Republican Nominated To Face Democrat In VA House Special Election

VIENNA, VA — The candidates for the 35th House of Delegates special election on Jan. 10 are set after a Republican was nominated and a Democrat was chosen by caucus. The special election will fill the vacant seat after Del. Mark Keam resigned to take a Biden administration role.

The Republican Party of Fairfax County announced Monique Baroudi as the Republican nominee in the special election. Kevin McGrath, a Republican candidate who unsuccessfully challenged Keam in the November 2021 election.

Baroudi is an Oakton resident and information technology professional who had attended Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

"It is time for commonsense conservatives to have a strong voice in Northern Virginia," said Baroudi in a statement. "With your help, I can win this special election and I will be a voice for parents, taxpayers and concerned citizens who care about our community, our state and our nation."

Holly Seibold is the Democratic nominee for the 35th House District special election. Seibold was announced as the nominee after a caucus held by the Fairfax County Democratic Committee. Seibold was a teacher before founding an educational firm and also founded the nonprofit BRAWS, which provides menstrual supplies and undergarments to women and girls. The other candidate in the Democratic caucus was Karl Frisch, the Providence District representative on the Fairfax County School Board.

"I cannot thank the Democrats of District 35 enough for this tremendous honor," Seibold stated after being nominated for the special election. "I promise to make you proud in Richmond and fight for the Virginia values of equality, justice, and freedom."

The district, which includes the Town of Vienna, Dunn Loring, and parts of Tysons, Oakton and Fair Lakes, is strongly blue. Democrats have held the 35th House District seat since 2003.

Keam, the first Asian-born immigrant and first Korean American elected to state office in Virginia, resigned to become an assistant deputy secretary for the National Travel and Tourism Office, the Associated Press reported. Keam was first elected to the seat in 2009.

The special election will be held on Jan. 10, 2023. The special election winner will fill the seat until the November 2023 election when all Virginia General Assembly seats are up for election. When redrawn legislative maps take effect with the 2023 election, the 35th House District will move to the Shenandoah Valley region. Several other districts created from areas of the current 35th House District — 11th House District with parts of Oakton, Fair Lakes and Fairfax City and the 12th House District with the Town of Vienna, Tysons and parts of Dunn Loring/Merrifield and Mantua.

Early voting in the special election will take place at the Fairfax County Office of Elections on Nov. 25. The voter registration deadline for the special election will be Dec. 19 and the deadline to request a mail-in ballot will be Dec. 30. More details about the special election are available here.