Retired U.S. Naval Captain Hung Cao has always defied the odds, and on Sunday he did it once again as he defeated a bevy of Republican hopefuls to secure the GOP nomination in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District.

Cao, who served 25 years as a commissioned Navy officer, won a firehouse primary that was based on ranked choice voting. In doing so, he scored a major upset victory, garnering more than 53 percent of the total votes. Despite having no experience in public office and little experience campaigning, he was able to overcome his more well-known and heavily funded opponents, including Brentsville District Supervisor Jeanine Lawson, who only received 34 percent of the total vote. He won based on his ability to connect with voters in minority communities, even parroting some of the same talking points that Governor Glenn Youngkin used in his campaign, such as taking on “indoctrination” in the classrooms.

Now, he goes on to face incumbent Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton in what is a heavily blue district, but falls in line with the Republican goals of creating a more diverse base of leadership. Back in November, the GOP was able to place the first Black woman (Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears) and the first Latino Attorney General (Jason Miyares) in office, and will use the momentum of Cao’s victory as a selling point going into the general elections in November.