Youngkin sets date for special election to fill deep-blue House seat

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia on Tuesday set the date for a special election to fill a vacant heavily-blue congressional seat in the commonwealth.

Virginians in the state's 11th Congressional District will vote on Sept. 9 in a special election to fill the seat held by the late Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly, who died on May 21 after battling esophageal cancer.

Connolly, a longtime House member, announced in late April that he wouldn't seek re-election in 2026 in the Democrat-dominated Northern Virginia district in suburban Washington, D.C.

REP. GERRY CONNOLLY OF VIRGINIA DEAD AT AGE 75

Gov. Glenn Youngkin, seen here in a November 2024 interview, has set Sept. 9, 2025, as the date for a special election in Virginia's 11th Congressional District. (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)

Six Democrats and two Republican candidates have already jumped into the race to fill Connolly's seat.

The Republicans will be defending their razor-thin House majority in next year's midterm elections. The GOP currently controls the chamber 220-212, with three heavily blue districts vacant.

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Rep. Gerry Connolly attends an event on Oct. 22, 2020, in Fairfax, Virginia. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

The special election in Virginia will be the third to be held so far this year to fill vacant seats, with two more to follow.

The first two special elections, both in Florida congressional districts, replaced Republicans who resigned their terms, Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz.

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs of Arizona set Sept. 23 as the date for a special election to fill the seat left vacant after the death in March of Rep. Raúl Grijalva, a fellow Democrat.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, seen during a Fox News Digital interview on Sept. 5, 2024, in Las Vegas, has set Nov. 4 as the date of a special congressional election. (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)

And Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas set Nov. 4 as the date of a special election to fill the seat left vacant following the death of Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner in March. 

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Texas Democrats were angered over what they said was a month-long delay by Abbott in setting the special election date.