Former Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA02), who was first elected in November 2018 and then served two terms in the US House before being narrowly defeated by Jen Kiggans (R) in 2022, will be announcing her candidacy tomorrow, according to Nicholas Wu of Politico and Ally Mutnick of Punchbowl News.
“News: Ex-Rep Elaine Luria (D) has told Dems she will launch a comeback bid Wednesday in #VA02 She will join a crowded Dem primary to take on GOP Rep Jen Kiggans (R). Luria lost to Kiggans in 2022″
In response, one of the other Democrats running for the nomination, James Osyf, sent out the following statement:
“Yesterday’s establishment got us into this mess; they’re not going to get us out of it. This moment demands new leaders who know democracy is at a breaking point and are ready to fight for it – regardless of which way the political winds are blowing. I’m in this race because we need a new generation of patriotic leaders who are tired of the corruption, tired of incrementalism, and not afraid to be bold.”
I mean, where to even start with that? First of all, Elaine Luria did a great job in the US House representing VA02, as well as showing tremendous courage in standing up for our democracy and against Trump’s relentless efforts to destroy it. Second, what does the word “establishment” mean in general, let alone in this context? Third, it’s 100% true that “we know democracy is at a breaking point,” and we all should be ready to fight for it, but I’m not clear why Elaine Luria can’t do just that, simply because she’s already served in Congress (and also served our country in the U.S. Navy for 20 years). And on that last sentence, I mean, I’m pretty sure that Elaine Luria is a patriotic leader who is “tired of the corruption…and not afraid to be bold” (not sure what “tired of incrementalism” is referring to exactly; the Democratic-led US House when Luria was a member passed a ton of great, progressive legislation, some of which was signed into law, some of which was killed by Republicans in the US Senate. But how does any of that reflect negatively on Elaine Luria? Got me.
Anyway, the bottom line is that Democrats need a strong candidate to take on the disastrous Rep. Jen Kiggans next year. Whether that turns out to be Elaine Luria, James Osyf, Nila Devanath, Matt Strickler, Patrick Mosolf, Burk Stringfellow, Nicolaus Sleister, Michael Williamson or someone else, the main thing is we need to all focus on defeating Kiggans winning back the U.S. House. Period. And whoever offers the best shot at doing that, and at being an effective representative for VA02, should get our enthusiastic support…
