with the future of this country, because he’s somebody who is absolutely bought and paid for. He is a cheap date for corporate interests. He is a cheap date for the interests that want to make this district a sacrifice zone for AI.”

The son of a public school teacher and a mechanic, Pruitt said his blue-collar roots inform his desire to fight for working class people. He describes himself as being raised as “a redneck with a chip on my shoulder,” but also deeply Christian, devoutly believing in  “liberation theology.”

He said President Donald Trump’s messaging resonates with people who share Pruitt’s background, until they realize the President’s actions – and those of the Republican Congress – don’t actually mesh with the messaging.

“The president, Donald Trump, is popular in the 5th Congressional District,” Pruitt said. “Now, I think a lot of the things the President believes and does are deeply repugnant to me. I disagree with him on almost every issue. But one thing I’ll say, the President talks about a message of a global economy that has left people behind, and that really connects with this district. So, I recognize that has been a playbook that has worked for some, but frankly the voters in this district like Donald Trump. And I think John McGuire thinks that by just wearing the clothes of Trump, by just saying his name enough times, that he can capture that lightening in a bottle. But that’s not something John McGuire actually believes. John McGuire is just along for the ride.”

Pruitt believes he can win the district, first in a primary against Perriello, then in a potential November race against McGuire, who may face his own primary challenge from former 5th District Republican representative Bob Good.

It’s why Perriello’s entrance to the race won’t prompt Pruitt to drop out the way Adele Stichel, Paul Riley and Kate Zabriskie have this week.

“I got in this race to fight and I got in this race to win,” Pruitt said. “I knew when I got in that that was going to be a tall order on both counts. And that was the bargain I made. We know that this is a Republican leaning district and I knew it was going to be an uphill battle and I needed to fight for every vote and show every person in this district that we have a campaign worth believing in.”