VIRGINIA BEACH — State Sen. Jen Kiggans, a Virginia Beach Republican serving in her first term in the General Assembly, defeated three other candidates to win the GOP nomination in the Virginia 2nd congressional district.
Kiggans, a nurse practitioner who served as a helicopter pilot in the Navy, will challenge the incumbent, U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria, a Democrat and Navy veteran who is seeking her third term this year.
Kiggans earned 55.7 percent of the vote in the Tuesday, June 21, primary, according to unofficial returns reported by the Virginia Department of elections as of Thursday, June 30.
“Thank you to all of you guys tonight who helped make this victory possible,” Kiggans told supporters gathered at Kelly’s Tavern on the night of the primary, also thanking her family, staff and voters.
“Those of you who voted for me today, I am honored and grateful for your support,” Kiggans said, “and then to those who voted for another candidate, I look forward to earning your support.”
Kiggans said her victory meant a loss for Democrats in November.
“Democrats spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lying about me because they know my victory marks the beginning of the end for Elaine Luria and her House speaker,” she said. “Tonight we took the first step toward firing Nanci Pelosi …. and ending Joe Biden’s destructive agenda. Most importantly, tonight is a victory for our mission to restore American strength.”
Kiggans defeated Jarome Bell, a retired Navy chief who ran unsuccessfully for the nomination two years ago and placed second in voting this year with 27.1 percent of the vote. Bell billed himself as a MAGA candidate and, as reported by The Virginian-Pilot, this year stood by a past social media comment that said people involved in election fraud in 2020 should be executed.
Tommy Altman, an Air Force veteran and a small business owner, earned almost 14.3 percent of the vote, and Andy Baan, a retired Navy veteran and a cybersecurity consultant, received nearly 3 percent.
The campaign on Wednesday, June 22, announced it has $3.7 million in its coffers as it enters the general elections season.
Luria had raised $4.77 million for this elections cycle and Kiggans raised $1.34 million, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Luria had about $3.4 million on hand as of Wednesday, June 1, according to VPAP, and Kiggans had more than $489,000 as of the same date.
The race is likely to become an expensive one because it is a considered a competitive race as the GOP looks to retake a majority in Congress.
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