Douglas Shuster Running In 11th District Delegate Race: Democratic Primary

FAIRFAX, VA — Promoting the development of efficient multimodal transportation infrastructure is the single most pressing issue for District 11, according to Douglas Shuster, one of the five candidates seeking to be the Democratic Party's candidate in the Jan. 13, 2026 special election.

"Growth and development are consuming our available transportation infrastructure, leading to traffic issues and turning our streets into traffic sewers that are unsafe for vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles," he said. "We need legislation that supports mitigating the impacts from rapid growth on traffic before we become overwhelmed with endless congestion."

Shuster is facing So Lim, Vanessa Cárdenas, Gretchen Bulova, and Denver Supinger in Tuesday's firehouse primary, hoping to be their party's candidate on the Jan. 13 ballot in the 11th District delegate race.

How To Vote: 11th District Democrats Host Primary In House Of Delegates Race

The 11th District seat became vacant when David Bulova stepped down to become Governor-Elect Abigail Spanberger's nominee as the next Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources.

Patch reached out to all five candidates running in Tuesday's primary, asking them to answer a few questions to help voters learn more about them. The following are Shuster's responses to Patch's candidate questionnaire. Scroll down to view the other candidates' responses.

What is your name?

Douglas Shuster

What will be your age on election day?

58

What is your occupation and the number of years you've worked in the field?

International Infrastructure Development, 25 years

What is the single issue that defines your candidacy? (200 Word Limit)

Representational democracy to improve their quality of life of the constituents of District 11 is the single issue that defines my candidacy. I started working on local issues in NOVA when I successfully advocated against an impossibly dense planned development around Herndon’s new Metro station about 15 years ago. As President of the Miller Heights Neighborhood Association, a civic association in Oakton representing a few hundred households, I’ve worked to give our community a voice and we’ve accomplished work on traffic calming, environmental management, and advocating for good land use and traffic planning in Oakton, specifically the Chain Bridge corridor and the AT&T Site development. The most important way to serve my constituents is to listen to them. I want to have my finger on the pulse of my constituency by using the many tools available, including polls and civic meetings. Too often the people in our community feel that local and state government is not listening or representing them, leaving them feeling disenfranchised and voiceless. I listen to everybody. I work with everybody. I strive for consensus when many have given up on that goal.

What makes you the best candidate to represent the Democratic Party in the Jan. 13 special election? (200 Word Limit)

How far we have we come from a true democracy with the debacle of the Democratic “primary” to fill Bulova’s delegate seat for the 11th district. Democratic voters don’t want candidates handpicked by the party. The Party Machine seems deaf to the people’s cries for participatory democracy. They handpicked Kamala Harris without a primary, pushed Walkinshaw in a four week firehouse primary using the ghost of Congressman Connoly’s social media account. Mamdani couldn’t get an endorsement from the party elites but proved to us that the people can think for themselves. Now a firehouse primary is announced by the Democratic Speaker hours after Bulova announces his resignation. The public is informed on Friday 5pm what the rules of the game are. Submit paperwork and $2,500 within 24 hours for a primary that will be held three days later. There will be excuses, it will be rationalized, but the people have common sense and wrong is wrong. Disenfranchising the people has become the status quo and voters are losing faith that their voice is being heard. It’s leading to the decline of the Democratic Party and of America. I would give the power back to the people of the Democratic Party.

The single most pressing issue facing the 11th District is and this is what I intend to do about it? (200 Word Limit)

Promoting the development of efficient multimodal transportation infrastructure is the single most pressing issue for District 11. Growth and development are consuming our available transportation infrastructure, leading to traffic issues and turning our streets into traffic sewers that are unsafe for vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles. We need legislation that supports mitigating the impacts from rapid growth on traffic before we become overwhelmed with endless congestion. We need to deploy advanced technologies to use existing resources more efficiently. We need to increase investment in public transportation. We need to improve the Chain Bridge Corridor and other congested roadways in District 11 to provide a better quality of life for constituents. And we need to align VDOT policies with local priorities.

Also See ...

• Gretchen Bulova Running In 11th District Delegate Race: Democratic Primary
• Denver Supinger Running In 11th District Delegate Race: Democratic Primary
• Vanessa Cárdenas Running In 11th District Delegate Race: Democratic Primary
• So Lim Running In 11th District Delegate Race: Democratic Primary