Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Taylor considers seeking Wittman's House seat

Henrico Commonwealth Attorney Shannon Taylor filed a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on Monday, indicating interest in challenging U.S. Congressman Rob Wittman (R-VA-01).

While Taylor has not yet officially joined the race, the filing identifies her principal campaign committee, “Shannon Taylor for VA,” as seeking the office of the First Congressional District, which stretches from Virginia’s Northern Neck to the western parts of Henrico and Chesterfield. 

Taylor had not responded to a request for comment by publication time but on Wednesday morning posted a message on her X account criticizing Wittman.

"Virginia families are already stretched thin and can’t afford higher electric bills," she posted as a subtweet to a Virginian-Pilot article titled 'Virginians express concern on Dominion rate increases as SCC hearing begins.' "A major driver of these hikes is the massive energy consumption of data centers owned by the biggest corporations and richest billionaire CEOs. Instead of getting them to pay, Rob Wittman is forcing Virginia families to carry the burden. He’s voted to undermine progress, dismantle infrastructure, and strip Virginia of 15,000 energy jobs. His reckless decisions are why Virginians are paying more at a time when they can least afford it — and why I oppose these rate hikes."

Taylor would be the ninth Democrat to join the race against Wittman. The First District, which Wittman has held since 2007, is one of 33 Congressional districts across the country and two in Virginia that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is seeking to flip in 2026.

Taylor was first elected as Henrico’s Commonwealth Attorney in 2011, the first Democrat to take the office after several decades. This past June, Taylor sought the Democratic nomination for Virginia Attorney General but was narrowly defeated by former state delegate Jay Jones.

Prior to serving as commonwealth attorney, Taylor, a native of Charlottesville, worked as a special assistant for the U.S. Attorney’s Office and a prosecutor for the City of Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Office.

This year, Henrico voters have held several protests over Wittman’s support of Trump administration initiatives, such as his vote for the “Big, Beautiful Bill.” However, Wittman has consistently defeated opponents by 10% or higher in every First District election since 2007.

So far, eight Democrats have filed to run for Wittman’s seat: business leader Melvin Tull, teacher James Shea, meteorologist Sean Sublette, attorney Andrew Lucchetti, Chesterfield County Clerk of Court Amanda Pohl, business leader Lisa Vedernikova Khanna, lawyer Salaam Bhatti, and attorney Ericka Kopp. 

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s government and education reporter. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.