Court Challenge Claims Virginia Democrat In Tight Race Should Be Disqualified

A Democratic candidate for a hotly contested Virginia House of Delegates seat is facing a court challenge over whether she actually lives in the district she seeks to represent — a dispute that could affect control of the chamber in 2026.

Three Stafford County voters filed suit alleging that Stacey Carroll, the Democratic nominee in District 64, does not live there but instead in the neighboring, Democratic-majority 23rd District. The plaintiffs — Stephen Schwartz, Judith Anne Parker and Juliet Schweiter — want Carroll removed from the ballot, Fox News reported.

The lawsuit claims Carroll continues to reside near U.S. Route 1 in Aquia, at the southern edge of the 23rd, while listing a Stafford Court House address about seven miles away to qualify for the 64th. That address is reportedly tied to another family. Under a 1966 Virginia ruling, the burden of proof in such disputes falls on the voter or candidate.

If Carroll remains on the ballot, she will challenge Republican Del. Paul Milde in a district that backed Donald Trump by fewer than two points in 2024. If she is found to live in Aquia, her home district would be represented by Democratic Del. Candi King of Prince William, who holds a much safer seat that went for Kamala Harris 66% to 31%.

Control of the 100-member House of Delegates is expected to be decided by razor-thin margins. Democrats currently hold a 52-47 majority with one vacancy following the resignation of former GOP Leader Todd Gilbert, who left to serve briefly as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia. Republicans need just three net gains to retake the majority.

Carroll’s candidacy is one of several closely watched races. In Hampton Roads, Republicans are focusing on defending Del. A.C. Cordoza of Poquoson, the chamber’s only Black Republican, who represents a seat Harris narrowly carried. Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and GOP lieutenant gubernatorial nominee John Reid have all campaigned for him.

Hampton Roads, which includes Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Hampton, Chesapeake and Isle of Wight, has long been competitive. Democrats often dominate in state contests, while Republicans have fared better federally. Earle-Sears first rose to prominence after flipping a Democratic-held Virginia Beach seat in 2001.

Reid’s own Senate race against Democratic Sen. Ghazala Hashmi of Chesterfield could also determine control of the General Assembly. Democrats hold the chamber but Earle-Sears can break ties in the GOP’s favor as lieutenant governor. If Reid wins, Republicans would need just two more Senate seats to seize control; if Hashmi prevails, they would need three.

Last year the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling allowing the state of Virginia to continue removing non-citizens from voting rolls.

The 6-3 decision reversed a lower federal court that ordered state officials to not only pause the removal but to also reinstate names that had been removed despite the fact that they are declared non-citizens.

It is against federal law for non-citizens to vote in federal elections.

The decision is a victory for Gov. Glenn Youngkin and comes just days after Virginia filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court to halt a lower court ruling that ordered the restoration of approximately 1,600 individuals’ names to its voter rolls, Fox News reported.

At the center of the case is the question of whether Virginia’s voter removal process infringes on a so-called quiet period under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), a federal law that mandates states to suspend all “systematic” voter roll maintenance for 90 days ahead of a federal election.

That argument placed the Biden Department of Justice against Youngkin, who maintained that the state’s process is “individualized” and complies with both state and federal law.

The Biden Justice Department officials also expressed concerns in their lawsuit that eligible voters may have been improperly removed from the rolls without sufficient notice or adequate time to rectify the error.