Robert William "Bob" Goodlatte ( /ˈɡʊdlæt/; born September 22, 1952) is the U.S. Representative for Virginia's 6th congressional district, serving since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district is based in Roanoke and also includes Lynchburg, Harrisonburg and Staunton.

Born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, Goodlatte received a B.A. in political science from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine in 1974. He also holds a Juris Doctor from Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Virginia, which he earned in 1977. Goodlatte was an attorney in private practice in his early professional career before becoming a staff aide for 6th District U.S. Congressman M. Caldwell Butler from 1977 to 1979.

Bob Goodlatte received the Republican nomination at the Republican District convention after Democrat Jim Olin, opted not to run for reelection in 1992. In the 1992 November general election, Goodlatte defeated Democrat Stephen Musselwhite, who had defeated Olin's preferred choice at the district Democratic convention, with 60% of the vote. Goodlatte has been reelected ten times, often running unopposed by Democratic challengers. He has never faced a Republican primary challenge. His most substantive opposition was in 1996, with Democrat Jeff Grey, and again in 1998, with Democratic Roanoke mayor David Bowers who challenged him. In an overwhelmingly conservative district, Goodlatte turned back these challenges, with 67% and 69% of the vote, respectively. In 2008, he was challenged by Democrat Sam Rasoul of Roanoke. This time, Goodlatte garnered 62% of the vote.

Karen U. Kwiatkowski (born September 24, 1960) is an American activist and commentator. She is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel whose assignments included duties as a Pentagon desk officer and a variety of roles for the National Security Agency. Since retiring, she has become a noted critic of the U.S. government's involvement in Iraq. Kwiatkowski is primarily known for her insider essays which denounce a corrupting political influence on the course of military intelligence leading up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. She is currently challenging the ten-term incumbent, Bob Goodlatte, in the Republican primary for Virginia's 6th congressional district seat in the United States House of Representatives.

While in the Air Force, she wrote two books about U.S. policy towards Africa: African Crisis Response Initiative: Past Present and Future (US Army Peacekeeping Institute, 2000) and Expeditionary Air Operations in Africa: Challenges and Solutions (Air University Press, 2001). More recently, she has contributed or co-written several books on neoconservatism and foreign policy. She contributed to "Ron Paul: A Life of Ideas," (Variant Press, 2008) and "Why Liberty: Personal Journeys Toward Peace and Freedom" (Cobden Press, 2010). She has been featured in a number of documentaries, including "Why We Fight" in 2005. She has written extensively for LewRockwell.com since 2003.