Shannon Taylor Launches Bid To Represent Virginia's 1st Congressional District

By Samantha Willis, Virginia Mercury

September 9, 2025

Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor launched her bid for Congress Monday morning, less than three months after losing the Democratic nomination for Virginia attorney general to Jay Jones. Taylor now joins nine other Democratic candidates hoping to take on longtime Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman in November for the chance to represent Virginia’s First Congressional District for the next two years.

With a track record as a hardline prosecutor, Taylor was first elected to serve as Henrico’s commonwealth’s attorney in 2011 and has spent three terms in the role. She has run for statewide office twice — both times in the Democratic primary for attorney general. In 2021, facing Jones and Mark Herring, she withdrew from the race. She chose not to run in order to “focus on the critical issues happening in Henrico from criminal justice reform to addressing longstanding systemic racism in our society,” Taylor said, according to WWBT.

Herring won the nomination but lost the seat to Jason Miyares (who is now vying for reelection). Taylor’s loss to Jones in this year’s attorney general Democratic primary was a close one, with Jones edging Taylor with 51.5% of the votes to her 48.8%.

Virginia attorney general race questionnaire: Shannon Taylor

Taylor has set her sights on defeating Wittman, who has represented the 1st District since 2012, which spans from parts of Henrico, Hanover and Chesterfield Counties in Central Virginia to the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula. There are over 471,000 registered voters in the district, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

The congressman has faced fierce public scrutiny for his support of the One Big Beautiful Bill and over 150 of constituents called him out in the spring for failing to appear in person at town halls to address his stance supporting the federal measure, which is set to slash billions from Medicaid, and his backing of sweeping immigration reforms that advocates and Democratic lawmakers say circumvents due process and breaks up families. Wittman said at the time he values talking with Virginians and hosts telephone town halls to reach as many as possible at one time, including one in March that he said included over 9,000 people.

Wittman constituents host town hall in his absence to address immigration, federal funding concerns

“As Henrico’s top prosecutor, I’ve made it my mission to protect and defend Virginia families by locking up violent criminals, taking on fraudsters and scammers, and getting drugs and guns off our streets to keep our community safe,” Taylor said in a statement Monday. “Now I’m taking on a new fight to prosecute the case against Rob Wittman because he has spent nearly 20 years in Washington enriching himself while selling out the very community I’ve fought to protect.”

Taylor is running on a platform of defending working Virginians and keeping communities safe. She has been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who said Taylor has ensured justice for Henrico citizens “without fear or favor.”

“Since 2012, Shannon has worked to keep the residents of Henrico safe by prosecuting murders, drug dealers, and fraudsters, and standing up for victims and their families,” Kain said. “Now she is running to stand up for hardworking families in Virginia’s 1st District. As a friend of Shannon’s for more than 15 years, I’m proud to endorse her as she runs to serve as an independent leader in Congress for her community.”

A native of Charlottesville, Taylor was previously a prosecutor in Richmond before serving as a special assistant in the U.S. Attorney’s office. She was the first woman elected as Henrico’s commonwealth’s attorney and, according to her campaign office, was “one of the first prosecutors in America to say she would defend the right to abortion care” after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Taylor is the latest Democrat to take aim against Wittman; Salaam Bhatti, Timothy Cywinski, Ericka Kopp, Andrew Lucchetti, Amanda Pohl, James Shea, Sean Sublette, Mel Tull and Lisa Vedernikova Khanna will face Taylor in a primary whose date is yet to be determined. The winner will face off against Wittman in the general election on Nov. 4. Early voting begins in Virginia Sept. 19.

This story was originally published by the Virginia Mercury. For more stories from the Virginia Mercury, visit Virginia Mercury.com.