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Eileen Filler-Corn

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Eileen Filler-Corn
Minority Leader of the Virginia House of Delegates
In office
January 12, 2022 – April 27, 2022
Preceded byTodd Gilbert
Succeeded byDon Scott
In office
January 1, 2019 – January 8, 2020
Preceded byDavid Toscano
Succeeded byTodd Gilbert
56th Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates
In office
January 8, 2020 – January 11, 2022
Preceded byKirk Cox
Succeeded byTodd Gilbert
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the 41st district
In office
March 3, 2010 – January 10, 2024
Preceded byDavid W. Marsden
Succeeded byChris Obenshain (redistricting)
Personal details
Born
Eileen Robin Filler

(1964-06-05) June 5, 1964 (age 60)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseRobert Corn
Children2
Education

Eileen Robin Filler-Corn (born June 5, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Minority Leader of the Virginia House of Delegates from January to April 2022, a position she previously held from 2019 to 2020. She previously served as the 56th Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates from 2020 to 2022. She represented the 41st district in the Fairfax County suburbs of Washington, D.C., from 2010 to 2024. She is a member of the Democratic Party.[1] She is also the first woman and Jewish person to serve as Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates.[2]

Personal life

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Filler-Corn was born in New York City and grew up in West Windsor, New Jersey, graduating from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School in 1982.[3][4] She graduated from Ithaca College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1986. She attended law school at American University's Washington College of Law in 1993.[5] In the time between her two college stints, she worked on Democrat Jeff Laurenti's unsuccessful 1986 campaign to defeat incumbent Republican congressman Chris Smith.[4] She and her husband Robert Corn, President of Landmark Strategies, Inc., a national issue advocacy, grassroots engagement and campaign voter contact firm, have two children.[6]

Career

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Filler-Corn made her first run for office in 1999, running unsuccessfully for the 41st district seat.

She again ran for the seat in a 2010 special election to replace David W. Marsden, who had himself won a special election to the Senate of Virginia the month before.[7][8] She won by 37 votes. She was sworn in on March 3, 2010, after her opponent dropped his plans to request a recount.[9]

During the 2010 campaign, she was endorsed by Jim Dillard, the Republican incumbent who had defeated her in 1999 because of her opponent's position that funding for Fairfax County Public Schools was "excessive".[10]

On January 1, 2019, Filler-Corn became Leader of the House Democratic Caucus, and was the first woman to lead a caucus in the 400-year history of the Virginia House of Delegates.[11] From 2020 to 2022, Filler-Corn served as the Chair of the Rules Committee and as Chair of the Joint Rules Subcommittee.[12]

On January 8, 2020, the new Democratic majority elected Filler-Corn Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates. She is both the first woman and Jewish person to serve in this position. On November 9, 2019, following elections where the Democratic Party of Virginia won control of the House, the incoming caucus officially nominated her for the position of Speaker in the 161st General Assembly.[13] She began her term as Speaker on January 8, 2020.[2]

On May 26, 2020, Filler-Corn endorsed Joe Biden for President after he had secured the nomination and was the presumptive nominee.[14]

On April 27, 2022, Filler-Corn was removed from her position as Democratic leader after a vote of the party caucus; no official reason was given at that point in time.[15] The caucus did not have an immediate vote to fill the position, but it is now held by Don Scott.[16] It was later revealed that she was accused of not spending enough on Democratic House of Delegates races, money that her critics felt might have made a difference in some tight House races that went to Republicans.[17] These accusations were challenged by an independent elections transparency non-profit.[18]

In May 2022, a judge fined Filler-Corn $500 for violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The violation involved her failure to release documents related to the appointment of a House clerk, highlighting issues of transparency and compliance with FOIA requirements.[19]

In March 2023, Filler-Corn announced she would not run for reelection.[20] On October 18, 2023, she announced that she would run for Congress in Virginia's 10th congressional district to succeed outgoing U.S. Representative Jennifer Wexton.[21]

In June 2023, a campaign finance complaint was filed against Filler-Corn, alleging violations of state election laws. The complaint claimed her campaign misreported contributions and expenses and failed to accurately disclose donor information, raising concerns about transparency and compliance with campaign finance regulations. According to the complaint, Filler-Corn gave the Democratic Majority for Israel PAC $110,000 a day after the group endorsed her.[22]

Political positions

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Filler-Corn supports Israel and is a board director on the American Jewish Committee.[21] Following October 7th attacks, she attended the March for Israel in Washington, D.C., as a speaker.[23][24]

