Two months after the death of Rep. Gerry Connolly, voters will begin casting ballots to determine his successor.
The early voting period for the 11th Congressional District special election begins tomorrow (Friday). It will run through 5 p.m. on Sept. 6, ending three days before the scheduled election day on Sept. 9.
Between July 25 and Aug. 29, only two polling places will be available: the Fairfax County Government Center and Reston’s North County Governmental Center. The former will be open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, while the latter will open from 1-7 p.m. on weekdays.
Both locations will add Saturday hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Aug. 30 and Sept. 6, but they will be closed for Labor Day on Monday, Sept. 1.
Early voting begins this Friday, 7/25, for the 11th Congressional District Special Election.
🗳️Fairfax County Government Center, 8 am-4:30 pm
🗳️North County Governmental Center (Reston), 1-7 pmOnly voters in the district are eligible to vote: https://t.co/W8Ouh0ZyOu pic.twitter.com/u9gdbgdx8G
— Fairfax County Government 🇺🇸 (@fairfaxcounty) July 23, 2025
Starting Aug. 29, nine more venues across Fairfax County will open for voters to cast their vote:
- Burke Centre Library (5935 Freds Oak Road)
- Centreville Regional Library (14200 St. Germain Drive)
- Franconia Governmental Center (6121 Franconia Road)
- Great Falls Library (9830 Georgetown Pike)
- Herndon Fortnightly Library (768 Center Street)
- Jim Scott Community Center (3001 Vaden Drive, Fairfax)
- Lorton Community Center (9520 Richmond Highway)
- Sully Governmental Center (4900 Stonecroft Boulevard, Chantilly)
- West Springfield Governmental Center (6140 Rolling Road)
All of those locations will allow voting from 1-7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the two available Saturdays.
Voting is only open to residents of the 11th Congressional District, which covers western and central Fairfax County with the exception of the Clifton area.
The deadline to register to vote for the special election is Sept. 2, though anyone who registers after that, including on the election day, can still vote with a provisional ballot. Requests for a mail ballot must be submitted to the Fairfax County General Registrar’s Office by 5 p.m. on Aug. 29.
The election, which is the first for the seat without an incumbent since 2008, pits Democrat James Walkinshaw against Republican Stewart Whitson.
Walkinshaw, 42, received nearly 60% of the vote in the Democratic primary last month, besting a deep field of contenders that included state Del. Irene Shin and state Sen. Stella Pekarsky.
An Annandale resident, Walkinshaw is in his second term representing the Braddock District on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Before joining the board in 2019, he spent more than a decade working as Connolly’s chief of staff in Congress.
The 45-year-old Whitson garnered nearly 40% of the vote in June’s Republican Primary, lifting him ahead of party retreads Mike Van Meter and Karina Lipsman, who previously ran for Congress in past years.
Whitson, who lives in Great Falls, has painted himself as a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump and has never held elected office before. A former FBI staffer, he currently works as an executive with the Foundation for Government Accountability, a conservative think tank based in Florida.
Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, which spans the majority of Fairfax County, has become a Democratic stronghold under Connolly’s watch. In the past 10 years, no Republican has received more than 33% of the vote in a general election.
With Walkinshaw heavily favored in the race as the Democratic nominee, two school board members — at-large member Ilryong Moon and Braddock District Representative Rachna Sizemore Heizer — have already announced campaigns for his seat on the Board of Supervisors.
