3 Democrats, 1 Republican seek House seat vacated by Jennifer Carroll Foy

Heather Mitchell will make another run for Special Election for Virginia’s 2nd House District, which could happen as soon as early January.

This will be the second time Mitchell, a Republican, has campaigned for the seat. She lost in November 2019 to incumbent Jennifer Carroll Foy (D), Prince William County, who has held the seat since 2017.

Carroll Foy announced she would step down from the seat to devote her full attention to her campaign for state governor, which she launched a statewide bus tour in Spring 2019 — a precursor to her gubernatorial campaign — at the same time she sought reelection to her House of Delegates seat.

Her decision to step down from power will allow her to raise money for her campaign as the upcoming Virginia General Assembly session begins on January 13, 2021 — something she couldn’t have done if she was still in office.  The majority of the 2nd District is in Stafford County, while a sliver of the district is Woodbridge, along Route 1 in Prince William County.

After 10 months of coronavirus restrictions in the state and the erosion of some of the liberties state residents enjoyed a year ago, including the right to assemble in large numbers and the ability to send their children to school, Mitchell says this campaign will be much different than it was in 2019.

“We have witnessed, over the past year, the audacity of the General assembly and its leadership, which has run roughshod over people,” said Mitchell.

Multiple businesses suffered under the government-ordered lockdown and continued worrying about future lockdowns — something Gov. Ralph Northam hinted earlier this week. Lockdown orders we eased in Stafford on May 15 and on June 1 in Stafford and Prince William Counites, respectively. Before Thanksgiving, Northam again ordered limits on the number of people who could gather in person, capping the amount to 25, down from 250.

With Joe Biden set to take office on January 20, 2021, and Donald Trump on his way out of the White House, Republicans say fewer Democrats will be motivated to vote. Overall, says Mitchell, the election, like the recent November 3 poll, will once again come down to absentee mail-in ballots as the coronavirus threat remains.

Mitchell, who lives with her husband in Stafford County, served two terms as a Magisterial District Chair for the Rock Hill District in Stafford County and working on several local and statewide elections. She served as the senior Aide to former Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman At-large Corey Stewart. She was the liaison for the county’s legislative priorities, annual budget, Board Audit Committee, and the Prince William School Board.

Multiple Democrats, all of whom are local political newcomers, have tossed their name into the hat to seek the House seat. Pamela Montgomery is one of four candidates now seeking the Democratic Party nomination to run. She also hails from Prince William County Government’s hallways, where she currently serves as the senior aide to Woodbridge District Supervisor Margaret Franklin.

Montgomery has been a resident of Prince William County for 27 years and is currently serving as a member of the Prince William County Democratic Committee, the 11th Congressional District Democratic Committee, and the Woodbridge Potomac Communities Civic Association, in addition to her role as Chair of the Bethel Youth & Family Services Foundation. Pamela is also the immediate past president of the Woodbridge Rotary Club, according to a press release.

Candi King, the wife of Fairfax County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh King, who lost his bid for Prince William County Sheriff in 2019 despite a $50,000 donation from Democratic mega-donor George Soros late in the campaign, is also seeking the nomination. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Norfolk State University, serves as a special needs parent advocate, a volunteer at Freedom High School, and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., according to a press release.

Rozia Henson, of Woodbridge, and a native of Prince William County, is also seeking the nomination. Henson is an IT program manager, a member of the Prince William Young Democrats, and serves on the Prince William County Historical Commission.

The nominating process for the Democrats will be a party caucus likely on Sunday with locations in Prince William and Stafford, said Virginia Democratic Party spokesman Grant Fox.

This is not a must-win seat for Democrats as the party maintains a 10-seat majority in the House, 55 seats to the Republican’s 45 seats. The election winner will serve the remainder of Carroll Foy’s term, which ends on December 31, 2021.

The 2nd District was relocated from Southwest Virginia to Northern Virginia as part of the 2010 redistricting process, as the population in Northern Virginia grew. The seat has changed hands and parties multiple times and was first held by Mark Dudenehfer (R), of Stafford, who now sits on the Stafford County Board of Supervisors.

In 2013, Micheal Futrell (D), of Woodbridge, was elected to the seat to serve one term. Dudenehfer retook the seat and served another term, and opted not to seek reelection to the post. Carroll Foy won the seat in 2017.