Religion: Christian (pastor's home; self-ID Christian conservative; Jesus Christ as greatest influence — denomination not named)
Education: Harvard University (BA 2012); Harvard Kennedy School (graduate degree 2014); community college prior; homeschooled high school
Background: Entrepreneur / cofounder Impact Junkie (business-empowerment; claims 2M+ people, 30+ countries). First-generation college graduate. Harvard-wide student body president and Christian conservative commencement speaker. Former associate pastor (CA). Worked in Congress while at Harvard; Presidential Fellow track; senior adviser experience at Pentagon and White House per campaign/press. Co-founded The Great Pitch (>$16M toward government digital-service ideas). Lecturer Johns Hopkins (innovation/social entrepreneurship); mentor Harvard Innovation Lab. VA resident ~11 years. Born Lompoc CA 1983-10-16. Married 21 years; three children. 2026 R candidate U.S. House VA-07; primary Aug 4 2026 vs Douglas Ollivant and Rick/Ricky Smithers.
R primary candidate U.S. House VA-07 (Aug 4 2026 primary with Douglas Ollivant + Rick/Ricky Smithers; general vs incumbent Eugene Vindman D). Sign spelling on roadside boards often 'Phillip'; press/Ballotpedia/campaign use 'Philip'. Entrepreneur (Impact Junkie); Harvard BA+HKS; Christian conservative Harvard commencement; former associate pastor; prior Congress/Pentagon/White House senior-adviser path per campaign/press. [2026-07-19 FULL GRIND SRC-HARDING-0719] HARD TRUE: christian_liberty q0 — Ballotpedia survey Jesus Christ greatest influence + pastor's home + Christian conservative commencement. HARD TRUE: economic_stewardship q2 — Attack the Debt core plank + WashEx 'We do not have a revenue problem, we have a discipline problem' / debt as theft from future generations + campaign audits/cut waste. HARD TRUE: border_immigration q0 — WashEx launch: 'securing our border' + campaign 'Strengthen border security and enforcement'. HARD TRUE: public_justice q0 — campaign 'Support and equip local law enforcement' + safe communities plank. HARD TRUE (soft-family, scored parental-rights spirit on family q1 only where language is explicit): family_child_sovereignty q1 — WashEx: fight for 'parental rights' and 'schools should educate, not replace parents' + campaign parental involvement/transparency. REVISED off prior seed: family_child q0 (universal school choice) returned to null — no hard school-choice/compulsory-attendance language. NOT SCORED (null, looked): sanctity personhood/abolition beyond soft 'defend dignity of life'; biblical marriage definition; 2A; election integrity mechanics; foreign policy/AUMF/aid; industry capture; full mandatory deportation of all illegal aliens (he specified violent/criminal). Cville Tomorrow 2026 voter guide: Harding did not respond. No archetype paint.
[2026-07-19 COA2] HARD: 29News — lower taxes/debt, family-first; supports Trump Iran decision (FP q4 FALSE).
sheriff-roy correction 2026-07-24: Deepen from philiphardingforcongress.com/issues — LE, border, waste. Sanctity still HOLD.
sheriff-roy correction 2026-08-10: PUBLIC: Lost 2026-08-04 VA-07 R primary (UNOFFICIAL ~30.7%). Christian-conservative entrepreneur / accountability lane remains relevant for archive and issue receipts; not the November nominee. November VA-07 = Ollivant vs Vindman.
Currency 2026-08-25: candidacy_status=lost_primary; status set to lost so the record leaves the active-candidate pool ahead of the Nov 3 general.
rush 2026-10-07: Campaign issues page says strengthen border security and cut wasteful federal spending. Neither sentence is the wall-plus-military standard or a balanced-budget amendment, so both cells stay open.
Candidate supports universal school choice, homeschool freedom, and opposes compulsory public-school attendance
TRUE (+2)
i 1 claim
Campaign platform explicitly prioritizes 'strengthening families' and parental authority: 'If we can address the family, get back to strengthening the families, that's going to solve most of the downstream issues in our society.' Backs parental rights as final decision-makers in education with limited federal government involvement.
Candidate affirms the right to publicly profess Christ in all spheres (workplace, military, public office, schools)
TRUE (+2)
i 1 claim
Harding is a self-described 'faith-driven Republican' whose entire campaign is explicitly organized around his Christian faith: he announced his bid emphasizing that faith, family, and free enterprise are inseparable principles, and his second stated priority as a candidate is to 'defend the family' by protecting parental rights, getting schools 'back to educating,' and keeping communities safe — framing policy in terms that presuppose active, constitutionally protected religious free exercise rather than government regulation of faith or conscience.
Identifies the national debt as an existential threat and frames runaway deficit spending as intergenerational theft: 'Trillions of dollars in debt is not compassion, it's theft from future generations.' His campaign centers on lower taxes, cutting wasteful spending, auditing federal inefficiencies, and applying private-sector discipline to government — aligning with the rubric's anti-deficit/balanced-budget position.
Candidate supports hand-counted paper ballots and opposes electronic voting machines
TRUE (+2)
i 1 claim
Supports the SAVE Act to require proof of U.S. citizenship at voter registration, and favors treating in-person voting as the norm with narrow accommodations for military and disabled voters — consistent with the rubric's voter-ID and anti-mass-mail-in standard.
Bias ratings sourced from AllSides and Ad Fontes Media. Classifications for government, reference, and advocacy domains are maintained by U.S.M.C. Ministries; see source_bias.json.
References & footnotes
Every answer above with a [n] marker corresponds to one of the footnotes below. Wayback-archive links preserve the page as it read at our access date so a reader can verify the citation even if the original URL changes or disappears.
Checked 2026-10-07; the page attacks debt and wasteful spending but does not support a balanced-budget constitutional amendment, so the question stays open: "Washington continues to spend without accountability, driving up national debt and passing the burden onto future generations."
Help us improve this scorecard. If you have evidence of this official's positions — voting records, social media posts, public statements, or corrections — submit it below and we'll review and update the profile.
You are disputing claim . Please describe the issue and link to the primary source that contradicts it.
Thank you! We'll review your submission and update the profile if verified.