Former Va. House speaker Eileen Filler-Corn announces run for Congress
Former Va. House speaker Eileen Filler-Corn announces run for Congress
By Gregory S. Schneider
October 18, 2023 at 12:21 p.m. EDT
Del. Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax), shown in the House of Delegates in 2019, when she served as minority leader. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
RICHMOND Former Virginia House speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) said Wednesday that she will run for Congress in the 10th District, where Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D) has decided not to seek reelection next year for health reasons.
Filler-Corn had earlier decided
not to run again this fall for the House of Delegates seat that she has occupied since 2010 and was intending to run for governor in 2025. But she said in announcing for Congress that Wextons decision, based on a diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy, had changed her thinking.
[
Rep. Wexton will not seek reelection as diagnosis changes ]
First and foremost, I was truly devastated to learn of my friend Jennifer Wextons recent diagnosis, Filler-Corn said in a news release. She added that recent world events, including the breakdown of leadership among Republicans in Congress and the eruption of war in Israel, had motivated her to get into the race. ... As a Jewish American, I have deeply felt the tragedies of the past few weeks. Congress has been left rudderless at a time of global uncertainty. The American people and our allies abroad deserve better than this, Filler-Corn said.
Wexton, 55, had won a third term last year but announced last month that after coping with what she initially thought was Parkinsons disease, her medical outlook had worsened and would interfere with her ability to run again next year. Wextons victory in the district in 2018 against Republican Barbara Comstock had ended 40 years of GOP control of the seat.
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By Gregory S. Schneider
Greg Schneider covers Virginia from the Richmond bureau. He was The Washington Post's business editor for more than seven years, and before that served stints as deputy business editor, national security editor and technology editor. He has also covered aviation security, the auto industry and the defense industry for The Post. Twitter
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