To: Interested Parties
From: Eli Cousin, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: August 4, 2026
Subject: The Case Against Jen Kiggans
While Jen Kiggans talks a big game about being a different kind of politician, her real record proves that – when push comes to shove – she folds to her D.C. party bosses when it matters most. Kiggans has established a clear pattern of lying to Virginians by promising one thing, only to turn around and fold. Kiggans promised she wouldn’t vote for devastating health care cuts. Then she folded. Kiggans promised she wouldn’t vote for skyrocketing health care premiums. Then she folded. Kiggans promised she would protect our veterans and military families. Then she folded. Kiggans promised she would protect energy tax credits and good-paying jobs in Virginia Beach. Then she folded. That’s the story of Kiggans’ time in Washington: she has sided with special interests, party bosses, and Donald Trump over the people of Virginia. Instead of providing the independent leadership that Virginians so desperately deserve, Kiggans has voted with Donald Trump 100% of the time this Congress, serving as a rubber stamp for his cost-spiking agenda. When you look at Kiggans’ real record, it becomes crystal clear that she simply can’t be trusted.
Navy veteran and former Congresswoman Elaine Luria knows what it means to put service over self. She served our country and Virginia since she was 17 years old, graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy and serving 20 years in the Navy as a nuclear engineer. Before retiring as a Commander, Luria deployed six times to the Middle East and Western Pacific serving on destroyers, carriers, and ultimately as the Commanding Officer of a combat-ready unit of 400 sailors. Elaine continued her service in Congress representing Coastal Virginia for four years, where she worked to strengthen our military, boost benefits for disabled veterans, and expand access to affordable health care. During her time in Congress, Elaine was ranked as one of the most bipartisan and effective lawmakers. And she was instrumental in passage of the PACT Act – the largest expansion of veterans’ health care in our lifetime. Now, Elaine is again answering the call to serve because she can’t sit back while corrupt politicians in Washington like Kiggans hurt her community by ripping away health care and jacking up costs.
Democrats’ path back to the House majority runs straight through Virginia’s 2nd District, a true perennial swing seat. The Washington Post reports that “Kiggans (R) is among the most vulnerable incumbents in the House this year — and gives Democrats one of their best opportunities to flip a red seat.” Governor Spanberger carried the district by more than 7 percentage points last November, proving that Coastal Virginians are hungry for change. With a strong nominee in former Congresswoman Luria, Democrats are squarely on offense and are poised to flip this must-win seat in November.
Kiggans has Broken Her Promises to Virginians by Ripping Away Health Care and Jacking Up Costs
Jen Kiggans lied when she promised to protect Virginians’ health care, but then voted for the largest cuts to Medicaid in history. Kiggans spent weeks touting her alleged concerns about her party bosses’ plan to gut Medicaid. But in the end, Kiggans “folded” and cast a decisive vote for the historic health care cuts anyway. Her vote is expected to rip health insurance away from tens of thousands of people across Virginia’s 2nd District and jeopardize food assistance for tens of thousands of households in her community. As a direct result of Kiggans’ vote, multiple health care clinics have already closed across Virginia. These closures will lead to longer wait times and less access to care for all Virginians. And the Virginia Joint Commission on Health Care warns that Bon Secours Southampton Memorial Hospital, a hospital in Virginia’s 2nd District, is at risk of closure because of Kiggans’ flip-flop. After Kiggans folded and voted for these devastating cuts, The Virginian-Pilot Editorial Board wrote that “it would be a betrayal were it not so predictable.”
Then, like a bad Hallmark movie sequel, Kiggans lied to Virginians yet again when she promised to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits but then voted to spike health care costs for Virginians instead. Kiggans told anyone who would listen that she was sticking her neck out to extend the ACA tax credits. But when Virginians needed her most, Kiggans voted to gut the premiums that made health insurance affordable for tens of thousands of Virginians. Kiggans’ vote should not have come as a surprise to anyone. After all, Kiggans has spent years working to undermine affordable health care – even saying that she’d “like to eliminate” the ACA entirely.
