Ghosts in the machine

When Rep. Gerry Connolly, a fixture of Northern Virginia politics and the House Oversight Committee’s top Democrat, announced his retirement in late April after a recurrence of esophageal cancer, he set off a scramble for one of the safest Democratic seats in the country. But just as the jockeying began, Connolly passed away, leaving behind a political vacuum and a controversy that’s exposing raw nerves within the Democratic establishment.

Connolly’s death on May 21 came just two weeks after he publicly endorsed his longtime chief of staff, Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw, as his preferred successor. In a letter released May 6, Connolly praised his former staffer’s “steadfast commitment to progressive values,” and Walkinshaw quickly jumped into the race, touting his record of standing up to Trump-era policies and his work on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. But Connolly’s endorsement did little to clear the field. At least nine Democrats have declared for a special election to fill the seat, including state Sen. Stella Pekarsky, Planning Commissioner Candice Bennett, and state Del. Irene Shin, alongside Walkinshaw. 

Here’s where the controversy begins: the Democratic nominee will be chosen in a “firehouse primary” on June 28—a fast-tracked, one-day caucus event planned by the local Democratic Party committee that some have slammed as favoring insiders and stifling grassroots participation. Candidates running are required to pay the party an unusually high filing fee of $7,000, and some political observers have accused the local party committee of putting up barriers and tilting the scales in favor of Walkinshaw. 

“This kind of inside-game politics does not serve democracy—it silences it,” Bennett recently told a local news outlet. “This is about…shaping the process to favor themselves.”

So, emotions have been running high, and then, last week, things got weird. If the unexpected barriers and expedited primary weren’t enough, someone on X flagged a few peculiar fundraising emails former Connolly supporters began to receive. Individuals on Connolly’s campaign email list have apparently received solicitations from “Gerry Connolly for Congress,” which direct them to a donation page in support of James Walkinshaw’s campaign. Needless to say, it is not common for members of Congress to continue fundraising weeks after they are dead... 

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