The Winner

If you live in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, former Rep. Elaine Luria (D) will represent you again after she unseated Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA) in a rematch. The Associated Press called the race for Luria at 11:47 p.m. on election night, Tuesday, Nov. 3, according to the Virginia Mercury. ​

Luria had 179,126 votes, or 53%, to 150,456 votes, or 44.5%, for Kiggans, a margin of about 8 points, with about 98% of the vote counted, according to 13News Now. Independents Matt Baker and Geral “Bishop” Staten took 1.4% and 0.9%.

The Race

Luria, a retired Navy commander, represented the district from 2019 to 2023 before Kiggans, also a Navy veteran, beat her by about 3 points in 2022. Kiggans won a second term in 2024 by about 4 points over Democrat Missy Cotter Smasal. Luria won the Aug. 4 Democratic primary with 79.1% over three opponents, while Kiggans had no primary opponent, according to the Virginia Mercury’s primary coverage.

Before the election, Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated the race Lean Democratic, and Inside Elections rated it Tilt Democratic, according to Ballotpedia. The district has Virginia’s largest concentration of military personnel, and both candidates campaigned on health care and national security.

The district is centered on Virginia Beach and also includes Suffolk, Franklin, part of Chesapeake, Isle of Wight and Southampton counties, and the Eastern Shore, according to Decision Desk HQ’s locality results. The race used the district lines the Supreme Court of Virginia drew in 2021, after the court struck down a voter-approved redistricting amendment in May.

The district has about 787,900 residents, a median household income of $93,800 and a median age of 39. About 38.7% of adults hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, unemployment is 4.2% and 8.5% of residents live below the poverty line. Residents are 60.2% white, 22.4% Black, 7.9% Hispanic and 5.4% Asian.

What’s Next

Luria’s term begins Sunday, Jan. 3, and she will join the new Democratic House majority. After the election, she said she would work to reverse Medicaid and Affordable Care Act cuts, end tariffs, and use Congress’ war powers to stop the war with Iran, according to WAVY.

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