Elaine Luria wins Democratic nomination for Virginia's 2nd Congressional District

Kate Seltzer, The Virginian-Pilot on Aug 4, 2026

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NORFOLK, Va. — Democrat Elaine Luria will fight to get her old seat back against Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans in the 2nd Congressional District after earning the party’s nomination Tuesday night.

The Associated Press called the race at 7:30 p.m. EDT for Luria. With more than half of precincts reporting, Luria had 81% of the vote.

Luria was backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Red to Blue program, which provides organizational and fundraising support to a handful of candidates in competitive districts across the country. Virginia Democrats, including Gov. Abigail Spanberger and U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, endorsed Luria early in her campaign. Rep. Bobby Scott, Delegate Cliff Hayes and former Gov. Ralph Northam all spoke at Luria’s victory announcement.

Earlier this year, Virginia Democrats at the state level hoped to redraw congressional maps to favor their party in 10 out of the state’s 11 districts in an effort to match mid-decade redistricting done by other states. Democrats currently represent six districts in Virginia. Though Virginians voted in favor of the redistricting amendment, the Supreme Court of Virginia ultimately scuttled that plan.

Nationally, Democrats are still hoping to pick up the 1st and 2nd seats. The Virginia Public Access Project categorizes both districts as leaning Republican. But last year, Spanberger received 51% of the vote in the 1st District and 53% of the vote in the 2nd. That indicates those districts could be in play come November, experts said at the time.

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