Arthur G. Purves, a Republican and longtime Vienna resident, is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Virginia's 11th Congressional District. The general election is Nov. 3, 2026.

Purves faces Democratic candidate James R. Walkinshaw and Green Party candidate Dianne L. Blais.

Candidate information

  • Party: Republican
  • Residence: Vienna, Virginia (moved there in 1976, according to his campaign website)
  • Education: Bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania, according to his campaign website; master of business administration and master's in systems engineering, both from the University of Pennsylvania (1976), according to BallotReady profile data
  • Career: Retired after 40 years as a computer programmer, according to his campaign website
  • Civic memberships: League of Women Voters; Fairfax branch of the NAACP; election officer (all claimed by the candidate)

Purves grew up in Washington, D.C., and moved to Vienna with his late wife, Carol, in 1976, according to his campaign website. He belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and holds a General Class amateur radio license (call sign KQ4AXT), according to his campaign site.

Experience and public service

Purves has run in seven prior general elections, according to his campaign website: school board (1995 and 2003), Fairfax County chairman as an independent against Kate Hanley (1999), delegate (2007), Republican candidate for county chairman against Sharon Bulova (2015), state senate against Janet Howell (2019) and county chairman against Jeff McKay (2023).

He is now retired from campaigns. He has served as president of the Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance since 1996 and as treasurer of the Fairfax Committee of 100 since 2010, according to BallotReady profile data. He also served on the Hunter Mill Citizen Budget Committee in 2013 and the Fairfax County Meals Tax Task Force in 2014, according to his campaign website.

Purves says he served on several Fairfax County Public Schools advisory committees between 1991 and 2003, covering family life education, student success and professional technical studies. He has also volunteered as a scoutmaster, including with a Latino troop, and as an ESL and computer basics instructor, according to his campaign site.

On the issues

The following positions are drawn from Purves' campaign website responses. They represent the candidate's own stated views.

Federal spending and health care: Purves argues the federal government can reduce its deficit without cutting programs by lowering chronic disease through diet reform. He states the federal government spends $2 trillion a year on medical care and that 90% of that spending goes to chronic disease, much of which he attributes to ultra-processed food.

Education and school choice: Purves argues public schools perpetuate poverty and that competition will improve schools more than money. He supports school vouchers for students who leave public school for private school or home-schooling. He also supports displaying the Ten Commandments in public schools, arguing the nation's founders expected government to foster Christianity and that religion and morality are indispensable to political prosperity.

Immigration: Purves supports vetting immigrants before entry to prevent drug and sex traffickers and gang members from entering the country.

Climate change: Purves states the climate is warming but says it is not a crisis. He opposes what he calls Democratic policies that raise gas prices to combat what he characterizes as an unproven global warming crisis. He discloses that his retirement income includes significant income from oil.

Abortion: Purves states life begins at conception and that abortion always takes a life. He supports keeping abortion legal only in rare cases to save the mother's life, while encouraging marriage. He opposes characterizing abortion as a "Fundamental Right to Reproductive Freedom."

Candidate responses were collected through the candidate's official campaign website. The Vienna Ledger presents these positions to help voters evaluate candidates and does not endorse in elections.