by Andrew Kerley
Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw beat out nine other candidates in a contentious firehouse primary on Saturday to become the Democratic nominee for Virginia’s 11th Congressional District in Northern Virginia. His opponent in the general election will be the Republican nominee, Stewart Whitson.
“I’m honored and humbled to have earned the Democratic nomination for the district I’ve spent my career serving,” Walkinshaw said in a statement Saturday night. “This victory was powered by neighbors, volunteers, and supporters who believe in protecting our democracy, defending our freedoms, and delivering for working families. The real work begins now, and I’m ready to fight with everything I’ve got.”
Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced the special election after Rep. Gerry Connolly, 75, died in May from esophageal cancer. Walkinshaw was endorsed by Connolly prior to his death.
Other candidates in the race for the Democratic nomination included state Sen. Stella Pekarsky and Del. Irene Shin. They both conceded the race Saturday night and congratulated Walkinshaw on his victory.
The 2024 Republican nominee, Mike Van Meter, lost to Connolly in 2024 by a 67-33% margin. Whitson is unlikely to flip the deep blue district. Independent candidate Chandrashekar Tamirisa is also in the race.
Walkinshaw’s platform
Walkinshaw has campaigned on a platform of stopping Trump from damaging American democracy and protecting federal workers, 80,000 of whom live in Fairfax County.
Walkinshaw was on Connolly’s staff for 11 years, including during the first Trump administration. Connolly persuaded him to run shortly after stepping down, Walkinshaw said.
“We’re at a five-alarm fire moment in our country and our democracy right now,” Walkinshaw told Virginia Scope. “The Trump administration and Trump are violating the Constitution every day.”
Walkinshaw aims to use experience in Congress and local government to deliver for Fairfax and, long-term, rebuild the federal government to work for everyone. He also says he wants to reduce gun violence, invest in education, combat climate change, build affordable housing and advocate for abortion rights.
“I know how to use the process in the House to slow down, block and thwart the MAGA Republican majority,” Walkinshaw said in a previous interview with Virginia Scope.
Walkinshaw unveiled a three-part plan at a party forum last week to push back against Trump; including investigating his administration’s corruption more aggressively, bringing the stories of fired federal workers to court and mobilizing people to protest.
Walkinshaw has picked up a number of endorsements, including Rep. Don Beyer, D-VA08, former Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-VA10, former Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, multiple labor unions and the entire Fairfax City School Board.
Controversy around the nomination process
Connolly’s posthumous endorsement of Walkinshaw was a point of contention in the race, as well as concerns that the nomination process favored establishment candidates and limited voter access.
Posts in support of Walkinshaw were made through Connolly’s social media accounts and communication channels after the congressman’s death, including a now-deleted post on X asking voters to “stand up for everything Gerry fought for.” The Bluesky version is still up.
Pekarsky and Shin criticized the nomination process, citing concerns that support for Walkinshaw was disproportionately stacked and that access was unfairly restricted, hurting the democratic process.
Pekarsky, in reference to Walkinshaw’s overwhelming support, said Democrats were perhaps falling in line, being promised other positions or following the leader, rather than engaging in robust conversations, creating a disservice to the democratic process.
“I think everybody who’s watching can tell what is happening,” Pekarsky said last week.
The 11th District has its first chance in decades to elect a congressperson in the region most impacted by Trump’s attacks on the federal workforce, Pekarsky explained.
“I think the very educated and motivated voters of the 11th Congressional District do not appreciate being told who others think should be our next representative,” Pekarsky said. “Democracy is for the people, by the people, it does not belong to any one person. Nobody is entitled to it, nobody is owed it.”
In the end, Pekarsky accepted defeat and encouraged Democrats to support Walkinshaw.
“He ran a great campaign and I hope all Democrats will get behind him for the special election in September so we can send Donald Trump the biggest possible message from Fairfax,” Pekarsky said in a post on X.
The Democratic primary was held at 17 voting locations across the district and also offered four days of early voting.
Shin said Virginia should explore holding state-run special primaries, saying the task is too large for local parties that rely on volunteers. She criticized the Democratic committee’s short timeline, as well as the lack of ranked choice voting, vote-by-mail and language access.
Shin also said the committee’s members were stacked by Connolly, who had been a giant and an institution in Fairfax County.
“They aren’t even trying for the optics of neutrality,” she said last week.
Shin congratulated Walkinshaw Saturday night.
“I’d like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to James Walkinshaw on his victory tonight,” she said. “I hope you’ll join me in doing everything we can to support James in the general election and keep the district blue.”
Walkinshaw said he made a decision early on to let the Democratic committee run the process.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate for the candidates to be trying to work the refs and change the process,” Walkinshaw said. “I said from the beginning, I’ll compete and win under any process or timeline that’s established.”
Fairfax County Democratic Committee chair Aaron Yohai deflected against Shin and Pekarsky’s claims, noting the party must run a neutral, transparent and accessible process. He blames Youngkin for putting the party in a tight spot with his chosen election date.
“Let’s face it, many people are still mourning the late, great Connolly, and we have had to labor under that loss to bring forward a process that I think he would be proud of,” Yohai said. “At the same time that we are revving up for these all-important elections in November, we now must also plan for a special election in September, which was certainly Gov. Youngkin’s idea all along to put us through this.”
Special elections in Virginia must be held on Tuesdays and cannot be within 55 days of a primary or general election, according to state law. With Virginia electing a new governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general on Nov. 4, and a primary having occurred on June 17, Youngkin chose the latest possible Tuesday for the special election within the allotted timeframe.
“To my knowledge, it is the most access ever to a process like this,” Yohai said.
The 11th District Democratic Committee reported a high early voting turnout — with over 5,085 ballots being cast, according to FFXNow.
“It is clear from the already impressive turnout that Democrats are fired up for change in Washington,” Fairfax County Democratic Committee chair Aaron Yohai told FFXnow.
The special election will take place on Sept. 9.