Stella Pekarsky

Stella Pekarsky is an American politician of the Democratic Party from Virginia. She serves in the Senate of Virginia, representing the 36th district, made up of western Fairfax County. She was first elected to the Virginia Senate in the 2023 Virginia Senate election.

She previously served as a member of the Fairfax County Public Schools board.

Early life and education
Pekarsky graduated with a B.A. in government and Politics from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She is Greek-American and a practicing Greek Orthodox.

2023 election
Pekarsky announced her candidacy in 2023 against incumbent Democrat George Barker, who represented the now redistricted 36th District, since 2007. On June 21, Pekarsky pulled an upset victory defeating the sitting incumbent in a 52%-47% victory.

In the general election, she faced Julie Perry, a high school teacher at Centreville High School. Perry faced anti-semetic criticism for claiming that "To come out and say you’re a teacher on the right is almost as dangerous as … going through Germany in the 1930s and saying, ‘I’m Jewish.’ It’s gotten that bad”. On November 7, Pekarsky defeated Perry in a 60%-38% victory.