Special Election Set for House Seat of Late Rep. Connolly of Virginia

WASHINGTON—A special election will be held Sept. 9 for the U.S. House seat in Virginia vacated by the late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who died last month at age 75.

Connolly, who died May 21, was first elected to the House in 2008 and served for eight terms representing the state’s 11th Congressional District, which covers the Washington, D.C., suburbs of Fairfax County, Reston, and parts of McLean. At the time of his death, Connolly was the ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the House’s principal investigative body that seeks to hold the executive branch accountable, beating Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in the election for that role.

Many government workers and contractors reside in the district, making it a heavily Democratic region with a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of D+18. It is likely that the winner of the Democratic primary will go on to win the general election on Sept. 9.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, issued a writ of election for the district on June 3. The last day for candidates to file their requisite papers with the state’s Department of Elections is June 11, though a primary date for political parties has not been announced.

Connolly announced in April that he planned to retire at the end of the 119th Congress, the current term. He also endorsed his former chief of staff, Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw (D-Braddock), as the candidate to win the seat in the 2026 midterm election.

Connolly’s death means Walkinshaw is now running for the office in the special election. “I’m ready to take the fight to [President Donald] Trump’s dangerous agenda & deliver for Fairfax on Day One,” wrote Walkinshaw on social media after the issuance of the writ of election.

Running against Walkinshaw for the Democratic nomination is state Sen. Stella Pekarsky (D-Centerville). While Walkinshaw has the endorsement of Connolly and other members of Congress, Pekarsky received the endorsement of Louise Lucas, president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate.

“Fairfax needs a fighter to stand up to Donald Trump,” wrote Pekarsky on social media, criticizing the Trump administration’s policies, including education reforms and federal workforce reductions. Opposition to Trump is apparently the principal message of Democratic candidates in this special election.

Other Democratic candidates include state House Delegate Irene Shin and Leopoldo Martínez Nucete, a Venezuelan-American politician and a former member of the National Assembly of Venezuela.

The Virginia Democratic Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment.