Luria to Seek Reelection in Virginia’s Revised 2nd District

WASHINGTON — Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., a Navy veteran currently serving her second term in Congress said Thursday she’s going to battle for a third term, despite a redrawing of her district that is more favorable to a Republican candidate.

Luria, who was at the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, waited until 1:46 p.m. Thursday — the time the first rioters breached the Capitol building last year — to make her intentions known.

Not only does the new congressional district map approved by the Supreme Court of Virginia recast her district in a slightly more GOP mold, but the map drawers actually carved her home out of it.

The latter change is more insult than injury as members of Congress are not bound to live in the districts they represent. But Luria had more serious matters on her mind when she made her announcement than map-making shenanigans.

“Today, I recommit to uphold my oath to ‘support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic,’” Luria said in a statement posted to Twitter. 

“We cannot allow those who seek to destroy our country from within to prevail. We need representatives and leaders who will uphold and strengthen our laws and institutions, not side with those who try to tear them down. 

“The call and courage to serve is not one that I take lightly or without deliberation. I have been honored to serve the people of Coastal Virginia over the past three years. This is our community. I took an oath to serve. And in this critical moment for our democracy, I intend to continue serving.”

FiveThirtyEight, the political analysis website, has long rated Luria’s district a toss-up favoring Republicans by about 2 percentage points. It says the new map, which will take effect for the 2022 general election, now favors Republicans by 6 percentage points.

The new 2nd Congressional District retains the Eastern Shore and Virginia Beach, but keeps only parts of Williamsburg, James City County, York County, Hampton and Norfolk, where Luria lives.

It adds parts of Chesapeake, Isle of Wight and Suffolk, which is where the added Republican strength is expected to be.

Luria was born on Aug. 15, 1975, in Birmingham, Alabama, and she graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science with a double major in physics and history, and a minor in French.

In 2000, she attended the United States Naval Nuclear Power School.

Four years later, while serving aboard the USS Blue Ridge, she earned a Master of Science degree in engineering management from Old Dominion University.

Luria served as a Navy officer for 20 years, operating nuclear reactors as an engineer, where she rose to the rank of commander.

She was the first female American sailor to spend her entire career on combat ships, and she rose to command the Assault Craft Unit TWO, a combat-ready unit of 400 sailors, from 2014 until her retirement in 2017.

In 2022, Luria will likely face a fellow Navy veteran, Republican Virginia State Sen. Jen Kiggans.

Before that happens, however, Kiggans will have to prevail in a five-candidate Republican primary on June 21.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue