For Immediate Release

Shin cites the need for a new generation of leadership for Fairfax County Democrats and new ideas in Washington; Launch coincides with powerful endorsement from Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ)

Herndon, VA—This morning, Delegate Irene Shin announced her campaign for Congress in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District special election to fill the seat vacated by the passing of Congressman Gerry Connolly. Throughout her career Irene has been a leader against the special interests and party leaders who have held the party back from real changes; she is the  generational leadership we need to take on the Trump administration and their allies.

Delegate Shin’s campaign for Congress is opening with an endorsement from Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey, a reformer who understands what it means to fight a Democratic party machine that has been locked in old-style politics and is resistant to the changes we need to make in order to mount a real resistance to Trump, his allies and confront the many problems American will be facing in the near future.

“We’re living through a moment in history that will have generational consequences for our democracy and our nation. While Trump is in office dismembering and defunding our government, Democrats are sticking to the script and running the same old tired plays. I’m running because this moment demands real change. Either we elect people willing to fight like our democracy depends on it, or we resign ourselves to letting fascists win. I’m not resigning myself to that, and I don’t think the voters in the Virginia’s 11th Congressional District are either.”

“The level of distrust in politics right now is so severe, and in order to be able to fix it it’s going to take more than trimming around the edges,” said Senator Andy Kim, U.S. Senator from New Jersey in a statement of support for Irene featured in her launch video released this morning. “People are hungry for something different, a different kind of politics and I think that’s the kind of politics you bring to the table Irene.”

Del. Shin has distinguished herself as a leader in Richmond, fighting for Fairfax residents with new ideas and passing practical legislation that has protected a woman’s rights to abortion and access to healthcare when pregnant, brought down energy prices, encouraged the transition to clean energy alternatives, defended and expanded the rights of new Americans and those who seek refuge in America and advanced the rights of workers to have a voice in their jobs.

For the past four years, Del. Shin has been delivering real results for Virginia families, and she has never shied away from a fight. She passed Malcolm’s Law, which requires hospitals to test for fentanyl during drug screenings and will save lives by catching overdoses that emergency rooms are missing. She fought the hospital lobby to get it done. Del. Shin also passed legislation making pregnancy a qualifying life event so people can actually get health insurance when they need it most—and she took on the insurance industry to make it happen. And when utility companies were cutting off people’s power during heat waves and public health emergencies, Del. Shin passed legislation to stop them from disconnecting our most vulnerable neighbors.

Delegate Shin is a resident of Herndon, where she’s served since 2022. Del. Shin is the daughter of Korean immigrants who came to this country enamored by the promise of America. She grew up without health insurance because it just wasn’t something her family could afford. So when her dad got seriously sick, it was devastating. Her family tried to navigate the impossible healthcare system in America, but ultimately her dad ended up flying back to Korea to get the surgery that saved his life. It turned out to be easier, more affordable, and more accessible to travel halfway around the world to get healthcare than it was to get it here at home. That experience drove home that “business as usual” doesn’t work for families like hers, or for so many other families in Virginia. So she decided to challenge the system and ran for the House of Delegates in 2021. And she won, defeating an incumbent in the process.