Article Text
Former Space Force Col. Bree Fram is running for Congress from Reston, even though a contested redistricting effort could determine which Virginia district she ultimately seeks to represent.
Fram, a Democrat, filed last week to run in the heavily Democratic 11th Congressional District, which includes much of Fairfax County. Her campaign is also watching a push by Virginia Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional map before the 2026 midterm elections.
New boundaries could place Fram’s home in the Democratic-leaning 10th District or potentially in a district now represented by a Republican. Fram said she supports the redistricting effort and is ready to campaign wherever the final map puts her.
“This is my way of saying I’m going to represent my friends, my neighbors, when there are new lines,” Fram said. She added that beginning her campaign now would help her earn the trust of the community she hopes to serve.
The redistricting proposal faces an uncertain future. On Jan. 27, a Tazewell County judge ruled that state lawmakers had unlawfully approved a proposed constitutional amendment needed to advance the process.
The Virginia General Assembly passed the amendment twice and is considering legislation that would place it before voters in an April 21 special election. Voter approval could set congressional redistricting in motion before November’s midterms. Democrats have pledged to appeal the ruling.
Military career leads to political campaign
Fram entered the congressional race after being removed from the military in late 2025 under President Donald Trump’s administration-wide ban on transgender service members. She hopes to become the second transgender person elected to Congress.
She enlisted following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and initially served in the Air Force, with deployments to Iraq and Qatar. Fram later held senior Pentagon positions, became a founding member of the U.S. Space Force in 2021 and rose to the rank of colonel.
After leaving the military, Fram decided against moving into aerospace engineering or defense work. She said she wanted to continue serving the public and apply her knowledge of the federal government in Congress.
Fram said she hopes to advocate for Virginians while opposing an administration that, in her view, has created fear about what the government might do to people instead of demonstrating how it can help them.
Federal services and immigration enforcement emerge as priorities
Restoring confidence in the federal government is among Fram’s leading campaign issues. She pointed to federal workforce cuts and anxiety surrounding current immigration enforcement policies as reasons that trust has eroded.
Fram has criticized fatal shootings involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol officers in Minnesota. She also joined an anti-ICE protest in Reston on Jan. 23.
She argued that government should employ knowledgeable people committed to improving residents’ lives rather than making communities fearful. Referring to relatives who died in the Holocaust and documents marking them as Jewish, Fram said she was alarmed by the prospect of people feeling compelled to carry papers to prove that they belong.
Fram also wants federal agencies to deliver services more effectively. She said the Social Security office in Reston offered her an appointment with a 60-day wait, prompting her to visit an office in Maryland instead.
“We need to have policies that work and support you and your family on your schedule, not the government’s,” she said.
Her other priorities include strengthening national security, rebuilding the United States’ international standing, improving economic stability for families, protecting LGBTQ+ and other human rights, and limiting federal involvement in local school policy.
Depending on the final congressional map, Fram could face Rep. James Walkinshaw in the 11th District or Rep. Suhas Subramanyam in the 10th, along with other Democrats in the June 16 primary.
Fram said her broader objective is helping Democrats regain control of the House, calling the midterm elections crucial to the country’s future. A Democratic majority, she said, could restrain the administration and use congressional investigations to scrutinize its actions.