Northern Virginia politics delivered a major surprise Tuesday night after Republican Jeannie LaCroix pulled off a stunning upset in the Woodbridge District special election, flipping a seat Democrats had controlled for nearly four decades.
LaCroix won the race for the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors with 1,694 votes, giving her 43.73 percent of the total. Democratic nominee Muhammad Sufiyan “Sef” Casim finished second with 1,436 votes, or 37.07 percent. Write-in candidates collected a significant 744 votes, accounting for 19.20 percent of the total.
That unusually large write-in share turned out to be a decisive factor in the race.
Much of those votes may have gone to Democrat Pamela Montgomery, a longtime Woodbridge resident who launched a last-minute write-in campaign just one week before Election Day. Montgomery entered the race after a bitter internal dispute within the local Democratic Party.
Casim had narrowly defeated Montgomery in a February Democratic firehouse caucus by just 33 votes. Montgomery later alleged irregularities in that contest, claiming some participants who voted were not registered in the Woodbridge District. According to her campaign, at least 31 ballots were ultimately thrown out.
Tensions inside the party escalated dramatically when controversial social media posts tied to Casim resurfaced during the final weeks of the campaign. Critics described the posts as racist, misogynistic, and xenophobic. Although Casim issued a public apology, many Democrats said the damage had already been done.
Several Democratic leaders across Prince William County called on Casim to withdraw from the race entirely. Even most of the Democrats serving on the county’s Board of Supervisors reportedly said the posts were disqualifying. Despite that pressure, the Prince William County Democratic Committee stood by Casim and declared his apology sufficient.
That decision fractured the party heading into the election.
Montgomery responded by launching her write-in bid on March 3, openly challenging Casim and drawing support from voters frustrated with the situation.
Casim also faced scrutiny over where he actually lived. The candidate had recently run for Virginia’s House District 23 seat in December 2025. After losing that race, he moved to Woodbridge and quickly filed to run for the supervisor position vacated by Delegate Margaret Franklin.
Some residents criticized the move as “carpetbagging,” accusing Casim of relocating to the district primarily for political opportunity. During a candidate forum in February, Casim declined to answer questions about his residency.
According to reports, he even cast a provisional ballot during the Democratic caucus because the address he provided reportedly did not match his voter registration.
The Democratic infighting spilled fully into public view just days before the election, with party officials accusing Montgomery’s campaign of coordinating with Republicans. Montgomery’s team dismissed the claim and said the accusation was misleading.
In the end, the internal chaos created an opening that LaCroix successfully seized.
Her victory marks the first time in 38 years that a Republican has held the Woodbridge District seat. LaCroix previously ran for the position in 2023 but lost to Franklin after receiving 37 percent of the vote.
This time, with Democrats divided and controversy dominating the race, the Republican candidate managed to turn a long-shot campaign into a historic win.
Leave a Comment