Stafford County Supervisor Monica Gary announced this weekend that she will run again for the 27th District seat in the state Senate, this time as a Democrat.
Gary, who has represented the Stafford Board of Supervisors’ Aquia District as an independent since 2022, ran for the same Senate post as an independent in 2023. She finished third to current Sen. Tara Durant, a Republican, and Democrat Joel Griffin in the district, which comprises Fredericksburg and parts of Spotsylvania and Stafford counties.
Gary’s announcement to run again for state Senate, which will be on the ballot in 2027, follows several months of uncertainty about her political future.
She initially said she wasn’t going to seek re-election to her supervisor seat this year after a controversy over a county resident being removed from the Central Rappahannock Regional Library Board caused her to be censured by her peers in December.
But then, in the spring, she changed her mind and decided to run as an independent and face Democrat Maya Guy and Republican Hank Scharpenberg.
Gary changed her mind again in August, and threw her support fully behind Guy, vice chairwoman of the Stafford School Board.
To make matters more complicated, Durant announced in June that she will run for Congress next year, setting up a possible match with Rep. Eugene Vindman, a Democrat, in Virginia’s 7th District, which includes the Fredericksburg area.
Monica Gary
In her announcement for Senate, Gary said she has built a reputation on the Stafford Board of Supervisors for listening to residents and delivering results. She said she has championed public schools, affordable housing, infrastructure and conservation, priorities she said she would continue to advance in higher office.
“Every vote I’ve taken on the Board of Supervisors is informed by a deep care for my community, to strengthen and help my neighbors thrive,” Gary said. “I’m ready to take that approach to Richmond and continue fighting for strong schools, affordable housing and real solutions that work for everyone.”
She also addressed her “official transition to the Democratic Party” in the announcement. It came after she said in August that she usually voted for Democratic priorities in Stafford, even as an independent.
“The policies coming out of Washington are showing up locally,” Gary said. “I have the experience and strategy to fight effectively when calloused politicians push their harmful agendas. The way to protect education funding, defend reproductive freedom and make progress on affordability is by uniting with Democrats to deliver results.”
As a supervisor, Gary said in her announcement that she secured record school funding, led efforts to expand affordable housing, boosted public safety and teacher pay, and obtained $10.2 million in grant funding for road improvements.
She said she also championed solar energy, established the county’s first conservation specialist position and supported small businesses.
Gary said her Senate campaign will focus on empowering voters to reclaim politics from wealthy special interests.
“This campaign is an opportunity for people to stand up for themselves,” she said. “Politics has become a sport for the ultra-wealthy instead of a process to address real issues, but there is a better way.”
