Virginia Democrats have their nominees for two Republican-held House seats the party needs to flip if it wants to take control of the chamber for the second half of Trump's term — and every one of those seats is a vote for the open-borders, transgender-mandate, blank-check spending agenda that got us here.
The stakes are straightforward. Virginia currently sends six Democrats and five Republicans to the House. Democrats need to flip GOP-held seats nationwide to reclaim the majority. Two Virginia districts — the coastal 2nd and the 1st, stretching from Richmond suburbs into rural counties — are top targets. Republican incumbents Jen Kiggans and Rob Wittman avoided primary challenges and will be on defense in November.
In the 2nd District, centered on Virginia Beach, former Rep. Elaine Luria is the clear favorite. She's backed by the House Democrats' campaign arm and has far outraised the field. Luria is a retired Navy commander who won the seat in 2018 and served two terms before losing it. Her primary opponents include physician Nila Devanath, who positioned herself as the progressive in the race, scientist and veteran Bill Fleming, and Patrick Mosolf, described by the AP as a former international aid and humanitarian worker. The 1st District, slightly more Republican-leaning, also drew a crowded Democratic primary.
What the press won't emphasize: this entire primary season was upended because Democrats tried to rig the map. Virginia moved its primaries from June to August to accommodate a redistricting push that would have handed Democrats a shot at 10 of the state's 11 congressional seats. The state Supreme Court struck down the Democrats' redrawn map — but not before candidates had launched campaigns in those gerrymandered districts. When the courts confirmed in May that the 2021 districts would stand, campaigns scrambled, relocated, or collapsed.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a former congresswoman from a swing district, told reporters she remained
