Candidates selected for special election for House of Delegates District 17

Garrett McGuire, a community leader, is the winner of the Democratic firehouse primary to select a candidate for the seat in the House of Delegates vacated by Del. Mark Sickles.

McGuire will face Republican candidate Christopher Cardiff, a homeschool advocate.

Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger appointed Sickles Secretary of Finance. A special election for the 17th district in the House of Delegates will be on Jan. 20. The 17th District includes Franconia, Springfield, and parts of Alexandria in Fairfax County.

McGuire chairs the Board of United Community, a nonprofit serving lower-income residents along the Route 1 corridor. He previously served as chair of the Fairfax–Falls Church Community Services Board.

His top three priorities are making life more affordable, protecting the social safety net, and fully funding public education.

Just 2,356 votes were cast in the Democratic Primary, which was held on Dec. 28, two days after the deadline for filing as a candidate.

McGuire got 801 votes in the primary, beating three other candidates. Joy McManus got 747 votes, Carla Bustillos got 537, and Russell Brooks got 271 votes.

Cardiff won the Republicans’ 17th Legislative District Party Canvass on Dec. 29

Cardiff is the co-founder of the American History Education Project, which provides materials based on traditional American values to parents who are homeschooling their children. He was the founding member of the California Homeschool Network. The Cardiffs homeschooled their children through high school.