James Walkinshaw, the ex-chief of staff for the late Rep. Gerry Connolly, won a special election race Tuesday to fill his former boss’s seat.
The Associated Press called the race Tuesday night after 53% of votes were counted, projecting that Walkinshaw would carry a nearly 50 percentage point lead over Republican Stewart Whitson, a lobbyist for conservative think tank the Foundation for Government Accountability.
In a press release Tuesday night, the chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia, Lamont Bagby, said Walkinshaw delivered a “clear victory.”
“Congressman Connolly will never be replaced, but Congressman-elect Walkinshaw will carry on his mission of tireless public service and results for Northern Virginians,” Bagby said in the statement.
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Connolly, who endorsed Walkinshaw in the weeks before his death, had represented a safely blue Northern Virginia district since 2008.
Walkinshaw served as Connolly’s chief of staff for more than a decade before leaving in 2019 to flip his current board of supervisors seat in Fairfax County. During a July debate, Walkinshaw said his priorities would include reducing the costs of health care, higher education and homebuying, and as investing in renewable energy.
“Our community needs a member of Congress committed to fighting anyone who attacks our community and someone with a record of delivering results,” Walkinshaw said at a July debate.
Virginia’s 11th Congressional District makes up the majority of Fairfax County, home to 800,000 federal employees and contractors.
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