Kiggans also lied to Virginians when she promised to protect clean energy tax credits that are bringing billions of dollars and more than a thousand good-paying jobs to her district, only to turn around and vote to rip them away. Kiggans signed onto a letter warning that slashing the tax credits would lead to higher energy costs, and even published an op-ed advocating for the tax credits which she said “have led to a significant increase in domestic manufacturing and energy production across the country, including in my district.” But Kiggans ultimately “flip-flopped” and voted to take a “sledgehammer” to clean energy tax credits instead. The Virginian-Pilot wrote that Kiggans’ vote would “stifle growth and ultimately imperil our region’s future.” Now, Virginia is losing millions of dollars in investment and electricity bills are rising because of Kiggans’ vote.
Even when Kiggans isn’t lying to Virginians, she is still voting to unleash skyrocketing prices. Virginians are paying more on everything from gas to groceries because of her repeated votes in favor of the reckless war of choice in Iran. Kiggans told a conservative radio host that she “couldn’t be a stauncher supporter” of the war in Iran, even as gas prices skyrocketed across Virginia and American servicemembers have died. In response to Kiggans’ passionate support for the war, political experts said her position “is inexplicable” and “does not bode well” for her chances in November. That helps explain why Kiggans was caught red handed scrubbing her website to remove “any mention of gas prices from her campaign website after prices started to go up” due to her votes in favor of the war.
Kiggans has also voted multiple times to support sweeping tariffs that are jacking up costs on everything from groceries to housing. Kiggans voted for those cost-spiking tariffs a staggering eight different times. Reports show Kiggans’ tariffs are estimated to cost the average American household $2,500 this year. At every turn, Kiggans has worked hand in hand with Donald Trump to implement his cost-exploding agenda. That record is what she will have to answer for in November.
Elaine respects hard work and will fight to put more money in people’s pockets. In Congress, she worked across the aisle to lower health care and prescription drug costs. The ACA tax credits that Kiggans voted against? Elaine was the one who voted them into law, lowering premium costs for hardworking Virginians. She is willing to work with Democrats and Republicans to deliver a middle-class tax cut, create new jobs, and hold corrupt politicians accountable.
Kiggans is Hurting Virginia Veterans and Military Families
Kiggans has been letting down veterans and our active duty servicemembers even before joining Congress, despite Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District being home to nearly 90,000 veterans (which is more than 15% of the district and more than double the national average). When Kiggans was in the Virginia Senate, she voted against reforms for predatory payday lenders that target members of the military. Payday loans have high interest rates, sometimes of up to 400%, but are pushed on the most vulnerable people who can least afford them. Payday lenders often locate themselves near military bases to entice or deceive young servicemembers into predatory loans with abusive or unfair terms. In 2017, it was estimated that 44% of active duty military used payday loans. Yet when Kiggans had the opportunity to vote for legislation to help protect military personnel from predatory payday lenders, she chose to side with payday lenders. To understand Kiggans’ vote, all you have to do is follow the money. Kiggans took thousands of dollars from a special interest PAC funded by the payday loan industry, including multiple campaign contributions from GOPAC which receives “substantial financial backing” from the payday lending industry. When she was finally pinned down by local press to explain her vote, Kiggans literally ran away while still mic’d up, completely unable to answer for her corruption and the damage she has inflicted on Virginia veterans.
Now in Congress, Kiggans has been voting to unleash even further harm on Virginia veterans. Local news verified that Kiggans “cut veterans’ health care” when she cast a decisive vote to gut Medicaid. Kiggans was also a major proponent of DOGE, and her support reportedly led to “the termination of more than $8.3 million in grants and leases tied to the district, including funding streams connected to veterans services and facilities.”
Kiggans also backs a bill that advocates warn would hurt Virginia veterans “by slashing or restricting existing veterans benefits and services.” One of the largest veterans groups in the country is warning that Kiggans’ bill is a “serious problem,” and that it could “reduce disability compensation payments by approximately $57 billion over 10 years and affect up to 1.5 million veterans.” Kiggans described the cuts as “so necessary,” even as veterans lost access to health care and benefits that they earned.
While Kiggans sells out her own fellow veterans, Elaine was one of the leading voices in Congress for those who served our country in uniform and their families. Elaine passed legislation that provided a critical pay raise for disabled veterans and to ensure that all veterans have access to all the benefits they earned by their service. She also led the most significant expansion of veterans’ health care in our lifetime – the PACT Act – to take care of those who were exposed to toxins and burn pits while serving our country. When Elaine gets back to Congress, she’ll resume her fight to strengthen our military and honor our commitments to our veterans.
