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]
Eileen Filler-Corn | |
|---|---|
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| Minority Leader of the Virginia House of Delegates | |
| In office January 12, 2022 – April 27, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Todd Gilbert |
| Succeeded by | Don Scott |
| In office January 1, 2019 – January 8, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | David Toscano |
| Succeeded by | Todd Gilbert |
| 56th Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates | |
| In office January 8, 2020 – January 11, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Kirk Cox |
| Succeeded by | Todd Gilbert |
| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 41st district | |
| In office March 3, 2010 – January 10, 2024 | |
| Preceded by | David W. Marsden |
| Succeeded by | Chris Obenshain (redistricting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Eileen Robin Filler June 5, 1964 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Robert Corn |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | |
| Website | Official website |
Personal life
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
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[citation needed]—accusations that were disproven by an independent elections transparency non-profit.[17]
In March 2023, Filler-Corn announced she would not run for reelection.[18] 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.[19]
Political positions
Filler-Corn supports Israel and is a board director on the American Jewish Committee.[19] Following October 7 2023, she attended the March for Israel in Washington, D.C., as a speaker.[20][21]
Electoral history
| Date | Election | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia House of Delegates, 41st district | |||||
| November 2, 1999[22] | 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[23] | 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[24] | 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[25] | 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[26] | General | Eileen Filler-Corn | Democratic | 12,175 | 92.8 |
| Write Ins | 945 | 7.2 | |||
| November 7, 2017[27] | General | Eileen Filler-Corn | Democratic | 22,985 | 90.8 |
| Write Ins | 2,317 | 9.2 | |||
| November 5, 2019[28] | 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[29] | General | Eileen Filler-Corn | Democratic | 23,201 | 65.14 |
| John Michael Wolfe | Republican | 12,346 | 34.66 | ||
| Write Ins | 71 | 0.2 | |||
References
External links
- "Eileen Filler-Corn". Virginia Public Access Project. (campaign finance)
- "Election Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on April 29, 2013.
- "Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax Station)". Richmond Sunlight.
- "Eileen Filler-Corn". Ballotpedia.