Former federal prosecutor and graduate from our school Joseph (J.P.) Cooney is running for Congress in Virginia’s 7th district. Cooney has three students at our school, and is an active member of our community. The announcement came on February 11, and Cooney says he’s not running against any incumbent, but rather for a moment that demands constitutional accountability, unity and a strong commitment to public service.
Cooney’s story begins in Arlington, where he moved in 1982 at age six and quickly became immersed in the community his mother had grown up in. A graduate of our school and former Head Editor of The Yorktown Sentry, Cooney still says his Arlington roots as the defining force of his life.
“I am most proud of being a product of Arlington and our community here,” Cooney said.
Many of Cooney’s closest friends today are the same classmates he met in our school’s hallways. All three of his children attend our school as well: senior Ellie, junior Ryan and freshman Connor Cooney.
Perhaps what Cooney is most known for is his time at the Department of Justice (DOJ) where he spent 18 years working. During his time there he served in the Office of Public Integrity and as Chief of the public corruption division of the US Attorney’s office in Washington, DC. Afterward he joined Jack Smith’s Office of Special Counsel to help lead the prosecution of President Trump.
After college, Cooney spent two years teaching at a historically black boys’ school on Chicago’s south side, an experience he says expanded his understanding of the world beyond the urban bubble of Arlington.
District 7 and new maps
Cooney’s campaign is built around the April 21 referendum that would temporarily redraw Virginia’s congressional map. The proposed new 7th district (nicknamed the lobster district) would combine North Arlington with rural counties stretching as West as the West Virginia border, and as East as the James River.
Cooney is running specifically for that new seat.
“I did not announce my candidacy to challenge Don Beyer.… I announced a new proposed open seat,” Cooney said.
If the referendum fails, he says he does not plan to run in the current District 7.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Cooney said.
Trying to connect to rural farmers across the state as an Arlington native is a tall task, but Cooney frames the scenario differently.
“In such a divisive era of politics, this district presents a real opportunity,” Cooney said.
To him, it’s an opportunity to represent a combined rural and urban district, which requires a politics of unity and compromise and bringing communities of difference together before bringing that representation to Congress.
Cooney is direct about the controversy surrounding the referendum. He believes gerrymandering is wrong under normal circumstances, but argues that this moment is not normal.
Cooney frames the referendum as a temporary, voter-approved response to mid-decade redistricting ordered by President Donald Trump in states like Texas, Missouri and Florida.
“This is fighting an abuse of power with the rule of law,” Cooney said.
“This is not two wrongs make a right. The question [of new congressional maps] is being put to the people [in Virginia],” Cooney said.
If elected he says he would support national legislation requiring independent, nonpartisan redistricting in every state–even if it draws him out of office.
Anti-corruption
Cooney prides himself on his strong anti-corruption agenda. To him government corruption is the barrier to preventing meaningful progress on affordability, healthcare and other issues.
His anti-corruption agenda has three main pillars:
- Banning corporate political action committee (PAC) money
- Banning congressional stock trading
- Requiring independent redistricting nationwide.
“I think that anti-corruption reform will pay substantial dividends because it’s going to allow us to have a more serious-minded debate on affordability, health care, foreign relations, data centers, artificial intelligence and all of those issues,” Cooney said.
Cooney stated that he has not received any corporate PAC money and does not expect to be offered any as he is campaigning to ban corporate PAC contributions.
“Until we address the core corruption that’s rotting our institutions, it is substantially difficult to address the other issues hardworking Americans confront,” Cooney said.
Economic policy
Cooney ties many economic challenges to what he sees as Congress’s failure to check presidential authority. Specifically, he points to the recent spike in gas prices, and argues that hasty decisions on war and tariffs has driven up costs for families across the district.
“My specific policy proposal on things like this is for Congress to get in the game and to provide that check on presidential authority to ensure that we can ensure economic stability for all Americans,” Cooney said.
Iran
Cooney is extremely critical of the Trump administration’s war effort in Iran.
“This president sent our sons and daughters to war without even consulting the US Congress. And this Republican majority has not done one thing about that,” Cooney said.
“We didn’t engage in the kind of serious minded debate that would have first required this administration to put forward real reasons for proposing to go to war,” Cooney said.
“[we should’ve] put together the practical planning to avoid the situation that we have now, which is the Iranian regime’s control of the Strait [of Hormuz], which has skyrocketed the cost of oil and hit the pocket books of regular hardworking people in our district and throughout the country,” Cooney said.
Immigration
Cooney sharply criticizes the current administration’s immigration enforcement tactics, particularly the use of untrained agents and warrantless searches.
“I think the summary removal of individuals from this country is both unlawful and inhumane and has to stop,” Cooney said.
He says that by cutting off avenues of lawful immigration, we have more incentivized unlawful immigration into this country.
For our school’s students
Cooney says that students from our school who want to support his campaign can:
- Vote yes on the referendum if they’re 18
- Canvass and talk to neighbors
- Engage in honest conversations about democracy and the rule of law
He also notes that there will be plenty of volunteer opportunities for his campaign after April 21, barring that the referendum passes.
For students looking to make an impact in their community through law or politics, he offers this advice:
“Stick with it…. Do everything you can to be a critical, independent-minded thinker. Read all you can, write all you can, think all you can, but just never take the guided tour from anybody,” Cooney said.
Conclusion
Cooney emphasizes that his run for Congress is not a career move, but a continuation of his public service he began in Arlington decades ago.
Whether the referendum passes or not, his message is clear: rule of law, constitutional accountability and honest representation are worth fighting for. And for Cooney, that fight began long before his campaign: back when he was a student at our school running The Yorktown Sentry, and learning what it meant to serve a community he still calls home.
