RICHMOND, Va. — Former Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn has decided against a bid for governor in 2025 and will instead run next year to represent the competitive northern Virginia congressional seat being vacated by a fellow Democrat, U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton.
Filler-Corn, who has served in the Virginia General Assembly since 2010 and was the first woman and first Jewish person to hold the post of speaker, discussed her decision with The Associated Press on Tuesday afternoon before filing official paperwork.
She made the case that she had overseen a period of tremendous progress in Richmond and said she wants to bring her legislative expertise to a “broken” Washington where a speaker-less GOP House majority was “truly taking us backward, making America weaker.”
“I have a record for getting the job done, protecting Virginians from all sorts of Republican chaos and extremists,” Filler-Corn said.
Filler-Corn’s move leaves two other presumptive candidates, U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, in the 2025 Democratic gubernatorial primary field that could still grow.
Filler-Corn, who confirmed in March she was exploring a bid for governor, said she began to be approached at political events about the possibility of a run in the 10th District after Wexton announced last month she would not seek reelection in 2024.
Wexton, a well-regarded former prosecutor and state legislator whom Filler-Corn said is a personal friend, disclosed in April that she had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Wexton said at the time that she hoped to keep serving for years to come, but she then shared in September that she had received a modified diagnosis of a more severe form of the disease. Wexton has said she will serve out the remainder of her term.
“This is an unfair, devastating reality that she now has to navigate,” Filler-Corn said, adding that she had discussed her plans with Wexton.
The open seat dynamic in the Loudoun…
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