Former Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria is launching a comeback bid for her former congressional seat in Virginia, according to three people granted anonymity to discuss her plans ahead of a formal announcement scheduled for Wednesday.
The Virginia Beach-based district is the most competitive GOP-held seat in the state. Luria flipped it in 2018 before being defeated by Republican incumbent Rep. Jen Kiggans in 2022. President Donald Trump narrowly won the seat in 2024. This time, Democrats are counting on a midterm backlash — and a potential mid-cycle boundary redraw — to flip the seat blue
Virginia Democrats have kick-started a process to redraw the state’s maps that could target seats currently held by Kiggans and GOP Rep. Rob Wittman, and Democrats’ landslide victories this month will give Democrats the state legislative majorities necessary to initiate their plans.
Luria rose to prominence as part of a group of lawmakers with national security backgrounds who helped power Democrats’ 2018 gains in the House, some of whom went on to higher offices themselves.
As a member of the select panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, she helped lead the probe into the insurrection. But she was dogged during her tenure in Congress by controversy around stock trading and was slammed by Republicans for calling a push to ban the practice “bullshit.”
This time, Luria won’t have the field to herself. Marine veteran Mike Williamson and Navy reservist James Osyf are already running, teeing up what could be a messy primary. Punchbowl News first reported her plans for a 2026 run.
“Yesterday’s establishment got us into this mess; they’re not going to get us out of it,” Osyf said in a statement prior to Luria’s launch. “This moment demands new leaders who know democracy is at a breaking point and are ready to fight for it — regardless of which way the political winds are blowing.”
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