Del. Dan Helmer, a Democrat who has represented southwestern Fairfax County in the House of Delegates since 2020, is once again running for Congress.
The 44-year-old announced his candidacy today (Wednesday) to represent the newly-drawn 7th Congressional District — a sprawling “lobster-shaped” district that includes Helmer’s Fairfax home while stretching east to Arlington County, west to Augusta County and south to Goochland County.
By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press
Virginia voters will get to cast ballots on a congressional redistricting plan benefiting Democrats while a court battle plays out over the legality of the effort.
With Virginia expected to adopt a new Congressional map later this year, many potential candidates are shifting around their future plans.
The so-called “10-1” map proposed last week by Democrats in Virginia’s General Assembly would shift the boundaries of the state’s Congressional districts in hopes of expanding the party’s presence in Congress — a move that opponents have decried as unconstitutional gerrymandering even as Republican-led states make similar moves.
Some voters in Fairfax County will head to the polls tomorrow (Tuesday) with a state Senate seat on the ballot.
Though the majority of Virginia’s 39th Senate district is in Alexandria and Arlington, approximately 16,000 registered voters reside in the Fairfax County portion that starts at Seven Corners and continues southeast through Bailey’s Crossroads.
A potential statewide special election on mid-decade redistricting could put further stress on Fairfax County’s elections office, which has already been stretched thin over the past six months.
For now, however, the county’s election officials say the situation remains under control.
Former Space Force Col. Bree Fram (D) hopes to become the second transgender member elected to Congress in the upcoming midterm elections, but she’s not sure yet which district she would represent.
Last week, Fram filed to run in the strongly Democratic 11th Congressional District that currently covers a significant portion of Fairfax County. However, her campaign is monitoring whether a mid-decade redistricting push by Virginia Democrats would move her Reston home to the Democrat-leaning 10th Congressional District or even another district currently represented by a Republican.
An earlier version of this article said the campaign will be in the 10th or 11th Congressional District, but redistricting leaves open a third option of running in another district.
A former Space Force colonel who was forced to retire due to the Trump administration’s ban on transgender people serving in the military is seeking to represent part of Fairfax County in Congress.
Democrats are on track to add another vote to their already-comfortable majority in the Virginia House of Delegates.
Garrett McGuire, who won a primary last month to become the Democratic nominee, has declared victory in today’s special election for the 17th House District, which covers the Franconia area of Fairfax County from I-95 to Hayfield and Huntington.
Fairfax City Mayor Catherine Read will not seek a third term in an office she believes is “broken.”
Read announced her decision not to pursue a reelection bid this year before adjourning the Fairfax City Council’s meeting last night (Tuesday), stating that she has been honored to serve as mayor but criticizing the city charter that governs the role as “outdated and ill-equipped to meet the demands of a modern, 21st-century community.”
That’s one special election down, three more to go for Fairfax County voters.
In a low-turnout, low-suspense contest, Democratic nominee Gretchen Bulova handily defeated Republican candidate Adam Wise to become the next delegate for Virginia’s 11th House District, taking over a seat most recently filled by her husband, David Bulova.
