In a surprise to…well, nobody, actually (LOL), Del. Dan Helmer is saying (albeit in a voice mail, per reporter Ally Mutnick’s scoop – and not so far in an official press release or campaign video) that he’s running for Congress in the newly drawn VA07. A few thoughts on this:
- As Sam Shirazi says (see screenshot, below), this is “as expected” (it’s been rumored for months). Also, as Sam Shirazi notes, “Helmer would likely have the backing of House Speaker Don Scott” and “would also seem to be the frontrunner, although imagine others might run.”
- This would be the third run for U.S. House by Helmer, who lives in Fairfax County and has served in the Virginia House of Delegates since January 2020: in 2018, Helmer ran in VA10, finishing fourth (with 12.55% of the vote) behind Jennifer Wexton (41.89%), Alison Friedman (22.96%), and Lindsey Stover (16.02%); then in 2024, Helmer ran in VA10 again, this time finishing second (with 26.55% of the vote) to Suhas Subramanyam (30.43%) in a 12-candidate field; and now in 2026 in the newly drawn VA07, where currently at least two Democrats – Ken Mitchell and JP Cooney – have announced, with many other names being rumored as well. So clearly, Helmer wants to be in the U.S. House very much.
- It’s hard to say for sure if this is what ended up happening, but there was lots of chatter about this district (see here for a detailed map; and yes, it really does look like a lobster, lol) being drawn specifically with Dan Helmer in mind.
- In his voice mail (see below), Helmer says he’s being endorsed by 40 House of Delegates Democratic colleagues, which is certainly impressive. Of course, Helmer just presided over one of the House Democrats’ most impressive victories in Virginia history – picking up 13 seats, to go from 51 to 64 – although it’s hard to say exactly how much that was the result of Abigail Spanberger winning by 15, how much was the result of Don Scott’s and Dan Helmer’s efforts, how much was the result of Virginia voters just hating Trump’s guts, etc.
- Helmer certainly has demonstrated an ability to raise money, whether for House of Delegates races or for U.S. House (e.g., he spent nearly $2 million on his 2024 run for VA10 and over $1.1 million on his 2018 run for VA10).
- So given all of that, we’ll see if any well-known “heavyweight” Democrats – perhaps someone like former VA Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, who ran in 2024 for the VA10 Democratic nomination? – throw their hats into this race.
P.S. Significantly, Helmer recently announced the settlement of a defamation case he’d brought, stemming from the closing days of the 2024 VA10 Democratic primary, during which allegations were made about Helmer; allegations which Helmer said “caused immeasurable harm to myself, my wife, and my two children.” Clearing out that matter seemed to be essential for Helmer to run again for Congress, which is exactly what’s now come to pass…
“Hi, this is Dan Helmer. I’m sorry to have missed you. I was just calling with some very exciting news, which is I am running for Congress in Virginia’s newly drawn 7th Congressional District. I wanted you to hear from me on day one. I have the endorsement of 40 colleagues in the House of Delegates and dozens of Democratic elected officials across Virginia. It’s so exciting that we have an opportunity to pick up this new seat in Congress. You’ve been a friend and supporter since the early days and I would love to have you on board for this effort. Feel free to give me a call back or if you’re able to support to show us coming out the gate strong on the first day, please go to danhomer.com. Let’s go win this thing. Let’s take control of Congress back and let’s get our country back on the right track. Thanks so much. Take care. Bye-bye.”