Electoral history

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Date Election Candidate Party Votes %
Virginia House of Delegates, 41st district
November 2, 1999[25] General J H Dillard II Republican 7,752 58.52
E R Filler-Corn Democratic 5,482 41.38
Write Ins 13 0.10
Incumbent won; Republican hold
March 2, 2010[26] Special Eileen Filler-Corn Democratic 5,758 50.13
Kerry D. Bolognese Republican 5,721 49.80
Write Ins 7 0.06
David W. Marsden was elected to the Senate; Democratic hold
November 8, 2011[27] General Eileen Filler-Corn Democratic 11,959 68.01
Mike R. Kane Libertarian 5,509 31.33
Write Ins 114 0.64
November 5, 2013[28] General Eileen Filler-Corn Democratic 15,030 56.9
Fredy Burgos Republican 10,392 39.41
Christopher DeCarlo Independent 944 3.58
Write Ins 37 0.1
November 3, 2015[29] General Eileen Filler-Corn Democratic 12,175 92.8
Write Ins 945 7.2
November 7, 2017[30] General Eileen Filler-Corn Democratic 22,985 90.8
Write Ins 2,317 9.2
November 5, 2019[31] General Eileen Filler-Corn Democratic 17,302 71.58
John Michael Wolfe Independent 4,568 18.90
Rachel Mace Libertarian 1,875 7.76
Write Ins 428
November 2, 2021[32] General Eileen Filler-Corn Democratic 23,201 65.14
John Michael Wolfe Republican 12,346 34.66
Write Ins 71 0.2

References

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  1. ^ "Delegates Eileen Filler-Corn". virginiageneralassembly.gov. Commonwealth of Virginia. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Newly-Empowered Virginia Democrats Promise Action | Voice of America - English". www.voanews.com. January 8, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  3. ^ Gregory S. Schneider. "A 400-year first: Filler-Corn breaks many barriers as new Democratic leader in Virginia's House." The Washington Post, January 2, 2019. [1]
  4. ^ a b Wildstein, David (November 9, 2019). "New Virginia House Speaker is New Jerseyan who worked to oust Chris Smith in 1986". New Jersey Globe. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  5. ^ Rachel Hatzipanagos. "Profile: Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn, 41st District." Fairfax Station Patch, August 18, 2011. [2]
  6. ^ "Eileen Filler-Corn's Biography." VoteSmart.org
  7. ^ "Del. Dave Marsden Wins 37th State Senate Special Election". Fairfax County Democratic Party. January 13, 2010. Archived from the original on August 16, 2011. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
  8. ^ "VA State House 041 - Special Election Results". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
  9. ^ Kravitz, Derek (March 3, 2010). "No recount in close Virginia House race". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 24, 2012. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  10. ^ Kravitz, Derek (February 21, 2010). "Democrat in special election for Fairfax House seat nabs endorsement from ex-rival". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 2, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  11. ^ Schneider, Gregory S. (December 27, 2018). "A 400-year first: Filler-Corn breaks many barriers as new Democratic leader in Virginia's House". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  12. ^ "Virginia House of Delegates Member Listings". virginiageneralassembly.gov. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  13. ^ "Eileen Filler-Corn is the first woman to be nominated for Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates". 8News. November 9, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  14. ^ "Va. House Speaker endorses Biden for President". nbc12.com. May 27, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  15. ^ "Democrats vote to remove Minority Leader Eileen Filler-Corn from Virginia House". wusa9.com. April 27, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  16. ^ Moomaw, Graham (April 27, 2022). "Va. House Democrats remove Filler-Corn without picking new leader". Virginia Mercury. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  17. ^ Vozzella, Laura (May 5, 2022). "Virginia Democrats leadership fight grows after House ouster". Washington Post. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  18. ^ "For House Democrats, Were Resources an Issue?".
  19. ^ "Judge fines Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn for FOIA violation". WTVR. May 2, 2022. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  20. ^ "Filler-Corn, Lewis join Virginia General Assembly exodus". WTOP-FM. Associated Press. March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  21. ^ a b Kassel, Matthew (October 18, 2023). "Eileen Filler-Corn announces campaign for open House seat in Northern Virginia". Jewish Insider. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  22. ^ "Eileen Filler-Corn Faces Campaign Finance Complaint". HuffPost. June 14, 2023. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  23. ^ McLaughlin, Seth (October 20, 2023). "Loudoun County Democrats balk at Democratic congressional candidate trumpeting her Jewish faith". Washington Times. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  24. ^ Eileen, Filler-Corn (October 14, 2023). "My heart remains broken for the people of Israel and the Jewish community around the world. It was an honor to speak to the tremendous crowd gathered yesterday in DC, united in solidarity with Israel".
  25. ^ "Election Results - House of Delegates - Nov 1999 Gen Election". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on December 28, 2012. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  26. ^ "March 2010 House of Delegates Special Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on October 14, 2010. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  27. ^ "November 2011 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  28. ^ Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2013. Ballotpedia.
  29. ^ Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2015. Ballotpedia.
  30. ^ Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2017. Ballotpedia.
  31. ^ "Virginia Election Results: November 5, 2019". The Virginia Public Access Project. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  32. ^ "2021 November General". results.elections.virginia.gov. Archived from the original on February 5, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
[edit]
Virginia House of Delegates
Preceded by Minority Leader of the Virginia House of Delegates
2019–2020 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minority Leader of the Virginia House of Delegates
2022 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates
2020–2022 		Succeeded by
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