Elaine Goodman Luria (; ; born August 15, 1975) is an American politician and US Navy veteran who served as the U.S. representative from from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she is her party's nominee for the same seat in the 2026 election, a rematch against Republican incumbent Jen Kiggans, who defeated her in 2022.
Luria served 20 years as a naval officer, mostly aboard ships, operating nuclear reactors as an engineer and rising to the rank of commander before her retirement in 2017. In 2018, she narrowly defeated Republican incumbent Scott Taylor in a Hampton Roads-centered district, and defeated him again in 2020.
In Congress, Luria was a member of the moderate New Democrat Coalition and the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. She also served as vice chair of the House Armed Services Committee. She became one of Congress's most vocal advocates for expanded naval shipbuilding and a larger fleet, breaking with the Biden administration over its Navy budgets.
Early life, education, and military service Luria was born on August 15, 1975, in Birmingham, Alabama. Her mother Michelle's family immigrated to Jasper, Alabama, in 1906. The family sold goods to coal miners in Walker County, Alabama. In the early-1900s, Luria's great-grandfather helped establish a Reform Jewish congregation in Jasper, and her immediate family joined the Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham. Luria's mother and grandmother were active in the National Council of Jewish Women (of which her mother was president), Hadassah, the Temple Emanu-El Sisterhood, and the Birmingham Jewish Federation.
Luria graduated from Indian Springs School in 1993. She graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science (BS), with a double major in physics and history and a minor in French. In 2000, Luria attended the United States Naval Nuclear Power School. While serving in the Navy and stationed aboard the flagship , she earned a Master of Science (MS) degree in engineering management from Old Dominion University in 2004.
Luria served as a naval officer for 20 years, operating nuclear reactors as an engineer, where she rose to the rank of commander. Luria was among the first female American sailors to spend her entire career on combat ships. She commanded Assault Craft Unit TWO, a combat-ready unit of 400 sailors, from 2014 until her retirement in 2017. She held a Passover seder on an aircraft carrier after 9/11.
U.S. House of Representatives Elections
2018
Luria ran for the United States House of Representatives in . In the June 10 Democratic primary, she garnered 62% of the vote, defeating Karen Mallard, who received 38%.
In the general election, Luria narrowly defeated Republican incumbent Scott Taylor with 51% of the vote to Taylor's 49%. She carried six of the district's nine county-level jurisdictions, including all but one of the district's five independent cities. She also carried Taylor's hometown of Virginia Beach.
2020
Luria ran for reelection. She defeated Taylor in a rematch 52% to 46%. As in 2018, Luria carried six of the district's nine county-level jurisdictions, including all but one independent city. She was likely helped by Joe Biden carrying the district;Virginia presidential results by congressional district from Virginia Department of Elections notably, Biden carried Virginia Beach, the first Democrat to do so since Lyndon Johnson 1964.
2022
Luria ran for reelection in 2022. Facing a difficult path to victory as a Democrat in a competitive district, she focused her campaign on defense policy and refrained from highlighting Biden's $1.5 trillion Build Back Better spending plan, for which she voted. Luria lost the election to state Senator Jen Kiggans.
2026
In November 2025, Luria said she will again seek the Democratic nomination in Virginia's 2nd congressional district. She framed the run as a comeback bid for the seat she lost in 2022, centered on the cost of living and opposition to the second Trump administration. In the Democratic primary, Luria won about 80 percent of the vote against three opponents, setting up a general-election rematch with Republican incumbent Jen Kiggans. Election forecasters have rated the general election as a competitive toss-up race, and the Wall Street Journal called it the "high-stakes rematch that could decide the House." Tenure A member of the moderate New Democrat Coalition and the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, Luria was frequently described as a national-security focused centrist. She chaired the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assitance and Memorial Affairs, where she worked on the disability-claims backlog and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances. Her Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act was signed into law in 2019, and she strongly supported the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022.
Luria was one of 102 female members elected to the House in 2018, a record number, and was sworn in on January 3, 2019. During her time in office, Virginia's 2nd congressional district was centered on Hampton Roads. It included all of Poquoson, Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg cities and York County in Hampton Roads; parts of Norfolk and Hampton cities and James City County in Hampton Roads; and all of Accomack and Northampton counties on the Eastern Shore.
On Veterans Day 2019, Luria released a video announcing her support for an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, which The Washington Post called "an unusual move for a moderate on the cusp of a tough reelection." During Trump's presidency, Luria voted in line with his stated position 11% of the time. As of June 2022 she had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 98.2% of the time.
