Democrat Rep. Elaine Luria Backs Donald Trump Impeachment

Swing district Democrat (D-VA) Rep. Elaine Luria told reporters Thursday that she will back both articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.

Freshman Rep. Luria, who represents Virginia’s second congressional district, revealed that she will vote to impeach President Trump.

“I’ll stand with the president and next to the president, when he does something right but I’ll stand up to him when he does something wrong,” the Virginia Democrat said.

Rep. Luria represents one of the 31 congressional districts that President Trump won during the 2016 presidential election and that Democrats flipped during the 2018 midterms. House Republicans only need to flip 19 seats to retake the House majority in 2020.

The Virginia Democrat’s endorsement of impeachment could imperil her chances of getting reelected in Virginia’s second congressional district. Luria beat incumbent Rep. Scott Taylor (R-VA) by only 2.3 percentage points during the 2018 midterm elections.

Former Rep. Taylor will reportedly run against Luria in the 2020 congressional elections.

The Cook Political Report rated Reps. Luria, Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) as three of the more vulnerable House Democrats.

Rep. Luria served as one of seven Democrats who released an op-ed in September, explaining why they have decided to back the impeachment inquiry against President Trump.

Rep. Luria and the Democrats wrote in the op-ed:

If these allegations are true, we believe these actions represent an impeachable offense. We do not arrive at this conclusion lightly, and we call on our colleagues in Congress to consider the use of all congressional authorities available to us, including the power of ‘inherent contempt’ and impeachment hearings, to address these new allegations, find the truth and protect our national security.

As members of Congress, we have prioritized delivering for our constituents — remaining steadfast in our focus on health care, infrastructure, economic policy and our communities’ priorities. Yet everything we do harks back to our oaths to defend the country. These new allegations are a threat to all we have sworn to protect.

“We must preserve the checks and balances envisioned by the Founders and restore the trust of the American people in our government. And that is what we intend to do,” they added.