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A new court filing claims a Democratic candidate for a hotly contested, GOP-held Virginia House of Delegates seat doesn’t live in the district she seeks to represent — a dispute that could shape control of the chamber in 2026.
Three voters in Stafford County went to court to allege candidate Stacey Carroll does not live in the 64th district and instead in the neighboring, Democratic-majority, 23rd – and want her booted from the ballot.
Plaintiffs Stephen Schwartz, Judith Anne Parker and Juliet Schweiter alleged Carroll continues to live near US-1 in Aquia, Virginia – at the southern edge of the 23rd district, but filed to run for office from an address about seven miles southwestward near Stafford Court House, Virginia, in the 64th.
Local residents are asking the court to throw out Carroll’s voter registration at the Stafford address, which they argue would disqualify her from the ballot.
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That address is reportedly registered to another family, and a 1966 Virginia court ruling puts the burden of proof-of-residency on the voter registrant or ballot applicant, according to the Virginia Mercury.
While a seemingly local matter, the result of the case could have wide-ranging implications for the final tally on Election Day as all 100 House of Delegates seats are up for grabs and Democrats achieved the rare accomplishment of running candidates in all of them – including reliably Republican seats in far-flung rural regions like St. Charles, Big Stone Gap and Tazewell.
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If her candidacy stands, Carroll will face Republican Del. Paul Milde of Stafford in a district that narrowly went for President Donald Trump in 2024 by just under two points.
If she is found to truly live in Aquia, her home-district seat would be that of Democratic Del. Candi King of Prince William; a much safer and more suburban seat that went for former Vice President Kamala Harris by about 66-31.
A tie loses in the House of Delegates, meaning Republicans need only three seats to win back the majority, but cannot afford to lose tight ones like Milde’s.
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Democrats won back the House of Delegates in the last election in 2023, scoring a 52-48 majority. Republicans currently have one vacancy after House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Luray, resigned to now-briefly become U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia.
Carroll’s chances of flipping Milde’s seat give Republicans an additional roadblock in their quest to take back the chamber.
They are also fielding other tightly contested races, including in Hampton Roads.
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Del. A.C. Cordoza, R-Poquoson, is the only Black Republican in the chamber and represents a district Harris narrowly won.
Republicans are laser focused on the seat, as Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and lieutenant gubernatorial candidate John Reid have all stumped for Cordoza.
Like exurban Stafford, Hampton Roads is perennially competitive: Democrats tend to have the edge in state races, while Republicans, such as incumbent Rep. Jennifer Kiggans, often prevail in federal contests.
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Earle-Sears previously shocked the area in 2001 by winning an otherwise routinely-Democrat-held seat in Virginia Beach – launching her into the commonwealth’s political conscience.
Several other seats in the region – which also includes Norfolk, Portsmouth, Hampton, Chesapeake and Isle of Wight – are seen as potential pickups for the opposing party.
Reid’s race is also expected to weigh heavily on Republicans’ chances of controlling Richmond beyond the governor’s seat.
While Democrats control the upper chamber, Earle-Sears is statutorily the tie-breaking vote.
Divided similarly to the House, the Senate’s partisan future may hang in the balance depending on whether Reid can defeat state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield.
Reid would break ties in favor of Republicans, meaning they only need to win back two more Senate seats. Hashmi would do the opposite, meaning the GOP would need three.
Fox News Digital reached out to Carroll’s campaign for comment.
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