WASHINGTON — The Washington region will send three new members to Congress in January after last Tuesday’s election, while every other House member and senator from the D.C. suburbs who was on the ballot won another term, according to unofficial returns from election officials in Virginia, Maryland and the District.
The biggest change came in Virginia’s 1st District, where Democrat Shannon Taylor, the commonwealth’s attorney for Henrico County, unseated Republican Rep. Rob Wittman. Unofficial returns on the Virginia Department of Elections results site, last updated early Monday, show Taylor with 209,476 votes, or 51.16 percent, to Wittman’s 199,009, or 48.6 percent. The Associated Press called the race Thursday, VPM reported, and the margin is outside the 1-percentage-point window that would let Wittman request a recount.
Wittman has held the seat since 2007, and Republicans have represented the district since 1977, according to Axios Richmond. Wittman won reelection in 2024 by nearly 13 percentage points, the outlet reported, citing the Virginia Public Access Project.
In Maryland’s 5th District, Democrat Adrian Boafo, a state delegate, will succeed retiring Rep. Steny Hoyer, who has represented the district since 1981. Unofficial results from the Maryland State Board of Elections show Boafo with 209,018 votes, or 69.57 percent, to 89,353, or 29.74 percent, for Republican Chris Chaffee, with all 227 Election Day precincts reporting. Hoyer introduced Boafo at his AmeriPAC Bull Roast in June, according to an Associated Press photo published by WJLA.
In the District, Democrat Robert C. White Jr., an at-large D.C. Council member, won the race to succeed Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who did not seek a 19th term. The D.C. Board of Elections citywide results show White with 168,183 votes, or 87.33 percent, ahead of Republican Denise Rosado at 6.35 percent and D.C. Statehood Green Party candidate Kymone Freeman at 5.67 percent. White previously served as Norton’s legislative counsel, The Washington Post reported.
The rest of the delegation returns
Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) won a fourth term over Republican Bert Mizusawa with about 61 percent of the vote, according to unofficial returns compiled by Cardinal News. Maryland’s two senators, Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine were not on the ballot.
In the Maryland suburbs, Reps. Sarah Elfreth (D-3rd), Glenn Ivey (D-4th), April McClain Delaney (D-6th) and Jamie Raskin (D-8th) all won reelection, state board figures show. Ivey took 89.25 percent and Raskin 82.98 percent; McClain Delaney defeated Republican Robin Ficker 58.24 percent to 38.79 percent, and Elfreth defeated Republican Berney Flowers 67.12 percent to 32.61 percent.
In Northern Virginia, Reps. Eugene Vindman (D-7th), Don Beyer (D-8th), Suhas Subramanyam (D-10th) and James Walkinshaw (D-11th) won new terms, according to the Cardinal News tally of state returns. Vindman defeated Republican Doug Ollivant with roughly 60 percent of the vote.
What the new members inherit
The three newcomers will arrive as Democrats take control of the House in January. Wittman’s loss also leaves the region’s House delegation without a Republican member; he chairs the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces and is vice chair of the Natural Resources Committee.
White will take a nonvoting seat whose holder can vote in committee but not on final passage on the House floor, along with the long-running fight over D.C. home rule that Norton carried through 18 terms. Boafo takes over a district that covers parts of Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties and all of Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s counties, according to WJLA.
All results remain unofficial until certified, and the Maryland returns do not yet include provisional ballots.
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