Virginia Redistricting Relief Doesn’t Guarantee Victory for GOP

The Virginia GOP secured a win for voter representation last week when the state Supreme Court ruled against a Democrat effort to push out Republican representation. Although the maps remain as before, Virginia is still a purple state, and the fight is far from over.

Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., faces the most contentious race in the state. The second-term congresswoman is battling her former opponent and predecessor, Elaine Luria, a Navy veteran who served as U.S representative in the district from 2019 to 2023.

“Our seat is never really a safe seat,” Kiggans told The Daily Signal.

“It will still be a tough fight here in the 2nd District, but we’re ready for it,” she continued. “We’ve been here before. We’ll do it again, and we’re looking forward to victory in November.”

Kiggans last beat Luria in 2022 with just over 10,000 votes. However, Virginia currently has a Democrat majority in the state Legislature, as well as in the governor’s mansion and the entire state leadership.

“This is not about a power grab,” Kiggans explained. “This is about how we can serve the veteran population that lives here, the business owners, the people that are hardworking families.”

“I think the voters … know that I served in the state Senate here for three years before we flipped the seat in ’22 and kept it again in ’24. And we’ll keep it again in ’26 because this is a service job for me,” she continued.

Kiggans and Luria, both veterans, will be vying for the roughly 15% of Virginians who are service members.

Kiggans says her main focus is affordability for Virginians.

“We need to make sure that we’re focused on the economy. I think that we all agree that things are costing too much money, from the price of gas to everyday items to electric bills to houses,” she said.

House Republicans are currently working to save Americans over a trillion dollars before the midterms, saying they are ready to deliver on housing, health care, energy affordability, and fraud prevention.

This fight has consumed the GOP, which delivered the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” last year. “We’re continuing to prioritize the cost of life,” Kiggans said, anticipating the upcoming tax cut bill.