Gerald E. Connolly, chair of Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors, announced yesterday that he’s formed a Congressional Exploratory Committee as he considers a run for the 11th District U.S. Congressional seat. It has long been rumored that Connolly would run for the seat if incumbent Rep. Tom Davis left it to run for the U.S. Senate this year. But while Davis said he won’t run for the Senate, Connolly has continued his interest in running. Two others have officially announced they will seek the Democratic nomination to run in the district, which Davis has held comfortably since 1994. Leslie Byrne, who was the first person elected to represent the district when it was created in 1992, is well underway with her campaign, and Iraq War veteran Doug Denneny has also thrown his hat into the ring. In Nov. 2006, Davis was elected to a sixth two-year term by a 55.4 percent to 43.6 percent margin over Andrew Hurst. In Nov. 2007, Connolly was elected to a second term as chairman of Virginia’s largest jurisdiction with nearly 60 percent of the vote. He was first elected to Fairfax’s Board of Supervisors in 1995 and in 2003 was first elected its chair. Davis has not yet indicated if he will run again for his seat this year.
