James Walkinshaw

James Robert Walkinshaw (born October 22, 1982) is an American politician and former congressional chief of staff serving as a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors from the Braddock District since 2020.^[1] A member of the Democratic Party, he won the party’s nomination for the 2025 Virginia's 11th congressional district special election, following the death of U.S. representative Gerry Connolly on May 21, 2025.^[2]

Walkinshaw was born in Arlington, Virginia and grew up in Prince William County.^[3] He graduated from New York University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts in politics.^[3]

Following his graduation from New York University, Walkinshaw became involved in Democratic politics in Northern Virginia, managing Gerry Connolly's 2007 campaign for Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and Connolly's successful 2008 campaign for the United States House of Representatives.^[4] Walkinshaw served as Connolly's chief of staff from 2009 until 2019.^[5][6][7]

In 2019, Walkinshaw was elected to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, succeeding John C. Cook to represent the Braddock District.^[1] He chairs the Board’s Legislative Committee and Environmental Committee, the VRE Operations Board, and the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board.^[8]

In May 2025, Representative Gerry Connolly announced he would not seek reelection in 2026 due to health concerns.^[9] Walkinshaw announced his candidacy later that week, and secured Connolly's endorsement.^[10] On May 21, 2025, Connolly died from esophageal cancer and Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin announced a special election to fill the seat, set for September 9, 2025.^[11]

The Democratic Party selected its nominee in the race through a firehouse primary on June 28, 2025. The primary drew criticism from some candidates including Stella Pekarsky and Irene Shin who said that the compressed timeline and decision to not use ranked-choice voting gave Walkinshaw an unfair advantage.^[12][13] In the final days of the Democratic primary, Connolly’s official campaign and social media accounts, which had been inactive since his death, shared endorsements for Walkinshaw.^[14][15] The posts sparked additional criticism from commentators and rival campaigns who questioned the ethics of using Connolly's online persona for campaign purposes.^{[16][17][18][19][20]}

Walkinshaw won the Democratic primary race for the seat on June 28, 2025.^{[21][22][23][24]}

Walkinshaw opposes the tariff and trade policies of the second Trump administration. He has also criticized the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, saying that over 320,000 Virginians would lose healthcare access as a result of the bill and that he would work to repeal the bill if elected to Congress.^[25]

Walkinshaw says that curriculum decisions "are made and should be made at the local and to some degree state level" and has dismissed claims that the U.S. Department of Education determines curriculum in local school districts. He opposes the President Donald Trump's efforts to "dismantle" the Department of Education.^[25]

Walkinshaw supports providing aid to Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian War. He has described Israel as a "key U.S. ally strategically" and supports maintaining U.S. military assistance to the country, but has called for a ceasefire in the Gaza War and criticized Israel for blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza. Walkinshaw supports the China–United States trade war, saying that he agrees with Trump that China "has been operating unfairly within the global trade and economic regime for a long time".^[25]

Walkinshaw opposes the immigration policy of the second Donald Trump administration, saying that "Trump's agenda to terrorize and deport law-abiding families is a distraction from focusing on the small number who commit violent crimes". He supports comprehensive immigration reform and a path to citizenship.^[25]

Walkinshaw lives in Annandale, Virginia.^[26]