Long lines at the polls for the 2025 Special Election CD-11 for Democrats were the norm, like this partial image of the line at the Herndon Fortnightly Library, June 28. Lines elsewhere, such as at the Fairfax County Government Center, reportedly were hour-and-a-half waits.
Party winners emerged shortly after the June 28 11th Congressional District Republican Canvass by GOP 11 closed at 4 p.m. and the Democratic Special Election for the Eleventh Congressional District of Virginia by VADEMS closed at 7 p.m.
Stewart Whitson, of Great Falls, Va., a former FBI agent and U.S. Army combat veteran, is the Republican nominee. He received a total of 1,019 votes. Whitson was among the seven candidates who received a total of 2,601 votes, according to Rosie Oakley, chair of the 11th Congressional District Republican Committee.
James Walkinshaw, Braddock District representative on Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, is the Democratic nominee for the 11th Congressional District. He served as Chief of Staff to Congressman Gerry Connolly for more than 10 years, and Connolly endorsed Walkinshaw to succeed him. Walkinshaw is currently serving his second term representing the Braddock District on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Walkinshaw, his wife Yvette, and their son Mateo live in the Truro neighborhood.
According to the VADEMS release, Walkinshaw received 23,537 votes out of more than 39,000 total votes cast in the Democratic primary, with a total of 10 candidates running. Walkinshaw won nearly 60 percent of the votes cast.
The difference between the number of Democrats who turned out and voted in the firehouse primary (39,444) and the number of Republicans who turned out to vote in their canvass (2,601) is 36,843 voters. Registered voters in VA’s 11th district could cast ballots in only one party's primary, either the Democratic or Republican, but not both, in the heavily Democratic-leaning district, which encompasses most of Fairfax County and the entirety of the City of Fairfax.
“I'm honored and humbled to have earned the Democratic nomination for the district I've spent my career serving. This victory was powered by neighbors, volunteers, and supporters who believe in protecting our democracy, defending our freedoms, and delivering for working families,” Walkinshaw said at https://jameswalkinshaw.org/. “I also want to thank the nine amazing Democrats who stepped up to run. Putting yourself out there to run for office is not easy, and they each brought real strengths to the race.”
“Big WIN tonight for Team Whitson,” Whitson posted. “I'm ready to fight for the people in Virginia's 11th District, fight for our families, and fight to help @realDonaldTrump advance the America First agenda!” A reported 2,600 voters cast ballots in the Republican primary, with a total of seven candidates running.
Walkinshaw said in one of his campaign reels that he was “taking the fight to Trump. … His people were threatening me with prison for standing up against Trump.” Walkinshaw fought beside Congressman Gerry Connolly “to save Obamacare and stand up for federal workers,” he said.
Nominees Whitson (R) and Walkinshaw (D) will have a little over two months, 73 days, to campaign for the Sept. 9 special election to replace Connolly (D-VA), who died last May 21 of esophageal cancer. The winner in the Sept. 9 special election will fill the remainder of Connolly’s term.
Katie Gorka, chair of the Fairfax GOP, said on X shortly after the GOP polls closed, “So proud of all our VA 11th district congressional candidates, especially for the team spirit that prevailed! Now we will all get behind the winner of today’s primary, Stewart Whitson, in order [to] help him take back the 11th District.”
”We were fortunate to have 10 candidates to choose from in an intense and robust campaign,” 11th CDDC chair Manish Singh said after voting locations closed. “Democrats are fired up to elect someone who will fight back against Trump," said Singh. “The high turnout for early voting shows the enthusiasm and energy of the Democratic Party heading into the Sept. 9 special election.”
At the Democratic primary, long lines prevailed at many sites. Democratic voters turned out in record numbers.
In the Town of Herndon, one of 17 Democratic voting locations, the line wrapped around the Herndon Library and extended outside as voters waited to cast their ballots in the 90-degree heat with high humidity. At the Fairfax County Government Center, one voter posted around noon, “Just got in line at Fairfax County Govt Center. This is a heck of a long line! Someone who walked out after voting said he waited an hour and has never seen a line to vote in a primary this long before. … The man before me joked that he’s seen shorter lines at Disney World.”
The Sept. 9 special election matters. It's the first time an open seat has been available in the district since the 2008 election, so Republicans see it as an opportunity. Yet, Connolly won the 11th district with 66.68 percent of the vote in 2024, and Kamala Harris won the state of Virginia with 51.83 percent of the vote, carrying the 11th Congressional District with 65.4 percent of the vote.