Updated September 17, 2026
Long an ex-urb of the greater Washington, D.C., area, the 10th Congressional District is today probably better known as the home of “Data Center Alley.”
Loudoun County is home to more data centers than any other county in the U.S., and the future role of these critical infrastructure in the district’s future will play a significant role in this year’s election.
Demographically, the 10th is among the wealthiest districts in Virginia. The median household income is over $157,000, which is one-and-a-half times that of Virginia ($92,000). The district’s poverty rate is 5.7 percent, far below the Virginia average of 9.8 percent.
In addition to data centers, the 10th is a growth region for government contractors, specialized manufacturing, and the aerospace industry.
In addition to Loudon County and part of Prince William, the 10th Congressional District is home to Fauquier County, Manassas City, parts of Fairfax County, Manassas Park City, and Rappahannock County. Ninety percent of registered voters in the 10th live in Loudoun, Prince William, and Fauquier.
Platforms
INCUMBENT: Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA)
CHALLENGER: Dave Beckwith (R)
CHALLENGER: Ahsen Malik (I)
State of the Race as of September 13, 2026
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic
UVA Sabato Crystal Ball: Solid Democratic
270 to Win: Solid Democratic
270 to Win: Solid Democratic
VPAP: Leans Democratic
Seeking a second term in the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrat Suhas Subramanyam is leaning into the anti-data-center backlash that has been brewing across Virginia over the past years, and tying his opponent to Trump. Subramanyam won the seat in 2024 by just 4.6 percentage points, a notably tight margin given that Kamala Harris won the district by 11 percentage points over Donald Trump and Sen. Tim Kaine carried the district by 10 percentage points. In 2025, Abigail Spanberger carried the 10th by 20 percentage points.
In September, Subramanyam rolled out his National Data Center Plan, which looks to more tightly regulate the industry at the national level.
After his opponent secured the nomination and accused Subramanyam of voting the party line over what’s best for the community, the first-term congressman retorted: “My opponent served President Trump and … put loyalty to President Trump over our community.”
In Congress, Subramanyam is ranking member of the Oversight Subcommittee on Military and Foreign Affairs, is a member of the Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation Subcommittee, and a member of the Delivering on Government Efficiency subcommittee.
Republican challenger Dave Beckwith is a career Air Force officer who was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon and spent his career managing “some of the most complex and sensitive national security programs in the federal government,” according to his campaign website.
In an interview with the Loudoun Times-Mirror, Beckwith said that he believes 10th district voters are “looking for someone … who will stand up and say we’re spending too much money. Who will say we don’t want power transmission lines cutting across our districts. Who will stop and say that we need to give our Gen Z a chance, a crack at the American Dream.”
His campaign website lists eight priorities: restoring economic vitality, fiscal responsibility, safety and security in our communities, upholding the Constitution, release American energy, education for the modern economy, supporting veterans, and fostering health communities.
There is an independent candidate – Ahsen Malik – who has no reported campaign funds. He is, however, stridently anti data center, advocating a full stop to new data center construction.
On other key issues — abortion, ICE — Malik strikes a balance between the two parties. On ICE, for example, he supports a plan that “is not open borders, and … is not mass deportation. It’s permanent legal residency, without a path to citizenship.” On abortion, “I am pro-choice in the first trimester and pro-life in the last trimester with the exception of the pregnancy being harmful to the life of the mother.”
What to Watch: Will Voters Think Local, or Vote National?
Since 2016, the 10th Congressional District has typically gone for Democrats in national and statewide elections by significant margins (2020 – Biden +18; 2024 – Harris +11; 2025 – Spanberger +20). The exceptions were in 2021, when McAuliffe carried the district by just 2 percentage points.
However, congressional races over the same time, while favoring Democrats, have tended to be closer (2020 – Jennifer Wexton +7; 2022 – Wexton +6.5; 2024 – Subramanyam +4.6).
This suggests that come Election Day, voters in the 10th think and vote locally. If that holds true, Subramanyam has positioned himself as a friend of the anti-data-center coalition with his National Data Center Plan, betting the growing backlash against the industry will strengthen his hand in November.
Beckwith hasn’t been as outspoken against the industry, though he has come out against transmission lines running through the district. A stance that is closely intertwined with the anti-data-center coalition.
The money says that Subramanyam, with a more than half-million dollar leg up on Beckwith in campaign funds, has the clear advantage. But if Beckwith can keep it close, the race could become interesting.
That’s because the independent candidate – Ahsen Malik – has come out with a clear anti-data-center message. His website says that he “fully support[s] all local legislative efforts to completely ban new data center construction.”
Of the three, Malik is the most vocal in ending data center growth. If that message catches fire, he likely won’t win, but he could pull enough voters from Subramanyam to make Election Night interesting.
