With the odds in favor of Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw moving on to Congress, the race to replace him on the Board of Supervisors has quietly kicked off.
Ilryong Moon, a veteran of the Fairfax County School Board, intends to pursue the Braddock Supervisor position if Walkinshaw wins election to the U.S. House of Representatives, Moon confirmed to FFXnow.
“Having lived in the Braddock District since 1987 and raised both of my sons here, I have a profound love for this community and want to ensure that it remains a great place to live, work, and raise a family,” Moon said in a statement apparently sent to supporters last week.
Walkinshaw was chosen on June 28 as the Democratic nominee in the race for Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, which has been vacant since Rep. Gerry Connolly died in May. He will face off against Republican Stewart Whitson in a special election for the seat on Sept. 9.
If Walkinshaw wins — a likely outcome, given the district’s overwhelming Democratic lean — he would need to vacate his county board seat before being sworn into Congress.
A temporary appointment would likely come first, with the remaining board members having 45 days to pick a placeholder under Virginia law. A special election would then be held, potentially as early as November 4’s previously scheduled elections.
Moon, who lives in Kings Park West, is the first candidate to openly express interest in the seat, which Walkinshaw has held since 2020. It would be Moon’s second attempt to join the county’s Board of Supervisors if he ultimately runs.
In 2009, Moon was the Democratic nominee in a special election for the seat, which opened up after Sharon Bulova was elected to board chair. Moon went on to lose to John Cook, the Republican nominee, by 89 votes.
A known name in county politics for four decades, Moon is in his third separate stint on the school board after most recently getting elected to an at-large seat in 2023.
First appointed to the board in 1995, Moon was elected to represent the Braddock District the following year. He served in the role through 1999 before joining the county’s planning commission.
Moon returned to the school board as an at-large member in 2004, serving until 2019. He was named the board’s chairman three times during that span and spent another three years as vice chairman.
Other candidates could include Rachna Sizemore Heizer, who currently represents the Braddock District on the school board, and Mary Cortina, who has represented the district on the planning commission since 2020.
Screenshot via FCPS/YouTube
