Rep. Connolly will not seek re-election
Rep. Gerry Connolly will not seek re-election due to a recurrence of esophageal cancer.
“When I announced my diagnosis six months ago, I promised transparency. After grueling treatments, we’ve learned that the cancer, while initially beaten back, has now returned,” Connolly stated on X on April 28. “The sun is setting on my time in public service, and this will be my last term in Congress. I will be stepping back as ranking member of the Oversight Committee soon.”
He thanked his supporters for giving him strength in his fights “both against cancer and in our collective defense of democracy.”
Connolly, a Democrat who represents the 11th District in Virginia, was first elected to Congress in 2008.
He was previously a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, first serving as a representative of the Providence District, and then as board chair from 1995 to 2003. He has lived in Mantua with his wife, Cathy Smith, since 1979.
Related story: Rep. Connolly announces cancer diagnosis
In Congress, Connolly serves on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and chairs the Oversight and Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on Government Operations.
An outspoken critic of President Trump, he has blasted the administration for decimating the federal government, gutting food safety and Medicaid, giving Elon Musk’s DOGE access to Americans’ sensitive data, worsening the climate crisis, defying court orders, proposing more tax cuts for billionaires, using his office for personal financial gain, and “plunging our economy into chaos.”
He said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should be fired immediately, calling him “a walking national security nightmare.”
In his most recent election, in 2024, Connolly defeated his Republican opponent, Mike Van Meter, with 67 percent of the vote. The next election in the 11th District will be in November 2026.
