The Commonwealth Ledger

Two Navy Veterans. Two Congressional Records. One of America’s Closest House Races.

By Michael Hevener

Four years after Jen Kiggans defeated Elaine Luria and ended her two terms in Congress, Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District is getting the rematch.

And there may be no congressional race in Virginia where the differences between the two major-party candidates are accompanied by so many similarities.

Both women served in the Navy.

Both have served in Congress.

Both have represented Hampton Roads.

Both have built political identities around the military and veterans.

And both have demonstrated that they can win competitive congressional races in Hampton Roads.

Republican Jen Kiggans is seeking a third term against Democrat Elaine Luria, the former congresswoman Kiggans defeated in 2022.

Independent candidates J. Matt Baker and Geral D. “Bishop” Staten are also on the ballot.

The Cook Political Report rates VA-2 a Toss Up and gives the district an EVEN Partisan Voting Index.

That assessment is easy to understand.

Donald Trump carried the district by less than three-tenths of a percentage point in 2024. Kiggans, meanwhile, won her own reelection that year by approximately 3.8 percentage points.

This is not reliably Republican territory.

It is not reliably Democratic territory.

It is the kind of district where candidates still matter.

Kiggans and Luria are not merely opponents with similar resumes. Both have represented Hampton Roads in Congress, and both have demonstrated the ability to win competitive races in the region.

HAMPTON ROADS AT THE CENTER

Virginia’s 2nd District covers much of southeastern Virginia, including Virginia Beach, Suffolk, the Eastern Shore and surrounding communities.

Few congressional districts are more closely connected to the United States military.

Naval installations, defense contractors, veterans, active-duty service members and military families are woven into the region’s economy and identity.

That makes defense policy more than an abstract national issue.

A decision made in Washington can affect a shipyard worker’s job, a sailor’s deployment, a veteran’s health care or a military family’s household budget.

It also helps explain why both parties nominated candidates whose biographies are deeply connected to military service.

THE INCUMBENT

Jen Kiggans is a former Navy helicopter pilot, nurse practitioner and Virginia state senator who defeated Luria in 2022.

She entered Congress representing one of the most competitive districts in the country and has spent much of her tenure emphasizing military readiness, veterans’ services and constituent issues.

Kiggans serves on the House Armed Services Committee, House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and House Natural Resources Committee. She also chairs the Veterans’ Affairs Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

Kiggans has worked to present herself as a pragmatic conservative capable of representing a politically divided district.

That is not simply campaign positioning.

Her survival depends on it.

A Republican representing an EVEN district cannot rely solely on the Republican base. Kiggans must continue attracting independents and voters who may support Democrats elsewhere on the ballot.

Her 2024 performance suggests she has been able to do that.

While Trump essentially fought the district to a draw, Kiggans won by approximately 3.8 points.

That difference provides one of the strongest arguments for her reelection.

She has already shown an ability to run ahead of her party’s presidential performance in one of Virginia’s most competitive districts.

THE FORMER INCUMBENT

Elaine Luria brings an unusually strong resume for a challenger.

She graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and spent approximately two decades in the Navy, serving as a nuclear-trained surface warfare officer before retiring as a commander.

She was elected to Congress in 2018, reelected in 2020 and defeated by Kiggans in 2022.

During her congressional tenure, Luria served on the House Armed Services Committee and House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

She also became nationally prominent through her service on the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

That visibility elevated her national profile and made her role on the January 6 investigation an enduring part of her political identity.

Now she is attempting something relatively rare in modern politics: reclaiming a congressional seat after losing it.

Her argument is straightforward.

She knows the district, understands the military, has a congressional record of her own and believes Kiggans’ votes in Washington no longer reflect the political independence she promised voters.

TWO NAVY VETERANS, DIFFERENT VISIONS

Military service gives both candidates credibility on defense issues.

But shared biographies do not mean shared policy.

Kiggans has generally supported the Trump administration’s defense and national-security agenda and argues that rebuilding military strength is essential in an increasingly dangerous world.

Luria also has a hawkish national-security background and has long emphasized military readiness, shipbuilding and America’s ability to confront adversaries.

That creates an unusual dynamic.

The argument in VA-2 is not between a candidate who prioritizes the military and one who does not.

It is between two veterans arguing over who can better protect the military, its mission and the people who serve in it.

That distinction matters in Hampton Roads.

VETERANS

Veterans policy is equally central.

Kiggans chairs the House Veterans’ Affairs Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee and has emphasized efforts involving VA accountability, veterans’ services, mental-health resources and protections for caregivers and employees at VA facilities.

Luria counters with her own congressional record.

She served on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, supported the PACT Act and points to her work involving Gold Star families, veterans’ cost-of-living adjustments and access to VA services.

In most districts, veterans policy might occupy a few paragraphs in a campaign platform.

In VA-2, it can help decide the election.

The district contains a substantial veteran and active-duty military population.

