VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — On Wednesday, the Associated Press declared victory for Elaine Luria in the U.S. House 2nd Congressional District race.
The Democrat is already focusing on her next term. During a press conference Wednesday, she described the main issues to help improve Hampton Roads. The main topic is to help families struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have to work on getting another COVID relief package and dealing with all the challenges that covid has presented both from a public health perspective as well as the challenges it’s created for individuals and their families," said Luria.
Currently, Luria is working on several pieces of legislation to improve the lives of other military service members.
“As an example, one of the things in there is a cancer incidence study for military pilots. Anecdotally, there’s a lot of pilots that have flown in military aircraft who have suffered from different cancers and rare cancers, but there hasn’t been a comprehensive scientific study," she said.
Luria held onto her seat in a Virginia congressional district that includes suburban and rural areas and the world’s largest naval base. She faced off against Republican Scott Taylor once again. Independent candidate David Foster was also in the mix.
Taylor is a former Navy SEAL who represented the district for one term before Luria defeated him in 2018. The race was competitive: The district was drawn by Republicans and supported President Donald Trump in 2016.
Luria is considered a moderate Democrat who worked across the aisle to author bipartisan legislation. Her national security experience also played a pivotal role when she advocated for Trump’s impeachment.
“Thank you to the voters of the 2nd District who have entrusted me with a second term as their Representative and their voice in Congress," Luria said in a statement.
"Now, more than ever, the challenges we face as a nation call for bipartisan solutions and cooperation across the political spectrum."
Around noon on Wednesday, Taylor posted congratulations to Luria on his Facebook page.
"Congratulations to Congresswoman Luria," he wrote. "Let us all hope that she is successful in her next two years as our representative in Washington."
It was a quiet Election Night inside of the Holiday Inn Virginia Beach-Norfolk, where Congresswoman Elaine Luria anticipated giving remarks if the results of Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District race were called. Luria’s campaign team planned for a small gathering between a few members of her staff and members of the press.
As the night went on, an appearance from the congresswoman became more unlikely. Patience was the key as people anticipate the results of this battleground race. Luria spent election night watching results trickle in alongside her husband and daughter.
Late into the night, her press secretary announced Luria would not be giving a statement on election night, citing too many votes were still uncounted Tuesday morning, Luria and her family voted at her polling location in Norfolk.
As of 11:55 p.m. Tuesday, about 55% of the total expected number of votes had been counted, according to data from the Virginia Public Access Project. Roughly 136,000 early votes were still uncounted before midnight. 13News Now political analyst Quentin Kidd said a vast majority of results would come in late Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
From there, she traveled to several voting sites in Norfolk and Virginia Beach throughout the day, greeting voters. It was a final push to earn their votes ahead of election night. Tuesday afternoon, Luria shared her thoughts heading into election night.
“I’m feeling very energized,” said Luria. “Our team has worked really hard over the last two years and we’ve brought back a lot for this district, the president just signed my eighth bill into law.”
Katerina Delacruz, a voter in Virginia Beach said she voted for Luria.
“The reason for voting for Elaine for congress is we have to do whatever we can do to make sure that Biden is supported at the top,” said Delacruz.
Another Virginia Beach voter, Shawn Berggren, was all for Taylor.
“We voted for Taylor because he’s a veteran. I know Luria is a veteran as well, but I feel like she supports the more radical liberal agenda,” said Berggren.
Luria said if she’s re-elected, her top priorities will be the COVID-19 response and continuing her efforts to help military families and veterans.
Meanwhile over in the Scott Taylor camp, Taylor addressed supporters at the end of the night. He told them to be cautious because of those outstanding ballots.
"There are a big swath of early absentee ballots, whether in-person or by mail, that still need to be counted," Taylor said. "I know that we are up a lot and people see that. People are like, 'Congratulations!' Not yet. It will narrow, I promise you that, it will narrow. But, we feel good.”
After midnight, another surge of ballots were counted, which for the first time in the night put Luria in the lead.
Taylor said it's a close race, but he's confident he'll take this district back because Republicans showed up to the polls Tuesday.
“It’s a close race, it’s going to get closer," Taylor said. "But because of every one of you we are going to flip this district. We are going to do it again. We are going to take it back. We are going to take this district back. We are going to get us in this district on a better path. We are going to support President Trump."
Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer, School Board Member Vicki Manning, and Councilman Micheal Berlucchi are just a few other candidates who stepped up to the podium alongside Scott.