Elaine Luria is the Democratic nominee for Virginia's 2nd Congressional District, having won her August 2026 primary by a wide margin to set up a rematch with Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans, who narrowly defeated her in 2022. A 20-year Navy veteran and former member of Congress, Luria is running to bring her military discipline and independent, results-driven approach back to Washington.

A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Luria joined the Navy at 17 and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1997. Over a 20-year career as a Surface Warfare Officer and nuclear-trained engineer, she deployed six times to the Middle East and Western Pacific, served as second-in-command of a guided-missile cruiser, and commanded a combat-ready unit of 400 sailors before retiring in 2017. After leaving the Navy, she and her family started Mermaid Factory, a Hampton Roads small business that created local jobs and donated tens of thousands of dollars to community charities.

Luria represented Virginia's 2nd District in Congress from 2019 to 2023, where she served on the House Armed Services and Veterans' Affairs Committees and helped pass the PACT Act, the largest expansion of veterans' benefits in a generation. She wrote legislation delivering a cost-of-living pay raise for disabled veterans, fixed a tax error that had unfairly taxed Gold Star families' survivor benefits, and helped secure $85 billion for the Chesapeake Bay Program. She also served on the House select committee that investigated the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Now she's running to bring that same record of service back to Hampton Roads.