U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman has received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from defense contractors and reported stock holdings in companies with military ties, as he seeks another term representing Virginia in Congress and to become chairman of the powerful House Armed Services Committee. 

The Westmoreland Republican, who has supported U.S. military operations in Iran, says his national security decisions are not influenced by campaign donations or personal investments. 

In an email to The Mercury, campaign director Will Dieterich said Wittman’s investments are managed independently and that the nine-term incumbent has never directed individual stock trades or used nonpublic information to make financial decisions. 

“House ethics rules prohibit linking political contributions to official actions,” Dieterich said. “Congressman Wittman is subject to those requirements, including restrictions governing the use of official congressional resources for political activity.”

Dieterich said Wittman has also told his financial adviser that he would like to begin moving his portfolio away from individual stocks and into exchange-traded funds, or ETFs. 

The issue has become part of Wittman’s reelection fight against Democrat Shannon Taylor in Virginia’s 1st Congressional District, where early voting is underway ahead of the Nov. 3 election. 

Long considered a Republican stronghold, the district has attracted increased Democratic attention since Gov. Abigail Spanberger carried it by 2.6 percentage points last year. 

Taylor has criticized Wittman’s stockholdings and defense industry contributions, accusing him of benefitting from the Iran war while Virginians struggle with higher costs. 

Wittman’s campaign disputes that accusation. Contributions are publicly disclosed and legal, Dieterich said, and the congressman’s national security decisions “are not made based on personal financial interests.”

Neither the campaign donations nor the disclosed investments establish wrongdoing or show that donors influenced Wittman’s votes. The financial disclosures also do not show whether his holdings gained value because of the Iran war. 

Defense money and committee oversight

Wittman currently serves as vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, which oversees defense policy and military operations. He hopes to lead the panel if Republicans retain control of the House and he wins reelection. 

His campaign has received contributions from political action committees affiliated with defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin, RTX and Science Applications International Corp. Each PAC contributed $10,000 during the current election cycle, according to a compilation of Federal Election Commission data. 

A separate listing of third-quarter contributions identifies $27,500 to Wittman’s campaign, $36,000 to his leadership PAC, America’s First PAC, and $4,000 to the Wittman Victory Committee from PACs associated with defense-related companies. 

Those committees serve different purposes. The FEC identifies the Wittman Victory Committee as a joint fundraising committee involving Wittman’s campaign, his leadership PAC, the Republican Party of Virginia and the National Republican Congressional Committee. Not all money raised through it necessarily goes to Wittman’s campaign. 

Wittman’s campaign did not provide a breakdown of every entry when asked. 

Dieterich said Wittman’s responsibilities on Armed Services are to “the American people, our servicemembers, and our national security.”

“His legislative, oversight, and policy decisions are based on those responsibilities, not the political contributions received by his campaign,” Dieterich said.

Alex Keena, an associate professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, said members of Congress commonly receive contributions from industries affected by their committee work. Wittman also represents a state with a significant defense industry, he noted. 

The concern, Keena said, is whether lawmakers put those interests ahead of the public. 

“The danger comes when a member of Congress disregards the public interest in favor of well connected, powerful interests,” he said. “This is particularly problematic if a member of Congress personally benefits from doing so.”

Stock holdings and the Iran war

Wittman’s latest financial disclosure, filed in August and covering 2025, lists investments in Texas Instruments, Broadcom, Accenture, ITT and Trane Technologies. Each holding was valued between $1,001 and $15,000. 

All five companies have some defense-related business, although their operations extend to other industries. 

The filing does not establish the value of Wittman’s holdings during the Iran war or whether he still owns those stocks. His campaign did not answer that question. 

Dieterich said outside finance professionals make investment decisions without consulting Wittman, who has “never personally selected, purchased, sold, or directed the timing of an individual stock trade.”

He also noted that Wittman voted for the federal STOCK Act of 2012, which affirmed that members of Congress are subject to insider trading prohibitions and strengthened financial disclosure requirements. 

Keena said Wittman’s pursuit of the Armed Services Committee chairmanship could bring greater scrutiny to his investments and fundraising. Owning shares affected by defense policy can raise questions about potential conflicts, he said, even without evidence of a legal violation.

Wittman has supported President Donald Trump’s military operations in Iran and opposed congressional efforts to limit the president’s authority to continue the conflict. 

In September, he voted against a House resolution directing the withdrawal of U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran unless Congress authorized them. The measure passed the House, but the Senate later rejected a separate war powers resolution. 

During a July radio interview, Wittman said “some good things” could come from the conflict as Middle Eastern countries looked for alternative energy shipping routes and the United States pursued new energy agreements. 

He cautioned that those developments would take time to affect fuel prices. 

Dieterich said Wittman’s position on Iran is guided by his responsibility to protect Americans, support service members and confront threats to the United States and its allies. 

A competitive race

Taylor, currently Henrico County commonwealth’s attorney, said Virginians are paying more for gas, diesel and groceries while Wittman accepts defense industry contributions and holds investments in companies with military ties. 

“I’ve got a different plan: I don’t take a dime of corporate PAC money, I’ll ban congressional stock trading, and I’ll vote to end this war,” Taylor said in an email.  

In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Wittman accused Taylor of misrepresenting his financial disclosures, which report assets in ranges and do not provide a precise measure of his net worth. He called her “a liar.” 

Wittman also emphasized that much of the growth in his reported assets came from inheritances he and his wife received after their parents died. 

Additionally, Wittman has defended higher defense spending. He told The Mercury in September that modernizing the armed forces is necessary to deter adversaries. 

His campaign said that, if he becomes chairman, his priorities would include Pentagon oversight, competition among defense contractors and scrutiny of excessive pricing. 

The 1st District has drawn national attention as Democrats try to win control of the House. Some election analysts have since classified the race as a tossup. 

Keena said campaign finance disclosures allow voters to examine who is supporting a candidate, even if those records alone cannot establish why a lawmaker takes a particular position. 

“Voters will have to decide for themselves whether to award him another term based on this information,” he said.