Republican Jeannie LaCroix won a special election Tuesday night for the Woodbridge District seat on the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors, defeating far-left Democratic nominee Muhammad Sufiyan “Sef” Casim in a closely watched race.
LaCroix received 1,694 votes, or 43.73 percent, while Casim finished with 1,436 votes, or 37.07 percent. Write-in candidates collectively received 744 votes, accounting for 19.20 percent of the total. It was not immediately clear how many of those write-in votes were cast for Democrat Pamela Montgomery, who launched a last-minute write-in campaign shortly before Election Day.
The outcome represents a notable shift in a district that had been held by Democrats for many years.
The final weeks of the campaign were marked by controversy after past social media posts attributed to Casim resurfaced. Critics described the posts as offensive and called on him to withdraw from the race. Casim apologized, but several state and local Democratic officials said the apology was insufficient.
Multiple Democrats in the region, including members of the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors, publicly urged Casim to step aside. The Prince William County Democratic Committee, however, defended him and said his apology addressed the issue.
The dispute created a significant divide within the local Democratic Party, according to reports.
Pamela Montgomery, a longtime Woodbridge resident and former chief of staff to Delegate Margaret Franklin, launched a write-in campaign on March 3 in response to the controversy surrounding the race.
Casim had previously defeated Montgomery in a Democratic firehouse caucus held in February by a narrow margin of 33 votes. Montgomery later alleged that there were irregularities in the caucus, claiming that some participants who cast ballots were not registered voters in the Woodbridge District. She also said that at least 31 ballots were ultimately disqualified.
Casim’s campaign also drew attention over questions about his residency, reports said.
The Democratic candidate had previously run for Virginia’s House District 23 seat in December 2025. After losing that primary to Delegate Margaret Franklin, he relocated to Woodbridge and later filed to run for the county supervisor position she vacated.
Some residents who contacted local media described the move as “carpetbagging,” a term historically associated with the post–Civil War Reconstruction era when outsiders moved into southern states to pursue political opportunities. In modern usage, the term is often applied to candidates who move into a community shortly before running for office.
Under Virginia law, however, such moves are permitted. Candidates are required to have lived in Virginia for at least one year prior to the election and must establish residency in the district they seek to represent by Election Day.
Questions about Casim’s residency continued to surface during the campaign.
Local outlet 7News reported that during a Feb. 5 virtual candidate forum, Casim declined to answer questions related to where he lived. On the day of the party caucus, a source familiar with the situation said Casim cast a provisional ballot after the address he provided to the party reportedly did not match the address listed on his voter registration.
7News said it contacted Casim and Prince William County Democratic Committee Chair Samuel Chisolm for comment regarding the residency questions and the provisional ballot, but neither responded.
The internal dispute within the local Democratic Party became more visible the day before the election, when the county’s Democratic Committee released what it said was evidence suggesting Montgomery’s write-in campaign was coordinating with Republican supporters.
A Facebook post included a video showing a GOP volunteer alongside a member of Montgomery’s team and 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 responded in the comments, stating that the clip actually depicted a volunteer in his 70s struggling to put up campaign signs before a LaCroix volunteer stepped in to assist.
“So rather than the narrative you made up,” the campaign manager wrote, “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.”