These voters are not simply choosing between promises.

They can compare two congressional records.

HEALTH CARE AND A HOSPITAL IN FRANKLIN

Health care has become one of the race’s most consequential local issues.

The future of Bon Secours Southampton Memorial Hospital in Franklin has placed the national Medicaid debate directly into the district.

The hospital has been identified among Virginia’s vulnerable rural hospitals, and it serves a community where government health programs are particularly important to patients and providers.

Luria argues that Republican Medicaid changes will add financial pressure to hospitals already facing serious challenges and could leave rural communities with fewer options for emergency and routine care.

Luria cites national Medicaid reductions approaching $1 trillion and warns that hundreds of thousands of Virginians could be affected by changes in coverage.

She supports reversing the changes and has proposed expanding prescription-drug negotiations, telehealth, mobile clinics, community health centers and rural emergency services.

Kiggans defends the Republican approach, arguing that the reforms are intended to reduce waste and fraud while protecting Medicaid for people the program was designed to serve.

Republicans also point to federal investments in rural health care as evidence that reforming Medicaid does not mean abandoning rural hospitals.

But in Franklin, the argument is not theoretical.

When the future of a community hospital is uncertain, debates about federal health policy become intensely local.

That gives Democrats an issue they believe can move voters.

Kiggans must convince them that Republican reforms will not leave vulnerable communities behind.

THE COST OF LIVING

Affordability may ultimately be the issue connecting everything else.

Housing, groceries, electricity, insurance and health care all affect household budgets.

Luria argues that Republican economic policies and tariffs have increased costs for Virginia families. She has specifically connected tariffs on building materials to the cost of constructing new homes and argues that federal housing programs should be protected.

Kiggans and Republicans counter that the country must address inflation, government spending and dependence on foreign supply chains rather than relying on additional federal subsidies.

The political difficulty is that voters rarely separate economic policy into neat ideological categories.

They know what their mortgage or rent costs.

They know what they pay at the grocery store.

They know their electric bill.

And they know whether they feel more financially secure than they did two years ago.

In a district this close, whichever candidate voters trust more on affordability may gain a decisive advantage.

ABORTION

Abortion provides one of the clearest contrasts in the race.

Luria supports abortion rights and voted in Congress for the Women’s Health Protection Act, legislation intended to establish federal protections for abortion access. She also supported legislation protecting interstate travel for abortion services.

She supports Virginia’s proposed reproductive-freedom constitutional amendment.

Kiggans argues that abortion law should generally be decided at the state level. She has said she supports exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother and has supported access to contraception and in vitro fertilization.

Her congressional record also includes votes to block abortion services through the Department of Veterans Affairs and to prohibit the Defense Department from paying travel expenses associated with obtaining abortions.

That record gives Luria an obvious line of attack in a district filled with military families.

Kiggans’ response is that taxpayers should not be required to finance elective abortion procedures or related travel.

The disagreement is both philosophical and practical.

Luria wants stronger legal protection for abortion access.

Kiggans favors greater restrictions while arguing that exceptions and other reproductive services should remain available.

Virginia voters will consider the issue not only through this congressional contest but also through Ballot Question 1.

IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER

Kiggans has supported stronger border enforcement, additional border-security measures and the Laken Riley Act.

She argues that controlling the border is a basic responsibility of the federal government and that immigration enforcement is connected to national security and public safety.

Luria also says a secure border is essential.

But she supports combining enforcement with broader immigration reform, including a legal pathway to citizenship for immigrants who meet specified requirements.

That produces another clear choice.

Kiggans places greater emphasis on enforcement first.

Luria argues that enforcement must be paired with a comprehensive legislative solution.

For a military-heavy district, the national-security component of immigration policy may carry particular resonance.

CONSUMER PROTECTION AND KIGGANS’ RECORD

Kiggans’ congressional record also gives Democrats material for a different economic argument.

In 2025, she voted for congressional resolutions overturning Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules involving overdraft fees at very large financial institutions and federal oversight of large digital payment applications.

Supporters of the CFPB rules argued they would protect consumers from excessive fees and bring major payment platforms under greater federal scrutiny.

Republicans argued that the rules represented regulatory overreach that could reduce services, increase costs elsewhere or impose unnecessary federal controls on financial institutions and payment companies.

Luria can use those votes to argue that Kiggans sided with financial institutions rather than consumers.

Kiggans can counter that reducing federal regulation does not mean opposing consumer protection and that poorly designed regulations can themselves increase costs.

The votes are legitimate subjects for scrutiny.

But they should be evaluated on the substance of the policies rather than on an assumption that campaign contributions dictated Kiggans’ position.

In an election centered heavily on affordability, votes involving fees and consumer finance provide another way for voters to evaluate the incumbent’s economic record.

THE INDEPENDENTS

VA-2 is not technically a two-candidate race.