Armed Services Committee Luria joined the House Armed Services Committee as a freshman and, in her second term, was elected the committee's vice chair for the 117th Congress. Drawing on her 20-year Navy career, she became one of Congress's most vocal advocates for naval shipbuilding and a larger fleet, as well as one of the Navy's sharpest critics. She repeatedly broke with the Biden administration over its shipbuilding budgets, opposing proposals to retire warships early and pressing to expand the fleet as a deterrent to China. In 2022, she co-sponsored a bipartisan amendment to the annual defense authorization act that added roughly $37 billion for additional ships and blocked the retirement of several vessels. It passed the committee 42-17 over the objection of Chairman Adam Smith, who nonetheless called her "incredibly effective."
Investigation into the January 6 U.S. Capitol attack
Luria was one of the original members appointed to the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol in 2021. Luria and Representative Adam Kinzinger, both veterans, co-led the eighth public hearing in July 2022, which examined Trump's inaction during the time between the end of his rally speech and his video telling rioters to go home.
On July 25, 2022, Luria posted on her Twitter account the original script of Trump's January 7 remarks and edits he made to it in which he had crossed out any references to DOJ action and condemnation was heavily toned down.
Political positions LGBTQ+ rights Luria voted against a procedural motion that Republicans sought to use to bring the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which would bar transgender women and girls from female school sports teams at federally funded institutions, to the House floor. She also co-sponsored the Equality Act, which adds sexual orientation and gender identity to federal anti-discrimination law, and voted for it when it passed the House in 2019 and again in 2021.
Defense Luria was the lone Democrat to vote against repealing the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 in 2021.
Domestic policy While the federal government was in a partial shutdown, Luria said that she had asked for her salary to be withheld until federal workers were paid in January 2019. She participated in a bipartisan group of representatives seeking to broker a compromise to end the shutdown.
In February 2019, Luria introduced the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2019, which increased the cost of living adjustments (COLAs) made to veterans. It earned bipartisan support and passed in September 2019.
Foreign policy Luria is a self-described "unabashed supporter" of the U.S. relationship with Israel.
Immigration Luria was listed as one of 60 House Democrats who expressed support for some kind of physical barrier on the border in January 2019.
Impeachment In September 2019, Luria labeled herself a "security Democrat"—an idiom for freshman Democrats with national security experience—and called for an impeachment inquiry against Trump in a Washington Post op-ed. In an October 2019 town hall meeting in Virginia Beach, Luria charged that Trump had "Enlist[ed] the help of a foreign leader to influence and malign a potential political opponent to affect the outcome of our next election all under [the] guise of trying to fight corruption." Later in October 2019, Luria formally voted for an impeachment inquiry against Trump, and joined all but three House Democrats to vote for impeachment on both counts: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December 2019; all House Republicans voted no on both charges.
Environment Luria accepts the scientific consensus on climate change and is concerned about the physical impacts of climate change on global instability and military readiness. She also believes the first Trump administration attempted to discredit military and scientific experts on the physical impacts of climate change, which she views as an aspersion to the national security and scientific apparatuses.
Stock trades Luria opposes proposed legislation that would ban lawmakers from trading stocks.
Gun policy Luria favors instituting red flag laws and universal background checks on all gun purchases.
In 2022, Luria voted for H.R. 1808: Assault Weapons Ban of 2022.
Corporate donations In her 2018 campaign, Luria pledged not to accept donations from political action committees (PACs). She was consequently endorsed by End Citizens United, a group that seeks to reform campaign finance laws and reduce the role of corporate money in politics. In 2020, Luria accepted $34,000 in corporate PAC contributions from the PACs of a tobacco company and defense contractors, among others. PolitiFact rated Luria's decision to accept corporate PAC funding a "Full Flop." End Citizens United expressed disappointment in Luria's reversal.
Committee assignments Committee on Armed Services (vice chair) Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee on Readiness Committee on Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs (chair) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security Select Committee on the January 6 Attack
Caucus memberships
New Democrat Coalition Problem Solvers Caucus
Electoral history 2018
2020
2022
2026
Post-congressional career In February 2023, Luria launched the Defend Democracy PAC, a political action committee to support electing Democrats to the Virginia General Assembly.
Personal life Luria's husband, Robert Blondin, is also a retired naval commander and spent 27 years in the service. Luria has two stepchildren and a daughter born in 2009. The family resides in Norfolk, and she gave the commencement speech in May 2019 at Virginia Wesleyan University. Luria attends Ohef Sholom Temple, a Reform Jewish synagogue in Norfolk.
See also Women in the United States House of Representatives List of Jewish members of the United States Congress
References
External links