Stewart Whitson Wins GOP Canvass In 11th District Race

FAIRFAX, VA — Former FBI Special Agent Stewart Whitson won Saturday's Republican Canvass at Fairfax High School to become the party's nominee in the Sept. 9 special election to fill the vacant 11th District congressional seat.

During early voting on Friday and the canvass on Saturday, 2,601 GOP voters cast ballots for one of the seven candidates on the ballot, with Whitson defeating Nathan Headrick, Karina Lipsman, Michael Van Meter, Lucas Rand, Sam Wong and Arthur Purves.

"The turnout shows that 11th District Republicans are fired up and ready to flip the 11th District red," said Rosie Oakley, chairman of the 11th Congressional District Republican Committee. "While the Democrats spent time rigging their primary for an establishment candidate who wants to raise taxes and continue the useless investigations of President Trump that only people in Washington D.C. seem to care about, we had a fair and open process that selected a true conservative fighter, ready to represent the concerns of Virginia families."

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In April, incumbent U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly announced he would not seek reelection in 2026 due to health concerns. Last November, Connolly revealed that he'd been diagnosed with esophageal cancer and was receiving chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatment. However, the cancer returned and the congressman's family announced he had died on May 21.

"I think having seven candidates sort of reflects the energy and the enthusiasm that people are feeling about this election," Oakly said at Fairfax High School on Saturday. "It's the first time in 16 years that we've been able to not be running against an incumbent. So we're pretty excited."

Although the GOP announced the winner of its canvass around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, the 11th District Democratic Committee was still counting votes in its firehouse primary an hour later.

A spokesman for the committee said that more than 33,000 votes were cast Saturday, in addition to more than 5,000 cast during early voting. Counting was still under way and none of the 17 polling locations had reported their totals as of 8:35 p.m.

"This is a new day for the Republican Party in Northern Virginia," Oakley said. "With Stewart Whitson as our nominee, we're ready to take our conservative message directly to the voters and win this seat back for the people of the 11th District."

The special election will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 9, with early voting beginning on July 25.

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