Former House of Delegates Speaker to run for northern Virginia congressional seat

Eileen Filler-Corn, former member of the Virginia House of Delegates who served as the chamber’s first woman Speaker, has announced she’ll run for a northern Virginia congressional seat next year.

Filler-Corn, who was also the first Jewish Virginian to serve as House Speaker, said this week that she’d seek the Democratic nomination to run in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District. Current VA-10 Rep. Jennifer Wexton announced last month that she would not seek reelection because of a recent devastating health diagnosis.

Filler-Corn had previously been considering a bid for Virginia’s governorship in 2025. Her departure from that nascent contest leaves two other presumptive candidates – Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and VA-07 Rep. Abigail Spanberger – as contenders for the Democratic nomination.

In a statement announcing her congressional candidacy, Filler-Corn said that she is “continuing to fight relentlessly” to help Democrats win majorities in the General Assembly on Nov. 7. In 2019, Filler-Corn helped lead Democrats to their first legislative majorities in Virginia in decades. After this year’s election, she’ll turn her attention to her U.S. House bid.

“Congress has been left rudderless at a time of global uncertainty. The American people and our allies abroad deserve better than this,” Filler-Corn continued. “The chaos in Washington and the extremism of MAGA Republicans is making America weaker, both at home and across the world, threatening our economy, our allies, our health and our freedoms, including the right to vote and a woman’s right to choose. VA-10 deserves someone in Washington who can get to work on day one to take on the chaos and extremism that threatens our very way of life.”