Finally, it’s Luria facing off against Kiggans for a spot in Congress

Democrat Elaine Luria and Republican Jen Kiggans will face off to represent Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House.

Their campaigns have garnered national attention; the race is expected to be among several tight contests that likely will determine which party controls the House of Representatives.

Election Day is Nov. 8; early voting started Friday.

Neither is a political novice.

Luria, the incumbent, was elected to the House in 2018.

Kiggans is a state senator who was elected to the General Assembly in 2019. She opted to run for Congress after redistricting placed her in the same district as state Sen. Bill DeSteph, a fellow Republican.

Luria, 47, is a retired Naval commander.

If reelected, she told The Virginian-Pilot she would continue to fight efforts to undermine the nation’s democracy.

Luria, who lives in Norfolk, recently took on a high-profile role when she was selected to serve on a House committee investigating the January 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

“It’s not who we are as a country to use political violence to resolve our disputes and we need to make sure that we do everything we can to prevent something like Jan. 6 from happening again in the future,” she said.

Luria said she voted this week for a bill that would clean up ambiguities in the presidential certification process that can be exploited by those trying to overturn an election.

With Russia’s ongoing attack on Ukraine and China’s increasing aggression toward Taiwan, Luria said national defense is a top concern. She believes the nation needs “more, not less” investments in the military.

Luria is the vice chair for the House Armed Services Committee, and also serves on the committees for veterans affairs and homeland security.

Protecting abortion access at the federal level is another priority, she said.

“I feel like that is very much at risk in Virginia depending on the future actions of our General Assembly, and I think it is important that women can continue to have that choice,” she said.

Kiggans, 51, who lives in Virginia Beach, is a former Navy helicopter pilot who works as a geriatric nurse practitioner.

If elected, she said she would focus “first and foremost” on strengthening the economy.

Inflation is hurting everyone regardless of their political affiliation, Kiggans said.

“People are sick over the economy,” she said. “We have to get that out-of-control spending under control; the first thing I would work on in Washington is saying ‘no’ to that wasteful spending.”

Another one of Kiggans’ priorities would be tightening border security. She said she was dismayed when she recently toured part of the border with several other Republican candidates and met with law enforcement and anti-human trafficking advocates.

“I saw a border that is most certainly not secure,” she said.

Kiggans said she supports completing the border wall and providing more resources to border patrol agents.

She also said she would advocate for parents to have a greater say in their children’s education.

“Parents really want to be involved (with schools),” she said.

In the state Senate, Kiggans serves on the committees for general laws and technology, local government, and rehabilitation and social services.

Luria and Kiggans have raised roughly $5.9 and $1.6 million, respectively, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. VPAP is a nonpartisan nonprofit that tracks campaign donations.

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In Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District, incumbent Democrat Bobby Scott faces Republican challenger Terry Namkung.

Scott, 75, is a former attorney who has represented the district since 1993. If reelected, he told The Pilot he would work to help the nation recover from the pandemic by assisting displaced workers and lowering healthcare costs.

As chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, Scott said he also would continue working to address the learning loss that occurred among students due to online schooling.

“I was proud to work with President Joe Biden in drafting the education provisions of the American Rescue Plan, which helped to safely reopen schools and provided $122 billion for public K-12 education,” he said in a statement. “Recent national reading and math scores show how important and needed these funds are to address this problem.”

Namkung, 45, has not held elected office. He is a retired Air Force veteran who works as a defense strategy consultant for the military.

If elected, Namkung said he would bring new ideas and a fresh perspective to Congress. Tightening border security would be among his top priorities, he said, as well as job creation and reducing crime.

“I think if we bring more jobs to the area (then we can) provide opportunity and hope, which will alleviate the crime,” he said.

Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com