Control of the Virginia Senate could rest on the outcome of a race in Loudoun County.
Both Democrat Russet Perry and Republican Juan Pablo Segura are new to politics. Segura is also very new to the district he hopes to represent, and Democrats are criticizing him as a political opportunist.
In Virginia, a candidate must be a resident for a year before an election if they want to run for office. Real estate documents show Segura bought his Loudoun townhouse in October 2022, just before the Nov. 8 deadline to qualify to be on the ballot. He launched his campaign for the open District 31 Senate seat in late January 2023.
Perry, his opponent, has lived in Loudoun for almost two decades, serving two stints as a prosecutor in the commonwealth's attorney's office before entering private practice. She is accusing Segura of being a political opportunist.
"People move into districts to try to run and buy races; you see things like that happening," Perry said. ".... I think the residents of this district deserve someone who lives here, who is tied in, who is invested in this district."
Segura grew up in Fairfax County, but he made his mark as an adult in Washington, D.C., cofounding District Donuts and then creating a digital maternal health care company. He says he and his wife decided to move to Loudoun County in August 2022, when she learned she was pregnant.
"We wanted to come back to Virginia, and it was even more reason to find more space to enjoy all the beauty of Virginia and Loudoun County," Segura said.
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But Democrats point to property tax records in D.C., suggesting Segura initially intended to stay in his condo there at least until the end of March 2023. He applied for and received the Homestead Tax exemption for October 2022 through March 2023, saving him $714. It wasn't until July that he sought a correction in the records, reporting that he'd moved and was not eligible for the tax break he'd received.
We asked why he hadn't notified the city sooner about his move.
"There's a few months' difference with this homestead dedication that you're talking about, but again, my whole life changed when .... my wife told us that we were pregnant," he said.
One voter who cast her ballot for Segura said it's not the length of his residency in Loudoun that matters.
"It doesn't matter because his policies, the policies he will adhere to, are what I want," Kim Spokes said.
Another voter, Margaret Ahbe, said, "It doesn't matter, as long as they have the same agenda and plans that follow what we believe."
But another voter, who says he cast his ballot for Perry, thinks having a candidate who is invested in the community matters.
"But to come to Loudoun right before there is an election, I wouldn’t go for that personally," Terry Williams said. "And that’s whether that person was a Democrat or a Republican."
Perry says she hopes her longevity in the district will matter to voters.
"My ties to the community, they run deep," she said. "I knock on thousands of doors and it's uncommon for me not to come across someone where I don't personally know someone."
Perry's standing in the community is reinforced by campaign donations she's received — nearly 3,000 from small donors compared to 140 for Segura.
