Democratic primary voters picked their nominees on Tuesday for three battleground House seats in Virginia that are likely to determine control of the lower chamber in the 2026 midterm elections.
Democrats’ hopes of expanding their House majority in Virginia took a major hit this spring after the state’s Supreme Court struck down a Democrat-backed mid-decade redistricting plan, leaving the current congressional map in place for the 2026 elections. The proposal would have transformed the state’s current delegation, split between six Democrats and five Republicans, into a 10-1 Democratic near-lock.
Even without new district lines, Democrats believe they are competitive in three Republican-held districts, and winning any of those races could prove decisive in the battle for control of the House this November.
Virginia’s 1st Congressional District: Taylor vs. Wittman
The race to represent Virginia’s 1st Congressional District is considered a toss-up, with Democrats picking Henrico County prosecutor Shannon Taylor to face off against Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA), who has held the seat since 2007.
Taylor is running on a progressive “Serve the People First” platform that calls for mandatory jail time for politicians caught stealing taxpayer funding and a lifetime ban on congressional federal lobbying.
“I am proposing an agenda to ban stock trading by members of Congress who have information which no other American has access to, to stop the revolving door that allows Washington politicians to cash in on their influence by becoming lobbyists, and to mandate jail time for politicians who break the public trust,” Taylor’s campaign platform says.
Virginia’s 1st District includes early colonial settlements such as Williamsburg and Jamestown, as well as the suburbs of Richmond. In 2024, President Donald Trump received 52% of the vote to Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’s 47% in the district.
Wittman, meanwhile, prioritizes strong national defense and border security. His position as vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee allows Wittman to focus on Virginia’s large naval base economy and to exert direct influence over military policy at the Pentagon.
Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District: Luria vs. Kiggans
In Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, voters will get a rematch from four years ago. Ex-Rep. Elaine Luria won the Democratic nomination to take on two-term GOP incumbent Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA).
Luria previously represented the 2nd District from 2019 until 2023, when she lost reelection to Kiggans. The pair’s rivalry takes place in an extremely competitive seat. Trump won the district by an incredibly narrow margin of 0.2 percentage points over Harris during the 2024 presidential election.
Both Kiggans and Luria come from military backgrounds, which could be a boost, given that the seat has a large veteran population due to nearby Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval base.
Luria served as a naval officer for two decades, rising to the rank of commander. Kiggans is a former Navy helicopter pilot who also worked as a geriatric nurse.
Virginia’s 5th Congressional District: Perriello vs. McGuire
In Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, Democrats nominated former Rep. Tom Perriello to run against Rep. John McGuire (R-VA). The seat includes Richmond’s western suburbs, a big chunk of the Virginia-North Carolina border, and the cities of Charlottesville and Lynchburg.
Trump won the district fairly handily in 2024 against Harris, 55%-43%. McGuire, a former Navy SEAL, was elected that year after ousting then-House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good in a GOP primary.
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Perriello served a single term in the House representing parts of the district between 2009 and 2011. After losing reelection, Perriello served as a presidential envoy to the African Great Lakes region and Sudan under former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, respectively.
He also served as executive director of Open Society Foundations, a network founded by left-wing billionaire George Soros to fund progressive initiatives and causes.