Republican Jeannie LaCroix successfully flipped a long-time Democrat seat in Northern Virginia after an intense and chaotic race that saw her opponent embroiled in a major scandal that resulted in a last-minute write-in revolt from members of his own party. LaCroix’s shocking upset means she will now represent the Woodbridge District on the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors.
The Republican ultimately captured 43.73% of the vote to take home the victory. Democratic Party nominee Muhammad Sufiyan “Sef” Casim pulled in 37.07% of the vote, while write-in candidates pulled 19.20% of the vote away from him. At the time of this writing, it’s not clear how many of the write-in votes were cast for Democrat Pamela Montgomery, who started her campaign for the seat just a week before the election.
LaCroix’s win marks a huge shift in a district Democrats had on lock for several decades. Casim’s campaign crashed and burned during its final weeks due to social media posts that the Democrat’s critics called racist, misogynistic, and xenophobic. While Casim issued an apology, many of the top Democrats across the region stated that wasn’t good enough.
According to Trending Politics News, several state and local Democrats, including the majority of Democrats serving on the county’s Board of County Supervisors, said the posts were so egregious that they were disqualifying, going so far as to encourage Casim to drop out of the race. This sentiment was not shared by the Prince William County Democratic Committee, which came to his defense and said his apology was good enough.
Reports indicate that the in-fighting over Casim and his controversial posts caused a deep divide in the party. Montgomery, a 32-year-old Woodbridge resident and the former chief of staff to Delegate Margaret Franklin, started a write-in campaign as a form of protest on March 3, 2026. Casim barely squeaked by Montgomery in a firehouse caucus held in February, only defeating her by a total of 33 votes.
Montgomery stated after the race that there were irregularities in the contest, making claims that some individuals who voted were not registered to vote in the Woodbridge District. She revealed that a total of 31 ballots were tossed out. Casim’s campaign was also troubled by scrutiny about where he actually lived. He had previously run for Virginia’s House District 23 seat in December 2025.
Casim lost to Franklin in the primary, after which he moved his residence to Woodbridge and then quickly filed to run for the supervisor seat she vacated. A number of residents contacted local media outlets and described the move as “carpetbagging,” which is a term originating from the post-Civil War era when Northerners moved to the South to take advantage of political opportunities.
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The label is commonly used today to describe candidates who move to a specific community for the express purpose of running for office. While it’s an uncouth strategy to employ, the state of Virginia allows it. Candidates only need to have lived in the state of Virginia for a year before the election and have an established residency in their district by Election Day.
During a February 5 virtual candidate forum, Casim refused to answer any questions concerning his residency. On the day of the caucus, a source close to the situation revealed that Casim cast a provisional ballot because the address he gave the party didn’t match the one on his voter registration. The day before votes were to be cast, the infighting among Democrats came out in the public.
The county’s Democratic Committee posted evidence on social media that they believed proved Montgomery was coordinating her write-in campaign with Republicans. A video attached to the post showed a GOP volunteer standing next to a member of Montgomery’s team with a caption that 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 returned fire in the comment section of the post, saying the clip showed a volunteer in his 70s struggling to hang up signs before a LaCroix volunteer provided assistance. “So rather than the narrative you made up,” the campaign manager replied, “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 comment was posted twice and deleted both times. However, screenshots were taken and “escalated to the [Democratic Party of Virginia] leadership team.” The fighting among Democrats opened the path for LaCroix to win the seat. Her victory is the first time in 38 years that a Republican has held the seat in the Woodbridge District.