Kiggans has Shown Her True Colors by Embracing Her Party’s Extremism and Voting with Donald Trump 100% of the Time
Coastal Virginians deserve an independent and commonsense voice fighting for them in Congress, but Kiggans has proven that her moderate image is nothing more than a facade.
If there was any doubt about Kiggans’ lack of independence, simply look at her complete and total loyalty to Donald Trump. Kiggans has voted with Trump 100 percent of the time this Congress, even when it hurts Virginia. As a thank you for her loyalty, Trump called Kiggans one of his “Congress warriors” when he came to rally for her in Virginia.
Kiggans showed her true colors when she endorsed racist and vile remarks targeting Black Americans. When a radio host said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — the highest-ranking Black lawmaker in Congress — had “cotton-picking hands,” Kiggans agreed with him, saying: “That’s right. Ditto. Yes, yes to that.” A wave of news coverage highlighted how Kiggans then proceeded to double down on their racism. Local Black elected leaders spoke out and called on Kiggans to apologize for agreeing with the racist remarks. National and local leaders called on her to resign. To this day, Kiggans has refused to apologize.
Her extremism extends to her anti-abortion record, as well. Kiggans said she was “proud to be an advocate” against abortion “at all stages from conception to natural death,” and called a national abortion ban “common sense.” Kiggans repeatedly made extreme anti-abortion comments, including comparing abortion to “infanticide,” calling abortion a “shiny object” and derisively claiming abortion is “elective surgery,” similar to a “Hollywood nose job.” She later tried to hide her extremism from Virginians by deleting the “infanticide” language from her website. Kiggans voted to prohibit abortions at VA medical centers. She voted to restrict abortion access for military personnel in the annual defense bill and also voted for an amendment to prohibit the Defense Department from paying for expenses related to abortion services. Kiggans’ anti-abortion record will be on the ballot in November, when Virginians will have a chance to enshrine their right to an abortion into the Commonwealth’s constitution. If Kiggans has her way, abortion would be banned for Virginians.
Elaine Luria is an independent leader who has and always will stand up against political extremism. She is the only candidate in this race who will protect a woman’s freedom to make her own health care decisions. And she won’t take marching orders from anybody other than the Coastal Virginians she serves.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
The Virginian-Pilot: Kiggans votes against 3-year ACA tax credit extension [The Virginian-Pilot, 1/9/26]
WHRO: House bill that would cut Medicaid passes, with Kiggans’ vote [WHRO, 5/23/25]
The Virginian Independent: Rep. Jennifer Kiggans said during 2022 campaign that she’d ‘like to eliminate Obamacare’ [The Virginian Independent, 12/2/25]
Virginia Republican Rep. Jennifer Kiggans is positioning herself as a bipartisan defender of health care access, but she said during her campaign for Congress in 2022 that she’d “like to eliminate Obamacare” and as recently as September that she wants to eliminate a popular tax credit that subsidizes health insurance premiums after 2026.
Dogwood: As costs rise, Kiggans wipes mention of gas prices from her website [Dogwood, 6/1/26]
Virginia Mercury: Kiggans maintains support for Iran war while warning of pain at the pump [Virginia Mercury, 5/28/26]
U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans, a Republican from Virginia Beach, is finding herself in a politically precarious position as she seeks a third term in one of the nation’s most competitive congressional races. She continues defending her support for President Donald Trump and his administration’s war in Iran while also acknowledging the economic strain the conflict is placing on voters back home. During an April appearance on “The John Fredericks Show,” Kiggans underscored her support for U.S. military actions against Iran, saying she “couldn’t be a stauncher supporter” of the effort.
Bloomberg: Republican Who Flip-Flopped on Energy Credits Risks Voters’ Ire [Bloomberg, 6/18/25]
In the weeks before the House of Representative’s vote to gut clean energy tax credits in President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill, Virginia Congresswoman Jen Kiggans cast herself as the leading Republican champion of renewables. Yet in the end, she cast the deciding vote in favor of the bill despite its blow to wind and solar. Now the swift elimination of those subsidies, a rollback that also remains in the Senate version of the legislation, put Kiggans at odds with many in her district…
Virginia Mercury: Musk’s doubts about DOGE spotlight political risks for U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans [Virginia Mercury, 12/17/25]
Kiggans embraced the program from the outset […] Beyond rhetoric, DOGE’s impact on Virginia’s 2nd District has been tangible. The effort resulted in the termination of more than $8.3 million in grants and leases tied to the district, including funding streams connected to veterans services and facilities, according to nonpartisan policy think tank Center for American Progress. Several of the canceled grants directly affected programs serving military families and veterans — a core constituency in the Hampton Roads region.
