By Second District · Published August 14, 2026 · Updated September 3, 2026
Quick answer
Kiggans has represented VA-02 since January 2023. Luria represented the district from January 2019 to January 2023. Both are Navy veterans, and both served on the Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs committees. Because their House tenures do not overlap, many major laws produced a vote for one candidate and no congressional vote for the other.
The timeline comes first
Luria served in the 116th and 117th Congresses. Kiggans has served in the 118th and 119th. A 2022 law can show Luria’s vote but not Kiggans’s; a 2025 law can show Kiggans’s vote but not Luria’s.
What can be compared directly
Biographies, military service, committee assignments, sponsorship records and each member’s votes on similar policy questions can be compared. The comparison should identify whether two bills actually did the same thing rather than treating a shared topic label as proof of equivalence.
What cannot be manufactured
If a candidate was not in Congress for a vote, the record should say ‘not in Congress.’ A campaign statement can be added as a statement, but it cannot be converted into a roll-call vote. The same source standard applies to both candidates.
Start with the underlying record
Congress.gov identifies sponsored and cosponsored legislation. The House Clerk records votes. The House Historian and Biographical Directory establish service dates and committee history. Candidate websites are useful for current positions, but they are not substitutes for official records of what happened in Congress.
Sources
- Jennifer A. Kiggans — Biographical Directory — U.S. Congress. Kiggans’s service years, military background and prior office.
- Elaine Luria — Biographical Directory — U.S. Congress. Luria’s service years, military background and prior occupation.
- Representative Jennifer A. Kiggans — Congress.gov. Sponsored legislation and House activity during the 118th and 119th Congresses.
- Representative Elaine G. Luria — Congress.gov. Sponsored legislation and House activity during the 116th and 117th Congresses.