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Virginia's 11th Congressional District special election, 2025 (June 28 Democratic firehouse primary)
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James Walkinshaw won the Democratic firehouse primary for Virginia's 11th Congressional District on June 28, 2025.[1][2]
On June 3, 2025, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) called a special election for Virginia's 11th Congressional District which was held September 9, 2025. Incumbent Gerald Connolly (D) died on May 21, 2025.[3]
Virginia law requires political parties to nominate their candidates 60 days before special elections, in this case by July 11.[4] The 11th Congressional District Democratic Committee held a firehouse primary on June 28 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with early voting on June 24, 25, and 26 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.[5][6] Political parties, rather than the state government, conduct firehouse primaries, which have fewer polling sites and shorter voting hours.[7] The primary used plurality voting, in which the winner of an election is the candidate that received the highest number of votes.[4]
Nine people ran in the Democratic firehouse primary: Candice Bennett, Dan Lee, Leo Martinez, Amy Papanu, Stella Pekarsky, Priya Punnoose, Amy Roma, Irene Shin, and James Walkinshaw.[8] The candidate list was finalized on June 18.[5][9]
The 11th Congressional District included part of Fairfax County and Fairfax, Virginia.[5] Punchbowl News' Ally Mutnick wrote that the district "borders the Beltway ... [and] ... has more federal workers than any other except those with military bases, making it generally more establishment-friendly. Every candidate in the race will vow to take on Trump, but their styles differ. It’s a fascinating test of whether Democratic primary voters want someone more disruptive of the status quo or someone who adopts a more traditional approach."[10]
According to The Washington Post, before his death Connolly "sought to influence the outcome for his party by endorsing his former chief of staff, Fairfax County Supervisor James R. Walkinshaw (D-Braddock)," on May 7, 2025.[4] Representative Don Beyer (D-Va.) and former Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) also endorsed Walkinshaw.[10]
Democratic leaders within state government endorsed state Sen. Pekarsky (District 36), including Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas (D) and Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D).[11][12]
At least two candidates described themselves as alternatives to what they said were career, party-backed politicians. Shin, who represented District 8 in the House of Delegates, said, "This moment calls for generational change and leaders who actually understand the lived experiences of the people they represent."[4] Lee, a health-tech entrepreneur, said, "The conveyor belt of career politicians don’t know how to fight. ... It’s time for the next generation of leaders who aren’t part of the elected class to step up and take action right now."[13]
Connolly represented the district from 2009 to 2025. A Republican was last elected to the district in 2006. Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+18. This means that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 18 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Virginia's 11th Congressional District the 76th most Democratic district nationally.[14]
Candidates and election results
Candidates
- Candice Bennett
- Dan Lee
- Leo Martinez
- Amy Papanu
- Stella Pekarsky
- Priya Punnoose
- Amy Roma
- Irene Shin
- James Walkinshaw
Election results
| Candidate | Party | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Candice Bennett | Democrat | 190 |
| Dan Lee | Democrat | 710 |
| Leo Martinez | Democrat | 498 |
| Amy Papanu | Democrat | 396 |
| Stella Pekarsky | Democrat | 5,043 |
| Priya Punnoose | Democrat | 232 |
| Amy Roma | Democrat | 2,697 |
| Irene Shin | Democrat | 5,368 |
| James Walkinshaw | Democrat | 22,403 |
District history
The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2020.
2024
See also: Virginia's 11th Congressional District election, 2024
Virginia's 11th Congressional District election, 2024 (June 18 Democratic primary)
Virginia's 11th Congressional District election, 2024 (June 18 Republican primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Virginia District 11
Incumbent Gerald Edward Connolly defeated Michael Van Meter in the general election for U.S. House Virginia District 11 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Gerald Edward Connolly (D) | 66.7 | 273,529 |
 | Michael Van Meter (R)  | 32.9 | 134,802 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.5 | 1,855 | ||
| Total votes: 410,186 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Virginia District 11
Incumbent Gerald Edward Connolly defeated Ahsan Nasar in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Virginia District 11 on June 18, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Gerald Edward Connolly | 85.6 | 37,378 |
 | Ahsan Nasar | 14.4 | 6,270 | |
| Total votes: 43,648 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Michael Van Meter advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Virginia District 11.
2022
General election
General election for U.S. House Virginia District 11
Incumbent Gerald Edward Connolly defeated James Myles in the general election for U.S. House Virginia District 11 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Gerald Edward Connolly (D) | 66.7 | 193,190 |
 | James Myles (R) | 33.0 | 95,634 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 828 | ||
| Total votes: 289,652 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Gerald Edward Connolly advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Virginia District 11.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Dereje Gerawork (D)
- Ally Dalsimer (D)
Republican primary election
Republican Primary for U.S. House Virginia District 11
The following candidates advanced in the ranked-choice voting election: James Myles in round 4 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.
|
Total votes: 1,668 |
|||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
2020
General election
General election for U.S. House Virginia District 11
Incumbent Gerald Edward Connolly defeated Manga Anantatmula in the general election for U.S. House Virginia District 11 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Gerald Edward Connolly (D) | 71.4 | 280,725 |
 | Manga Anantatmula (R) | 28.3 | 111,380 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 1,136 | ||
| Total votes: 393,241 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Stevan Porter (L)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Virginia District 11
Incumbent Gerald Edward Connolly defeated Zainab Mohsini in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Virginia District 11 on June 23, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Gerald Edward Connolly | 77.6 | 50,626 |
 | Zainab Mohsini | 22.4 | 14,610 | |
| Total votes: 65,236 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican convention
Republican convention for U.S. House Virginia District 11
Manga Anantatmula advanced from the Republican convention for U.S. House Virginia District 11 on June 20, 2020.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Manga Anantatmula (R) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Walkinshaw wins Virginia primary to replace Rep. Connolly, his former boss," June 28, 2025
- ↑ 11th Congressional District Democrats, "CD-11 UNOFFICIAL RESULTS," accessed June 30, 2025
- ↑ Virginia Mercury, "Youngkin sets Sept. 9 special election to fill Connolly’s seat in Congress," June 3, 2025
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 The Washington Post, "Special election to fill Rep. Connolly’s seat in Congress officially set," June 4, 2025
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 ABC News 7, "Democrats set June 28 primary to fill late Rep. Gerry Connolly's seat," June 6, 2025
- ↑ 11th Congressional District Democrats, "2025 Special Election," accessed June 11, 2025
- ↑ The Downballot, "Morning Digest: Why Democrats worry they might lose Texas' second-biggest city," June 6, 2025
- ↑ Mercedes Yanora, "Email communication with 11th Congressional District Democrats Chair Manisha Singh," June 19, 2025
- ↑ FFX Now, "Democrats plan ‘firehouse’ primary for 11th District special election," June 6, 2025
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Punchbowl News, "The race to succeed Connolly is on," June 4, 2025
- ↑ The National Herald, "VA Senate President Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas Endorses Pekarsky for Congress," May 28, 2025
- ↑ Greek News USA, "VA Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell Endorses Stella Pekarsky for Congress," May 29, 2025
- ↑ Facebook, "Dan Lee for Virginia," June 3, 2025
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "The 2022 Cook Partisan Voting Index (Cook PVI℠)," accessed January 10, 2024