The Virginian-Pilot: Editorial: In the end, Reps. Kiggans and Wittman sold out their constituents [The Virginian-Pilot Editorial Board, 5/22/25]
Yet when push came to shove — when residents of Hampton Roads really needed the elected representatives to defend their interests — U.S. Reps. Jen Kiggans and Rob Wittman folded […] It would be a betrayal were it not so predictable. For all the noise each made about fighting against the most onerous provisions of the bill — and there are many — neither had the courage to stand up to President Donald Trump or buck Republican leadership to do what was right.
Dogwood: Jen Kiggans voted in 2020 against reforms for predatory payday lenders who target military members [Dogwood, 5/20/24]
WAVY: Truth Tracker: Kiggans refuses to explain vote on predatory loan bill [WAVY, 10/25/22]
That is TRUE. Kiggans did vote against Senate Bill 421 that among other measures would cap the annual interest rate for predatory or short-term loans at 36%. Try as we did in our allotted five minutes to talk to her, Kiggans refused to answer 10 On Your Side’s inquiry and to explain why she voted for Senate Bill 421.
The Washington Post: Elaine Luria launches bid for her former Virginia congressional seat [The Washington Post, 11/12/25]
Luria, a retired Navy commander who represented the state’s 2nd Congressional District for two terms, carved out a path on Capitol Hill as an… independent-minded moderate — bucking her party on military spending issues…
The Virginian-Pilot: Column: Unlike Rep. Kiggans, I voted to make health care more affordable [Elaine Luria in The Virginian-Pilot, 3/3/26]
I was proud to be one of the key votes on the ACA tax credits in 2022, which provided affordable and accessible health coverage to millions of Americans […] But our Congresswoman Jen Kiggans? She chose partisan politics over commonsense. Members such as Kiggans claim to care about the rising cost of living and affordability, and she wants the people of Hampton Roads to believe just that. But actions speak louder than words.
Daily Press: Elaine Luria’s bill to boost disabled veterans’ benefits heads to President Trump for signature [Daily Press, 9/25/20]
WVTF: Luria Snags A Pair of Legislative Victories for Veterans and Their Families [WVTF, 5/27/2019]
13NewsNow: US House passed Congresswoman Luria’s bill to help American veterans [13NewsNow, 5/21/19]
PATH TO VICTORY
Virginia’s 2nd District is a true bellwether district. Non-partisan race raters universally agree that this race is a pure toss up, and the Washington Post has declared it as one of Democrats’ “best opportunities to flip a red seat” in the entire country. With a national environment souring on Trump, Kiggans, and House Republicans’ cost-spiking agenda, Democrats have a prime opportunity to flip this Coastal Virginia-based swing seat from red to blue.
Elaine has a unique chance to flip this district in part by mobilizing the district’s large Black electorate – making up nearly 25% of the district’s voting age population – the largest of the state’s competitive districts. The Democratic base of Black voters is already seeing surges in turnout as a backlash to national Republicans gutting the Voting Rights Act and their cynical efforts to racially gerrymander the south to silence Black voices. Additionally, Elaine has the opportunity to tap into broader voter dissatisfaction with rising costs and an unpopular war that Kiggans continues to support. Initial polling already shows the race in a dead heat, with both Elaine and Kiggans tied up with 47% of the vote in a July poll.
Elaine will be bolstered by her military background and record of delivering for the veteran-heavy district. She is also likely to benefit from top-of-ticket momentum behind Senator Mark Warner, who carried this district by 4 points in 2020 and is poised to romp to victory again in 2026. Recent statewide Democratic gains in 2025 also bode well for Elaine. Governor Spanberger won VA-02 by more than 7 percentage points in November.
While this toss-up race will be close the entire way, it is clear that Coastal Virginians are fed up with a broken and corrupt Washington that is jacking up prices on hardworking families. Jen Kiggans has betrayed the trust of Virginians and become part of the problem in D.C., not the solution. Elaine Luria has a track record of delivering for veterans and Virginia families – and she’ll continue that fight when she flips this seat and returns to Congress. |
