Usa Today.
WASHINGTON - Democrat James Walkinshaw won the Sept. 9 Virginia special election to fill late Rep. Gerald Connolly’s seat, shrinking the Republican margin in the U.S. House of Representatives to six seats.
Walkinshaw, who served as Connolly’s chief of staff and is a Fairfax County Supervisor, beat Republican Stewart Whitson, a former FBI Special Agent and U.S. Army combat veteran. Walkinshaw will now represent Virginia’s deep-blue 11th congressional district, which covers most of Fairfax County in the Washington, DC suburbs.
Walkinshaw’s victory means that Democrats now hold 213 seats in the House while Republicans hold 219 seats. House Speaker Mike Johnson already faced difficulties getting legislation across the finish line with a razor thin GOP majority. Johnson can now only afford to lose two Republican votes on any given bill if all Democrats are opposed.
Connolly died at age 75 in May, after announcing that his esophageal cancer had returned. In December last year, he secured a spot to be a ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which has the authority to investigate and hold the federal government accountable. He beat progressive firebrand New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for the position. California Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia has since become the committee minority's ranking member.
Connolly is the third House Democrat to die since the start of the 119th Congress in January. Reps. Sylvester Turner of Texas and Raul Grijalva of Arizona passed away in March within 10 days of each other.
Walkinshaw announced his congressional bid in May after Connolly said he would not seek reelection in 2026.
“This is a five-alarm fire moment for democracy. Step one to stopping Trump is securing a big win for the Virginia Democratic ticket in 2025 and step two is taking back Congress in 2026,” Walkinshaw said at the time.
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