Democrat and U.S. Navy veteran Neil Smith announced he will attempt to unseat Democrat incumbent Rep. Eliane Luria (VA) in the June primary as she bids for a third term in a historically battleground district.
Smith, who most recently attempted to run in the Democrat primary last November for Virginia’s 84th House of Delegates District before failing to qualify for the ballot, said in his announcement that he “will be challenging incumbent Elaine Luria for the democratic nomination during the June 21st primary election.” He added, “if elected he will maintain transparency in his decisions and dealings in congress.”
Smith also said, “[Luria] will have to face me first,” when commenting on a local news story from WAVY about Luria’s reelection bid. He argued that the article was framed in a way that suggests the congresswoman would win the primary in June.
The @WAVY_News story on Lauria seeking re-election assumes she wins the primary. She will have to face me first. https://t.co/6MlNt35Beg
— Neil Smith (@NeilSmithVA) January 7, 2022
Although Smith will attempt to unseat Luria in the primary, district lines were recently redrawn during redistricting, which could potentially be trouble for any Democrat running in the district. Breitbart News has previously reported on Luria’s past elections in Virginia’s Second Congressional District:
Luria, whose district is home to the highest per capita U.S. military constituency in the country as well as a vast military-industrial job sector, represents Hampton Roads, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach. She first won this seat in 2018, beating incumbent Republican and former Navy SEAL Scott Taylor by just over two percent. In the 2020 rematch between the two, she won more handily by just over 5.7 percent.
During the state’s elections last November, voters propelled Republican candidates Glenn Youngkin and Winsome Sears to become the governor-elect and lieutenant governor-elect. The Republicans did this by overperforming in blue areas — such as the one Luria represents — which could foreshadow Republican gains in the midterms later this year.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter.
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