Yep.
I was just a study about the districts the GOP lost in VA. He was going to have a bad time of it if he ran for reelection. He actually got 56% when he ran in 2011 (the first time). The district was already in Stafford and Prince William Counties when he first ran, they were redistricted for the 2011 elections.
I know the GOP recruited a Black Conservative for this time, but was forced out after it was claimed he was taking credit for courses/degrees he didn’t obtain at college. They replaced him with Mike Makee instead, who had less than 3 months to campaign, and apparently didn’t do much. He was badly outspent by a leftist Black Dem woman, $418k to $171k, with the predictable result of a 63-37% victory, doing even better than Hillary. Just dreadful.
Unfortunately, had your friend gone up again in such a hostile atmosphere, he’d have likely lost. The absurdly high Dem turnout tossed out almost every NoVA GOP incumbent, and as it was, 12 sitting members went down statewide and they got 3 open seat (including the 2nd).