J. Matt Baker and Geral D. “Bishop” Staten are also on the ballot.

Baker is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate and retired Marine colonel who served for 28 years, including combat-command experience. He now works in energy engineering and grid modernization.

He is running as an independent and presents himself as an alternative to the two-party system, emphasizing fiscal responsibility, military readiness, infrastructure and a less partisan approach to government.

Baker has also drawn attention because he lives in Norfolk, outside the boundaries of the 2nd District. The U.S.

Constitution requires members of the House to live in the state they represent, not necessarily the congressional district.

Virginia election officials cleared Baker to appear on the VA-2 ballot.

Staten, a Suffolk resident, is also running as an independent.

He has emphasized affordability and offers voters another alternative to the two major parties, although considerably less detailed public policy information is available about his campaign than about Kiggans, Luria or Baker.

Neither independent begins with the financial resources, party infrastructure or name recognition available to Kiggans and Luria.

But in a district where the two major-party candidates could be separated by only a few percentage points, even a relatively small independent vote matters.

Votes for Baker or Staten could matter considerably in determining the final outcome.

A REMATCH WITH A HISTORY

Kiggans and Luria have been here before.

In 2022, Kiggans defeated Luria 51.63 percent to 48.22 percent, a margin of approximately 3.4 percentage points.

Two years later, Kiggans won reelection against Democrat Missy Cotter Smasal by approximately 3.8 percentage points.

Those are victories, but they are not landslides.

The district remains closely divided.

The only publicly reported 2026 head-to-head survey located for this race was conducted July 9-13 by Tulchin Research for House Majority PAC, a Democratic-aligned organization. It found Kiggans and Luria tied at 47 percent.

Because the poll was sponsored by a Democratic organization and was conducted months before Election Day, it should be treated cautiously.

It is also too old to tell us reliably where the race stands in October.

What it does reinforce is something the district’s election history already tells us.

Neither candidate can take VA-2 for granted.

THE CASE FOR LURIA

Elaine Luria is a serious candidate with a record that deserves serious consideration.

Her military background is substantial.

Her previous service in Congress means she understands both the institution and the district.

On veterans issues, defense policy and military readiness, she brings expertise that few congressional challengers possess.

She can also make a credible argument that Kiggans should be judged not by campaign branding but by her actual votes.

For voters concerned primarily about abortion rights, Medicaid, health-care access or the Trump administration, Luria offers a clear alternative.

And unlike many challengers, she does not need to convince voters she is capable of doing the job.

She has already done it.

THE CASE FOR KIGGANS

Jen Kiggans has something equally important.

She has demonstrated that she can represent a politically divided district without simply matching the performance of the Republican ticket.

Her military service, health-care background and work on veterans issues fit the district unusually well.

More importantly, voters have now had two opportunities to judge her as a congressional candidate.

They elected her both times.

Kiggans’ approach on border security, federal spending and the role of government is also more consistent with the center-right voters who remain essential to any winning coalition in the district.

Her record is not beyond criticism.

No incumbent’s should be.

Her health-care votes deserve scrutiny, particularly where rural hospitals are vulnerable. Her consumer-finance votes deserve examination. And in a district containing so many military families, voters are entitled to examine carefully how abortion policy affects service members and veterans.

But an incumbent should ultimately be judged on the whole of her record.

Kiggans has built one that gives voters a legitimate reason to return her to Washington.

THE LEDGER’S VIEW

The Commonwealth Ledger endorses Jen Kiggans for reelection in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District.

This is not an endorsement based on the idea that Elaine Luria is inexperienced, unserious or unqualified.

She is none of those things.

Luria served her country for two decades in the Navy and represented this district for four years in Congress. Her knowledge of national defense and military affairs is substantial, and her arguments on health care and veterans policy deserve to be heard.

That makes VA-2 different from races where the choice can be reduced to experience versus inexperience.

Here, voters are choosing between two experienced public servants with military backgrounds and congressional records.

We believe Kiggans offers the better course.

Her emphasis on military readiness, border security, fiscal restraint and veterans services more closely reflects the direction we believe Congress should take.

She has also demonstrated something particularly important in an evenly divided district: an ability to win voters beyond the Republican base.

That independence must continue.

Kiggans should not interpret reelection as permission to simply follow her party when the interests of Hampton Roads point elsewhere. On rural health care, military families, veterans and the economic pressures facing the district, her obligation is to Virginia’s 2nd District before any political party.

Luria has already proven that she can win a competitive congressional race in Hampton Roads.

So has Kiggans.

That is what makes the rematch consequential.

The voters of VA-2 are not being asked to choose between an incumbent and an unknown challenger.

They are being asked to compare two records.

On balance, Kiggans’ record on military readiness, veterans, border security and fiscal policy, combined with her demonstrated ability to represent a closely divided district, makes her the stronger choice in 2026.

For Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, our choice is Jen Kiggans.

NEXT UP: Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District