Four more contenders in a potentially redrawn 7th Congressional District made their pitches to Arlington Democrats on April 8.
J.P. Cooney, Dave Kennedy, Del. Adele McClure and State Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim join a field of Democrats for the 7th District that includes State Sen. Dan Helmer, who spoke to county Democrats in March, and former Virginia First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe, who has yet to make an appearance. Another contender, Joe Schiarizzi, announced his candidacy today (Thursday).
Others may join the Democratic field before the May 26 filing deadline.
Aspirants for the job will have to wait until later this month, and maybe longer, to see if the district they are seeking to represent comes into being. That will depend on the outcome of the April 21 statewide congressional redistricting referendum, and also potentially on the outcome of legal challenges.
If redistricting survives, the new 7th District will incorporate the northernmost 60% of Arlington’s voting-age population — which would make up about 20% of the voting-age population in the new district. Southern areas of the county would remain in the 8th District.
The boundaries of the new district stretch from Northern Virginia west to the West Virginia line and south to areas west of Richmond. According to a Virginia Public Access Project analysis of voting trends, the district leans Democratic but, based on past election patterns, would not be a sure thing for the party in November.
If voters or the courts reject the new districts, most of the campaigns will likely dissipate as the Old Dominion will revert to its existing districts. Northern Virginia’s three current congressional districts — the 8th, 10th and 11th — each have Democratic incumbents.
Whether in new or existing districts, primaries will be held using traditional plurality voting, with no ranking of choices.
Arlington County Democratic Committee chair Paul Ruiz used the meeting yesterday (Wednesday) to exhort party members to do all they can to pass the redistricting referendum.
“I am absolutely inspired [at] the energy we are seeing in this moment,” Ruiz said, leading into the five-minute candidate speeches.
Salim’s pitch
Saddam Azlan Salim in 2023 defeated incumbent Sen. Chap Petersen in the Democratic primary, then went on to win the general election in the 37th Senate District.
Salim’s legislative district includes Falls Church, Tysons, Merrifield, Oakton, Vienna and other parts of central Fairfax County. He announced plans to run for Congress earlier this month.
Born in Bangladesh, Salim’s family emigrated to the D.C. area when he was a child. The family was homeless for a time before securing affordable housing in Fairfax County. As a result of that experience, Salim said he espouses “good policies around helping your neighbors.”
While active in local politics, including the Fairfax Young Democrats, Salim’s 2023 bid to unseat Petersen — who leaned moderate or conservative — was seen by some as standing little chance of success.
“I was the underdog,” he told Arlington Democrats. “Every single person I talked to said ‘you can’t do this.'”
Describing the Republican Party as led by “a madman in D.C.,” Salim said he would focus his efforts on explaining to voters what Democrats could do for the American people.
“This campaign is going to be run on the issues,” he said, citing support for federal workers as one priority.
Salim said he would not fund his campaign through corporate donations or special-interest groups.
“This is your seat, and you deserve somebody who is going to represent you and only you,” he told Arlington Democrats.
J.P. Cooney’s pitch
An Arlington native, J.P. Cooney served as a federal prosecutor working with Jack Smith until he was fired by President Donald Trump in 2021.
He announced plans to run in January, and on April 8 told Democrats that if they send him to office, he will fight to hold Trump and other Republicans accountable.
“We are in a fight for our nation’s soul,” Cooney said. “The Congress is abetting his lawlessness. I am suited to meet this moment.”
“It’s about fighting for what’s right,” said Cooney, a federal prosecutor for 18 years.
In remarks, Cooney also touted his community involvement. A graduate of Yorktown High School, he has three children who currently attend. He has also served as a coach in local youth baseball.
Kennedy’s pitch
Dave Kennedy first came to political attention in 2024, when he ran as an independent against U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-8).
Kennedy received just 3% of the vote, finishing third in the four-candidate general election. “Don smoked me,” he noted at his April 8 kickoff presentation.
Many of the themes he hit on April 8 echoed those of that run, but also included a focus on the current political environment.
“This is a unique moment,” said Kennedy, an Arlington resident with a background in teaching and higher-education advocacy.
“I care about this country. I care about those at the margins,” he said. “I know how the federal government works, I know public policy.”
Kennedy highlighted five issues: protecting Social Security, rebuilding the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), reforming immigration policy, removing corporate money from donations and embracing a spirit of “kindness, compassion and love of neighbor.”
McClure’s pitch
Adele McClure was elected to the House of Delegates in 2023 and won re-election in 2025. Her 2nd District includes much of easternmost Arlington from Langston Blvd south to the Alexandria line.
She announced plans to run for Congress earlier this month, after the General Assembly session concluded.
A Northern Virginia native, McClure described the challenges she faced growing up and how they forged her desire to serve.
“I didn’t come from privilege,” she said. “I spent my entire childhood in poverty. As your delegate, I have fought and I have delivered. I will take that same fight to Congress.”
McClure said as a new mother, she is facing many economic challenges typical of her generation, from securing housing to affording childcare.
“I know what it’s like to have my daycare cost as much as my rent,” she said. “I have lived the struggle.”
She touted support for a Medicare-for-all healthcare approach, and supported other safety-net efforts.
“Too many families are being left behind,” she said.
Schiarizzi’s pitch
Joe Schiarizzi, a Falls Church inventor, entrepreneur and affordable housing advocate, did not speak at the meeting but announced his candidacy via a press release and announcement video today.
His campaign includes “a central pledge: to push Congress to declare a national housing emergency and deliver real solutions for working families being priced out of the communities they helped build.” The press releases lists three “core commitments”:
1) Declaring a national housing emergency and fighting for supply-side reforms that get
affordable homes built near transit and jobs;2) Confronting the climate crisis by investing in clean energy, expanding public transit, and
holding polluters accountable; and3) Restoring accountability in government by standing up to the Trump administration’s
corruption.
“The housing crisis isn’t a talking point for me. It’s personal,” Schiarizzi said. “When I was a kid, my family nearly lost our home in the 2008 financial crisis. My dad was a union plumber and a Teamster. My mom worked the night shift at UPS so we could have healthcare. I know what it feels like when the system fails working people, and I’m running because it’s still failing them.”
