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Virginia’s 2nd District covers a large portion of Hampton Roads, including the entirety of the cities of Virginia Beach, Suffolk, and Franklin, as well as Isle of Wight County, Accomack County, Northampton County, and parts of Chesapeake and Southampton County. The district has changed hands several times since 2008 at all levels and is considered one of Virginia’s most competitive congressional districts. Luria won the seat with 51.55% of the vote in 2020.
This election will be held on November 8, 2022. Incumbent Congresswoman Elaine Luria (D), a US Navy veteran who was first elected in 2018, faces State Senator Jen Kiggans (R), a former geriatric nurse practitioner and retired US Navy veteran. Kiggans has served in the Virginia State Senate since 2020.
Democratic incumbent Representative Elaine Luria has served Virginia’s Second District since 2019. She is a 20-year Navy veteran who served as a Surface Warfare Officer and nuclear engineer. She was one of the first women to attend the Naval Nuclear Power School. In 2013, she started a family business, Mermaid Factory, which created jobs and added over $250,000 to Hampton Roads’ economy. She currently serves on the House Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
Luria is a staunch advocate for clean air and water, as well as access to natural environments. She introduced the Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization Act, bipartisan legislation for $85 million to fund clean up of the Chesapeake Bay. Additionally, she spoke out against offshore drilling, and in 2020, cosponsored the Great American Outdoors Act. Earlier this year, she introduced legislation that would authorize a study to designate Coastal Virginia as a National Heritage Area.
Access to quality and affordable healthcare is a top priority for Luria. She supports strengthening the Affordable Care Act and works to lower prescription drug prices. In early 2022, Luria advanced legislation supporting health care access to veterans with certain illnesses as a result of burn pits. She also pushed TRICARE to increase access to free COVID tests to service members and military families. Luria criticized the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, as well as Governor Youngkin’s plan to change abortion laws in Virginia.
Luria is a gun safety advocate who believes in commonsense measures to keep people safe from gun violence. She supports universal background checks for gun purchases and transfers, with certain exceptions. She cosponsored the Keep Americans Safe Act, which would prohibit the possession or transfer of large-capacity ammunition magazines, a common weapon used in mass shootings. Similarly, Luria cosponsored the Assault Weapons Ban of 2019, which prohibited the importation, sale, or transfer of semiautomatic weapons.
Racial equity is important to Luria, and she believes that systemic racism must be holistically addressed. She voted in favor of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which dealt with law enforcement accountability for misconduct and would restrict certain practices. She also supported the No Funding for Confederate Symbols Act. With the hope of fixing the Black maternal mortality crisis, Luria supported the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act. To address racial equity in education, she secured $10 million for Historic Preservation Grants for HBCUs.
Luria is running against nurse practitioner, Navy veteran, and Virginia State Senator Jen Kiggans (R). This past session, Kiggans introduced legislation attempting to bar trans girls from playing school sports. She also patroned legislation aiming to ban the teaching of accurate history in public schools. She applauded the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, calling the moment a chance to “stand against the extremist Democrat policies…”
Due to Kiggans’ extreme views on abortion access and trans rights and her lack of support for public education, Congresswoman Luria is the most progressive candidate in this race.
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Democratic incumbent Representative Elaine Luria has served Virginia’s Second District since 2019. She is a 20-year Navy veteran who served as a Surface Warfare Officer and nuclear engineer. She was one of the first women to attend the Naval Nuclear Power School. In 2013, she started a family business, Mermaid Factory, which created jobs and added over $250,000 to Hampton Roads’ economy. She currently serves on the House Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
Luria is a staunch advocate for clean air and water, as well as access to natural environments. She introduced the Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization Act, bipartisan legislation for $85 million to fund clean up of the Chesapeake Bay. Additionally, she spoke out against offshore drilling, and in 2020, cosponsored the Great American Outdoors Act. Earlier this year, she introduced legislation that would authorize a study to designate Coastal Virginia as a National Heritage Area.
Access to quality and affordable healthcare is a top priority for Luria. She supports strengthening the Affordable Care Act and works to lower prescription drug prices. In early 2022, Luria advanced legislation supporting health care access to veterans with certain illnesses as a result of burn pits. She also pushed TRICARE to increase access to free COVID tests to service members and military families. Luria criticized the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, as well as Governor Youngkin’s plan to change abortion laws in Virginia.
Luria is a gun safety advocate who believes in commonsense measures to keep people safe from gun violence. She supports universal background checks for gun purchases and transfers, with certain exceptions. She cosponsored the Keep Americans Safe Act, which would prohibit the possession or transfer of large-capacity ammunition magazines, a common weapon used in mass shootings. Similarly, Luria cosponsored the Assault Weapons Ban of 2019, which prohibited the importation, sale, or transfer of semiautomatic weapons.
Racial equity is important to Luria, and she believes that systemic racism must be holistically addressed. She voted in favor of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which dealt with law enforcement accountability for misconduct and would restrict certain practices. She also supported the No Funding for Confederate Symbols Act. With the hope of fixing the Black maternal mortality crisis, Luria supported the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act. To address racial equity in education, she secured $10 million for Historic Preservation Grants for HBCUs.
