Luria announces bid to retake Second Congressional District seat

Former U.S. Congresswoman Elaine Luria announced today that she is entering the race to reclaim the seat in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, currently held by Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans.

Luria, a two-term member of Congress and a 20-year U.S. Navy veteran, said in a campaign statement that she is running to “fight for the working families of Hampton Roads who work too hard yet face rising costs because of Kiggans’ failed leadership in Washington.”

“I have served our country and the Commonwealth of Virginia since I was 17 years old… Service to our country means putting the interests of the people above all else – including political parties,” Luria said in the statement. “That’s why I cannot sit back and watch as Republicans in Congress create chaos while failing to address the rising cost of living and the issues that matter to Coastal Virginians.”

In the announcement, Luria characterized Kiggans as a vulnerable incumbent who “promised Virginians one thing in public, only to turn around and vote the other way in Washington.” She said Kiggans “lied when she promised to protect access to health care, only to turn around and vote for the largest cuts to Medicaid in history.” The statement also accused Kiggans of pledging to protect clean-energy tax credits before later voting to “take a sledgehammer” to them, and noted that Kiggans has “voted 100 % of the time with Donald Trump — demonstrating that she puts her D.C. party bosses ahead of the Virginians she claims to represent.”

Luria’s campaign launch positions her as the frontrunner in what is expected to be a high-stakes rematch in a swing district that includes the Eastern Shore, Virginia Beach, Suffolk, and parts of the peninsula.

Virginia’s Democrats are working to redraw the Congressional Districts to give more Federal seats to Democrats before the fall mid-term elections, which would in all certainty make Virginia’s 1st and 2nd District more blue.