Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw will face Republican Stewart Whitson in a special election this September after the death of Rep. Gerry Connolly in May.
At least 38,000 Democrats and 2,600 Republicans cast ballots in what’s called firehouse primaries.
Democrats are still working on a final tally as of Saturday night and have not declared an official winner.
Even before the vote counting was complete, one of two front runners in the 10 person Democratic field conceded, pledging her support to Walkinshaw.
state senator Stella Pekarsky posted on social media to congratulate Walkinshaw and urged all Democrats to get behind him to “send Donald Trump the biggest possible message from Fairfax.”
Before his death, Connolly endorsed Walkinshaw, who was his former chief of staff and is now a Fairfax County Board member.
Walkinshaw told News4 he’s thinking of Connolly and the next phase of this campaign.
“Our community is uniquely under attack by Trump and the Trump administration and DOGE, and folks here in Fairfax are looking for someone who’s going to be tireless and dogged and fearless and advocating for them, for federal workers, for federal contractors,” he said.
Several Democratic voters told News4 Connolly’s endorsement sealed their support for Walkinshaw.
“I was a big supporter of Connolly, and that’s what he supported,” one voter said.
Republican voters chose Whitson to be their nominee for the 11th congressional seat.
Whitson is an Army veteran and former FBI special agent who now works at a conservative think tank. Republican voters cast their primary ballots at Fairfax High School with seven candidates on the ballot. GOP voters told News4 they wanted a nominee who would strongly support President Donald Trump’s agenda.
“He can hit the ground running,” one voter said. “He’s battle tested. He has a lot of experience. He was former FBI. He’s former military. He’s currently networking with folks on Capitol Hill.”
The special election is September 9.
But Walkinshaw starts with an edge — the 11th district is seen as solidly blue. Both Connolly and Kamala Harris won the district with more than 65% of the vote. It’s the first time it’s been an open seat since the 2008 election, so Republicans say they see an opportunity.