Luria is running against nurse practitioner, Navy veteran, and Virginia State Senator Jen Kiggans (R). This past session, Kiggans introduced legislation attempting to bar trans girls from playing school sports. She also patroned legislation aiming to ban the teaching of accurate history in public schools. She applauded the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, calling the moment a chance to “stand against the extremist Democrat policies…”
Due to Kiggans’ extreme views on abortion access and trans rights and her lack of support for public education, Congresswoman Luria is the most progressive candidate in this race.Last updated: 2023-04-05
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The election for Virginia Beach City School Board District 9 takes place on November 8, 2022. Prior to the 2022 election, voters could vote for all eleven Virginia Beach School Board seats, regardless of where they live. This is the first school board election where voters will only vote for candidates in their district. There is one at-large seat that is not up for election this year. Erika D. Guess (I) will face incumbent Carolyn Weems (R). Weems has served on the school board since 2009, and currently holds the Virginia Beach City School Board District 4 Bayside seat.
Ericka D. Guess is a parent and a Virginia Beach City Public Schools graduate who is running as an Independent candidate in this year’s school board election. Guess has lived in Virginia Beach all her life and suggests that her background in the nonprofit sector “gives [her] a unique perspective in serving the public, solving problems, and being a responsible steward of public funds.” Guess promotes teacher retention, school safety, and arts support.
Ericka Guess wants to prioritize teachers. She advocates for better teacher retention and wants to create more reasons for our current teachers to stay while also appealing to the next generation of educators. Guess also advocates for all school staff, not just teachers. In response to VBCPS School Board’s proposal to provide an additional 1% cost-of-living wage increase to teachers, Guess proposed, instead, that the 1% cost-of-living raise be distributed to all staff, including bus drivers, nurses, counselors, cafeteria staff, custodians, and others.
Guess is against the new Virginia Beach school board proposal to limit the number of speakers at future school board meetings, advocating for more communication from the community. She believes allowing speakers at school board meetings is “an important part of the democratic process.”
Guess promotes equity, believing that it “fosters understanding and enriches the educational experience for all.” Additionally, she stands for allocating funding for both the arts and media literacy. “A foundation in the arts prepares students for life beyond school. Well-informed students are the next generation of leaders.” Guess also promotes local art opportunities on her social media page, encouraging her followers to participate.
Lastly, Guess is running to promote school safety. Guess believes we need to create safer spaces for students by creating proactive gun violence prevention policies. In an interview for her candidacy, Guess noted she did not believe teachers should be expected to do the jobs of law enforcement.
Guess is running against Carolyn Weems.
Incumbent Carolyn Weems is a Republican candidate running for reelection. Weems, a graduate of Clemson University, has served on the Virginia Beach school board since 2002. In addition to teaching and coaching at Old Dominion University, Weems, an advocate for protecting children from the threat of drug addiction, founded a nonprofit called Caitlyn’s Halo which provides a community group and a speaking program that presents anti-drug talks in schools. Weems considers herself a"consistent conservative" and opposes the current school grading system believing “the change in grading practices has caused much more work for teachers and diminished student accountability.”
Because of her prioritization of community input in schools, focus on teacher retention, and emphasis on gun violence prevention, Erika Guess is the progressive choice for this year’s school board election.
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Ericka D. Guess is a parent and a Virginia Beach City Public Schools graduate who is running as an Independent candidate in this year’s school board election. Guess has lived in Virginia Beach all her life and suggests that her background in the nonprofit sector “gives [her] a unique perspective in serving the public, solving problems, and being a responsible steward of public funds.” Guess promotes teacher retention, school safety, and arts support.
Ericka Guess wants to prioritize teachers. She advocates for better teacher retention and wants to create more reasons for our current teachers to stay while also appealing to the next generation of educators. Guess also advocates for all school staff, not just teachers. In response to VBCPS School Board’s proposal to provide an additional 1% cost-of-living wage increase to teachers, Guess proposed, instead, that the 1% cost-of-living raise be distributed to all staff, including bus drivers, nurses, counselors, cafeteria staff, custodians, and others.
Guess is against the new Virginia Beach school board proposal to limit the number of speakers at future school board meetings, advocating for more communication from the community. She believes allowing speakers at school board meetings is “an important part of the democratic process.”
Guess promotes equity, believing that it “fosters understanding and enriches the educational experience for all.” Additionally, she stands for allocating funding for both the arts and media literacy. “A foundation in the arts prepares students for life beyond school. Well-informed students are the next generation of leaders.” Guess also promotes local art opportunities on her social media page, encouraging her followers to participate.
Lastly, Guess is running to promote school safety. Guess believes we need to create safer spaces for students by creating proactive gun violence prevention policies. In an interview for her candidacy, Guess noted she did not believe teachers should be expected to do the jobs of law enforcement.
Guess is running against Carolyn Weems.
Incumbent Carolyn Weems is a Republican candidate running for reelection. Weems, a graduate of Clemson University, has served on the Virginia Beach school board since 2002. In addition to teaching and coaching at Old Dominion University, Weems, an advocate for protecting children from the threat of drug addiction, founded a nonprofit called Caitlyn’s Halo which provides a community group and a speaking program that presents anti-drug talks in schools. Weems considers herself a"consistent conservative" and opposes the current school grading system believing “the change in grading practices has caused much more work for teachers and diminished student accountability.”
Because of her prioritization of community input in schools, focus on teacher retention, and emphasis on gun violence prevention, Erika Guess is the progressive choice for this year’s school board election.Last updated: 2023-04-05
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