VA-02: Elaine Luria (D)
PROFILE
About Luria:
Elaine Luria served her country in uniform for 20 years. When her peers were heading off to college, she joined the U.S. Navy at 17.
Luria served for 20 years as a Surface Warfare Officer and nuclear engineer deploying six times—twice forward-deployed on ships stationed in Japan—conducting operations in the Middle East and Western Pacific on destroyers, cruisers, and aircraft carriers.
Whether it was launching jets off the deck of an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean, operating complex nuclear reactors, as second in command of a guided missile cruiser, or in command of a combat-ready unit of 400 sailors, providing assault craft to support the U.S. Marine Corps: she got the job done.
She officially retired from the Navy on June 1, 2017. She then started a family business, Mermaid Factory, that began as a block of clay on her kitchen table. From 2013-2018, over 50,000 people experienced Mermaid Factory and took home a souvenir of Hampton Roads’ iconic mermaid and dolphin symbols.
The district she seeks to represent is a military-rich district with the world’s largest navy base and among the highest concentration of veterans, including the largest number of female veterans nationwide.