EXCLUSIVE — Nathan Headrick is prepared to spend up to $2 million of his money to finance a congressional campaign to succeed the late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) in Virginia, a source familiar with the topic confirmed to the Washington Examiner.

Headrick, a banking executive and Republican, will begin his campaign on Monday for the solidly Democratic seat in deep-blue northern Virginia.

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Should he emerge from the GOP primary, Headrick would tap into his finances to support the uphill battle to flip the state’s 11th Congressional District, which covers most of Fairfax County.

“This is an inspiring time. Virginia and America need more elected leaders with the right experience to get things done,” Headrick said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “It’s been humbling to hear from so many people who want me to take this step, and I can’t wait to share more next week.”

The special election to succeed Connolly, who died of esophageal cancer in May, will take place on Sept. 9, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) recently announced, ahead of the marquee gubernatorial race between Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R-VA) and former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger in November.

Headrick will face off against at least two other Republican candidates: retired FBI agent Mike Van Meter, who failed to unseat Connolly last year, and Karina Lipsman, who unsuccessfully ran against Democratic Rep. Don Beyer in 2022.

Former Republican Rep. Tom Davis, who represented the 11th District from 1995 to 2008, said the GOP “ought to be hugging” Hendrick, who has the financial prowess to compete for the seat.

“When you look at the Republicans, nobody’s going to have a better shot than he is,” said Davis.

Unlike Van Meter and Lipsman, who were both soundly defeated by Democrats, Headrick is a political newcomer.

“They’ve run these races before, and they’ve gotten crushed. They haven’t moved the bar,” said Davis. “And where are they going to get the resources to mount as effective a campaign?”

“You can have the best resume in the world, but if you don’t have a megaphone, it doesn’t do you any good,” he continued. “And [Headrick’s] got resources to get a message out, to turn voters out on a September date when nobody knows there’s an election.”

At least eight Democrats are already vying for the seat, including Navy veteran Joshua Aisen, Fairfax County Planning Commissioner Candice Bennett, state Sen. Stella Pekarsky, attorney Amy Roma, state Delegate Irene Shin, and Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw.

Youngkin’s successful 2021 campaign, which flipped the governor’s mansion red for the first time since 2009, is a template for Headrick.

Like Youngkin, Headrick is a private equity executive running in his first race this year as a political outsider, which some Republicans claim will help in the congressional race.

“It takes the right person with the right resources and the time to put into a race like this,” said Tim Hugo, a former Virginia House delegate for the 40th district, where he represented Fairfax and Prince William counties.

In the affluent northern Virginia counties, a candidate with resources who focuses on economic issues is “potentially a winning proposition,” said Hugo.

Headrick supports President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, including his middle-class tax cuts, and is expected to work with the president. He lives in Great Falls with his wife and five children.

But winning the 11th District will require a herculean effort for a Republican. In 2024, Connolly won nearly 67% of the vote to Van Meter’s 33%.

Brian Kirwin, a longtime Virginia GOP strategist, told the Washington Examiner that a special election in September, instead of a November election, could help Headrick in his quest to flip the seat.

“It’s not a traditional time of year to vote, upsets can happen,” Kirwin said. “But that’s a real leap.”

Headrick will still need to make it out of a GOP primary where he is up against Van Meter, a candidate who has already run for the 11th District.

“It is a heavily Democratic district, but if Van Meter wins the nomination — and he might — he has experience running in the district, which will give him a head start,” said David Richards, a political science professor at the University of Lynchburg.

If Headrick were to spend the $2 million on television ads as opposed to a genuine ground game, Kirwin claimed voters would stay home.

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“If he spends [the money] on actually bringing out people to the polls during the early voting period or on Election Day, and he creates a $2 million logistical effort, he could pull off a shocker,” he said.

Virginia Democrats will hold their primary for the seat on June 28, while a spokesman for the Virginia GOP told the Washington Examiner the party is still deciding on a date. State law requires both parties to select their candidates 60 days ahead of the special election, which would fall on July 11.