Voters in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District have selected military veteran Missy Cotter Smasal to face off against Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA) in November.
Like Kiggans, Smasal served in the U.S. Navy. Her campaign website states she was a surface combat officer and deployed aboard the USS Trenton during Operation Enduring Freedom.
Smasal is an adjunct professor, a small business owner and the director of the nonprofit organization Valor Run, which aims to honor women in the military.
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Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans, a veteran, is seeking re-election in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District. (Getty Images)
The win puts Kiggans on a similar political battlefield to when he defeated incumbent Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), also a Navy veteran, in November 2022.
Smasal defeated former journalist and civil rights attorney Jake Denton.
“I’m running to ensure that children and families in coastal Virginia have the opportunities they need to succeed,” her website says.
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Navy Veteran Missy Cotter Smasal (Instagram/@missycottersmasal)
Rep. Kiggans is a first-time elected representative of a district with a large military presence and comes from a military family.
Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District covers most of Virginia’s coastline, including Virginia Beach.
The district is also one of the most politically volatile in the country: Before Kiggans ousted Luria, who won the district in November 2018, defeating then-Rep. Scott Taylor (R-Va.).
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Kiggans was elected in November 2022, defeating former Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.). (Tom Williams)
The moderate Republican freshman is one of 18 Republicans who won seats in districts that President Biden won in the 2020 presidential election but that former President Donald Trump narrowly won in 2016 against Hillary Clinton.
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Kiggans is currently endorsing President Trump for reelection.
Democrats are eyeing the region as a potential waypoint in their roadmap to regain control of the House in November.
