Kiggans Wins, Vega Leads in Key Virginia Republican Congressional Primaries

State Sen. Jen Kiggans (R-Virginia Beach) speaks with voters in a Virginia Beach diner during a February breakfast meeting as part of a 14-month campaign that paid dividends in the June 21 primary to earn the Republican berth in November’s Congressional District 2 election against two-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Norfolk). Courtesy of Jen Kiggans for Congress

All 11 Virginia congressional incumbents—seven Democrats and four Republicans—will be defending their seats in November against a slate of challengers who earned their ballot berths in conventions or by defeating party rivals in the commonwealth’s June 21 primaries.

That roster includes Republican primary winners in two “tossup” congressional districts where incumbents are regarded among the most likely sitting Democrats to be unseated this fall.

According to the Virginia Department of Elections’ Republican primary webpage, Republican state Sen. Jen Kiggans, a former Navy helicopter pilot and now a full-time geriatric nurse, ousted three fellow veterans to earn the Republican Congressional District 2 (CD 2) ballot berth in November.

In the other closely-watched GOP primary, Prince William Board Supervisor Yesli I. Vega and “outsider” Derrick Anderson were neck-and-neck in a six-candidate pack in a CD 7 race too close to call in the hours after voting ended.