With Election Day closing in, the three candidates vying to represent Virginia's 11th Congressional District are sparring over how to handle the region's data-center boom and a federal workforce still rattled by downsizing threats. Democratic incumbent James R. Walkinshaw, Republican Arthur G. Purves and Green Party candidate Dianne L. Blais are set to face voters on Nov. 3, each offering a distinct diagnosis of what is squeezing household budgets across Fairfax County.
Walkinshaw, who won a special election in September 2025 to succeed longtime Rep. Gerry Connolly, said affordability is the single biggest issue voters raise with him. He has blamed Trump-era policy for driving up costs, pointing to what he described as trillion-dollar Medicaid cuts, the refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act, the absence of middle-class tax credits and tariffs that raise prices, according to the original reporting by WJLA. He said he hopes voters will hand his party control of the House.
Purves, president of the Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance, framed the problem differently. He called out-of-control federal spending the nation's most existential crisis, telling the station he is cutting trillions of dollars from the budget without touching programs by targeting what he calls a chronic disease epidemic fueled by Big Food and Big Medicine. Purves argued that eating real food and following what he calls the new food pyramid would curb healthcare costs tied to high interest rates and inflation, and he said his plan would specifically help federal workers.
Blais Discusses Tariffs and Iran War
Blais, a former co-president of the League of Women Voters and the American Association of University Women, discussed tariffs and the war in Iran.
A Three-Way Split Over Data Centers
Perhaps the sharpest divide among the candidates is over data centers, which have reshaped Northern Virginia's landscape and its power grid. Walkinshaw described the facilities as part of a modern economy but said the federal government should help develop regulations, including siting standards to guide local governments and environmental standards covering generators and water use. He has specifically pushed to ensure new grid costs are not shifted onto residential ratepayers, according to the Connection Newspapers voter guide. In a survey with VPM, Walkinshaw said rapid data-center growth can strain the grid, raise energy costs and create environmental and community impacts.
Purves declined to answer a question about data centers.
Blais has staked out the most aggressive position of the three, calling for a moratorium on data-center development. In her VPM survey response, she said a pause is needed until further benefit-and-cost studies are completed and made widely available, allowing policymakers to weigh the electricity, water and environmental impacts of data centers and the artificial intelligence systems they power.
The Regional Stakes Behind the Debate
The candidates' disagreement plays out against a backdrop of fast-growing regional strain. Virginia is home to more data centers than any other state, according to Statista figures cited by WJLA's separate reporting on the state's data-center divide, and more than 290 individual data-center buildings now sit within the Potomac River basin, representing an estimated 5,400 megawatts of power demand, according to the Potomac River basin's planning assessment. The same assessment found that data centers across the Washington Metropolitan Area used about 4 million gallons of water per day on average in 2025, with peak-day use reaching roughly 15 million gallons — figures projected to rise to 22 million gallons average and more than 80 million gallons at peak by 2050 as more than 100 million additional square feet of development moves forward regionwide.
Federal Workforce Protections Take Center Stage
With the district home to more than 60,000 federal workers, according to Walkinshaw's comments to the Connection Newspapers, the future of the federal workforce has also become a flashpoint. Walkinshaw, a former Fairfax County supervisor, said he presented legislation after being sworn into Congress in September 2025 aimed at preventing presidents from dismantling or significantly downsizing federal agencies without an up-or-down congressional vote. He also said he introduced the Civil Service Act to stop politicization of the federal workforce.
Purves, for his part, said the Department of Government Efficiency handled matters poorly, even as he continues to press for deep federal spending cuts. Blais also addressed rehiring, pay and retraining for federal workers.
Common Ground on AI Oversight
Artificial intelligence also figured in the discussion. On campaign finance, Virginia Mercury reported Walkinshaw's reelection total at $1,113,185. Voters in the Fairfax County-anchored district, which leans strongly Democratic, will settle the race on Nov. 3.
