Editor’s Note: This article is part of a two-part series of exclusive interviews with James Walkinshaw and Stewart Whitson, who are competing to represent Virginia’s 11th Congressional District. The story on Whitson was published yesterday (Thursday).
If he’s elected to Congress, James Walkinshaw won’t have any trouble finding his way around Capitol Hill.
At 42 years old, he’s already a political veteran after more than a decade working as a Congressional staffer, followed by nearly five years representing the Braddock District on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
The combination of experience in both local and federal politics has helped make the Democratic nominee the frontrunner to succeed his former boss, Gerry Connolly, in representing Virginia’s 11th Congressional District.
“We kept our campaign focused on my record of delivering results, and my record of standing up to Trump, because my bet was that’s what voters wanted to know about all of us who are running,” Walkinshaw said. “The results suggest that that was correct.”
When he launched his campaign in May, shortly after Connolly announced that he would not seek reelection due to a reemergence of the esophageal cancer that ultimately led to his death, Walkinshaw was quick to take aim at the “MAGA agenda,” calling it “a five-alarm moment for our democracy.”
But Walkinshaw’s perspective, and that of most Democrats, is actually twofold. On one hand, the party has been tasked with combatting the actions of President Donald Trump, who Walkinshaw says has orchestrated a failing economy since taking office.
On the other hand, there’s a need for a long-term approach that goes beyond Trump, who is ineligible from being elected for a third term as the country’s chief executive.
With the clock ticking on Trump’s presidency, Walkinshaw says it’s necessary for Democrats to focus on solving widespread societal issues — not just opposing the current president.
“I think that agenda should be focused around affordability, making it more affordable for people to access healthcare, to purchase a home, to purchase a car, to put their kid into college or a trade school, to pay your electric bill every month,” Walkinshaw said.
One key driver of affordability is employment, which has taken a hit in Fairfax County and across the D.C. region as the Trump administration guts the federal government’s workforce.
If elected to represent a district with one of the country’s largest concentrations of federal employees, Walkinshaw said he would immediately co-sponsor bills like the “Delete DOGE Act,” which would cut off funding for the team leading Trump’s mass workforce and spending cuts.
“I will be working to shine a light on some of these most egregious examples of mistreatment of federal employees, in the hopes that somebody somewhere in the Trump administration has a shred of conscience and will do the right thing,” said Walkinshaw, who hosted a roundtable with fired federal workers last month.
Early voting for the 11th District special election continues until 5 p.m. Saturday (Sept. 6) at 11 locations across the county. On Election Day, which is next Tuesday, polls will be open from 6 a.m. through 7 p.m.
More voting information, including where to find your polling place, is available online.
