Smasal wins Dem primary to face Jen Kiggans in key Virginia swing district

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Voters in Virginia's 2nd congressional district have selected military veteran Missy Cotter Smasal to face off against Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., in November. 

Like Kiggans, Smasal served in the U.S. Navy. Her campaign website states that she was a Surface Warfare Officer and deployed aboard the U.S.S. Trenton during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Smasal is an adjunct professor and small business owner who also runs the nonprofit Valor Run, which is aimed at honoring female service members. 

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Rep. Jen Kiggans, a Republican veteran, is running for re-election in Virginia's 2nd Congressional District (Getty Images)

Her victory puts Kiggans onto a political battlefield similar to the one she claimed victory on in November 2022, when she unseated incumbent former Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., also a Navy veteran.

Smasal defeated Jake Denton, a former journalist and a civil rights attorney.

Her website says she "is running to ensure that kids and families across coastal Virginia have the opportunities they need to succeed."

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Navy veteran Missy Cotter Smasal (Instagram/@missycottersmasal)

Kiggans is a first-term lawmaker representing a district with a heavy military presence and she also comes from a military family.

Virginia's 2nd congressional district encompasses a large part of the commonwealth's shoreline, including Virginia Beach.

It's also one of the most politically fickle districts in the country – before Kiggans unseated her, Luria won the district in November 2018 by defeating then-Rep. Scott Taylor, R-Va.

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Kiggans unseated former Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., in November 2022. (Tom Williams)

The freshman moderate Republican is one of 18 GOP lawmakers who won seats in districts that President Biden carried during the 2020 White House race. However, former President Trump narrowly won the district over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

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Kiggans is now being endorsed by Trump for reelection.

Democrats are eyeing the area as a potential stop on their roadmap to win back control of the House of Representatives in November.