Republican Defeats Democrat In Deep Blue District After Last-Minute Scandal

Republican Jeannie LaCroix pulled off a stunning upset Tuesday night, flipping a long-held Democratic seat in Northern Virginia after a chaotic race that saw the Democratic nominee battered by scandal and a last-minute write-in revolt from his own party.

LaCroix won the special election to represent the Woodbridge District on the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors, capturing 1,694 votes, or 43.73 percent.

Democratic nominee Muhammad Sufiyan “Sef” Casim finished with 1,436 votes, or 37.07 percent, while write-in candidates drew 744 votes, or 19.20 percent. It remains unclear how many of those write-ins were cast for Democrat Pamela Montgomery, who launched her campaign just one week before Election Day.

The result marks a dramatic shift in a district Democrats had controlled for decades.

Casim’s campaign unraveled in the final weeks after resurfaced social media posts were described by critics as racist, misogynistic, and xenophobic. Though Casim issued an apology, prominent Democrats across the region said it wasn’t enough.

Several state and local Democrats — including most of the Democrats serving on the county’s Board of County Supervisors — called the posts disqualifying and urged him to withdraw from the race. The Prince William County Democratic Committee, however, defended Casim and said his apology was sufficient.

PWC Dems posts “fraud alert” alleging collusion between Pam Montgomery and GOP. (Facebook/7News)

That internal fight cracked the party wide open.

Montgomery, a 32-year Woodbridge resident and former chief of staff to Delegate Margaret Franklin, launched a write-in campaign on March 3 in protest.

Casim had narrowly defeated Montgomery in a Democratic firehouse caucus in February by just 33 votes. Montgomery later alleged irregularities in the contest, claiming some people who voted were not registered in the Woodbridge District. She said at least 31 ballots were ultimately thrown out.

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Casim’s campaign also faced scrutiny over where he actually lived.

The Democrat had previously run for Virginia’s House District 23 seat in December 2025. After losing that primary to Franklin, he moved to Woodbridge and quickly filed to run for the supervisor seat she vacated.

Residents who contacted 7News described the move as “carpetbagging,” a term rooted in the post-Civil War Reconstruction era when Northerners moved south to exploit political opportunities. Today, the label is commonly used to describe candidates who relocate to a community specifically to run for office.

Under Virginia law, however, the practice is legal. Candidates must only have lived in Virginia for at least one year before the election and establish residency in their district by Election Day.

Still, questions persisted.

7News reported that during a Feb. 5 virtual candidate forum, Casim declined to answer questions about his residency. On the day of the caucus, according to a source familiar with the situation, Casim cast a provisional ballot because the address he provided the party reportedly did not match his voter registration.

7News contacted Casim and Prince William County Democratic Chair Samuel Chisolm about the residency questions and provisional ballot, but neither responded.

The Democratic infighting spilled into public view the day before the election.

The county’s Democratic Committee posted what it described as evidence that Montgomery’s write-in campaign was coordinating with Republicans. The Facebook post included a video showing a Republican volunteer alongside a member of Montgomery’s team and read: “Hard enough fighting MAGA to retain a seat, even harder when the Republicans join forces with a write-in. What’s going on here?”

Montgomery’s campaign manager fired back in the comments, saying the clip actually showed a volunteer in his 70s struggling to put up campaign signs before a LaCroix volunteer stepped in to help.

“So rather than the narrative you made up,” the campaign manager wrote, “it was actually a touching moment where someone reached across political lines to lend help to a fellow resident. Prince William County could use more moments like this.”

The campaign manager said the response was posted twice and deleted both times by the Democratic Committee. Screenshots, he added, were taken and “escalated to the [Democratic Party of Virginia] leadership team.”

The chaos ultimately helped clear a path for LaCroix.

Her victory marks the first time in 38 years that a Republican has held the Woodbridge seat.

LaCroix, who has lived in Woodbridge for about a decade, previously ran for the seat in 2023 but lost to Franklin after capturing just 37 percent of the vote.

Franklin herself had won the position in 2019 against Democrat Frank Principi, who ran a write-in campaign after losing the primary — an unusual dynamic that repeated itself this year in striking fashion.

Before Franklin, Principi held the seat for three straight terms in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Democrat Hilda Barg served before him, representing Woodbridge on the board for two decades beginning in 1988.

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