Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw (D) defeated Stewart Whitson (R) in the race to replace the late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who died in May at the age of 75 while still in office.

Once Walkinshaw is sworn in, a petition demanding the release of files on the late, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who was once a close associate of President Donald Trump, will be just one signature short of the 218 needed. Democrats and a handful of Republicans have signed.

“We’re now just one vote away from hitting 218 signatures on the discharge petition on the release of the Epstein files,” Adam Carlson, founder of pollsters Zenith Research, noted on X, formerly Twitter.

Carlson pointed to Adelita Grijalva (D), who is running in Arizona’s safely blue 7th District in a Sept. 23 special election, as the likely “clinching vote.”

If Grijalva wins, the petition would reach the critical 218th signature that would theoretically force the House to act on making the files public. “It’s only a matter of time,” added Carlson.

Trump, meanwhile, has continued to downplay his past ties to Epstein, prompting fury from some of his own MAGA base who want the documents unsealed and all links to the moneyman exposed.