Virginia's 2nd congressional district

Former Rep. Elaine Luria, the Democrat challenging Rep. Jen Kiggans for Virginia's 2nd Congressional District seat in 2026, has not moved into the district despite promising to do so after 2021 redistricting shifted her Norfolk home into the neighboring 3rd District. A Washington Examiner review of property records found Luria still resides in Norfolk and in 2024 purchased a second home just doors from her original house, also outside the 2nd District's boundaries. Her husband continues to list their original Norfolk address on federal campaign finance filings.

Luria's campaign says she was "deliberately drawn out" of the district after the court-ordered 2021 remap and calls the residency scrutiny a distraction from Kiggans' record. Candidates are constitutionally required only to live within the state, not the specific district. Luria won her August primary in a landslide and faces Kiggans in a rematch of their 2022 race, which Luria lost narrowly. The contest is rated a toss-up and is seen as pivotal to Democrats' efforts to retake the House majority.

President Trump has repeatedly downplayed reports of deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Lincoln and other Navy vessels deployed amid the ongoing war with Iran, calling the accounts "fake news" and suggesting sailors haven't been out "nearly long enough." The response has drawn criticism and could carry political consequences in Virginia's 2nd Congressional District, a Tidewater-region seat with one of the country's largest active-duty military populations, heavily Navy-affiliated.

Democrat Elaine Luria, a Navy veteran challenging Republican Representative Jen Kiggans in a rematch, says she plans to make Trump's comments a central campaign issue, arguing they reflect a broader carelessness toward service members and insufficient GOP oversight of the military. Kiggans has blamed media "misinformation" for the controversy, echoing her earlier dismissal of concerns about the carrier Gerald R. Ford. Local Republicans concede the prolonged war exposes the administration to criticism, even as they downplay the political risk among military families.