Voters in this Republican-held district backed Democrat Abigail Spanberger for governor by seven points in 2025.
Two US Navy veterans are competing in a rematch to represent a highly competitive congressional district in Hampton Roads.
Republican US Rep. Jen Kiggans is running for reelection in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District against Democrat and former US Rep. Elaine Luria.
Kiggans first got elected to represent the district in 2022 when she ousted Luria from the seat. Now, Luria hopes the political winds have shifted yet again to help her win it back. Luria held the seat from January 2019 to January 2023.
In the US House of Representatives, Kiggans serves on the Armed Services Committee, the Committee on Natural Resources, and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, where she’s the chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
“Taking care of our country, our Commonwealth, and our families has always been my priority and always will be,” Kiggans wrote Aug. 18 on social media.
Kiggans is a nurse practitioner and served in the Virginia Senate from 2020 to 2022.
She said she thinks the Democratic Party has shifted too far left and that the country is in a “fight right now between craziness and common sense and real civility and communism, socialism,” according to a Virginia Mercury report.
By contrast, Luria’s pitch to voters is that Republican policies are pushing up costs for voters, and that if elected, she’ll work with other Democrats to fight corruption in Washington.
“Working Virginians are seeing their gas and grocery bills skyrocket, their friends and family members in uniform sent to fight in another foreign war, and their healthcare taken away to pay for tax cuts for billionaires,” Luria said in an Aug. 17 statement.
When she was serving in the US House, Luria was the vice chair of the Armed Services Committee and a member of the committees on Homeland Security and Veterans’ Affairs. Luria also served as a member of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
Luria and Kiggans are competing to represent Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District in Hampton Roads. The district is anchored by Virginia Beach and parts of Chesapeake and includes Isle of Wight and Accomack counties.
Voters in this Republican-held district backed Democrat Abigail Spanberger by seven points in 2025 when she ran for governor.
This congressional district is the only one in Virginia listed by the Cook Political Report as a toss up—Cook’s most competitive ranking—which means both Democrats and Republicans have a good chance of winning this race.
