U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria is out with a new ad painting her GOP opponent as an election denier, with footage of Republican challenger Jen Kiggans refusing to answer whether she believed President Joe Biden was the rightful winner of the 2020 Presidential election.
“She’s an election denier. She has never clearly said in public that Joe Biden won the 2020 election,” Luria opens in the ad, “Not Fit to Serve,” from recorded footage of an October 12 debate.
The ad then goes on to show an interview with Kiggans where she was specifically asked if Biden won the election. The video shows Kiggans saying merely “a lot of extreme words” while uncomfortably chuckling and further deflecting from the question, before ending the interview.
Footage from the debate then picks up with Luria saying, “she’s not fit to serve in the United States Congress.”
Luria’s campaign paid for the ad.
The two are running in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District where Luria, who serves on the House January 6th committee, is viewed as a possible victim of the Midterms.
Both women are Navy veterans — Kiggans a former helicopter pilot and Luria a retired naval commander. Luria is running as a moderate in the left-leaning district.
Democrats have a more than 60,000 voter advantage in the southeaster Virginia district, with 241,409 registered Democrats to 180,016 GOP voters, according to the most recent L2 voter data. Another more than 108,000 voters are non-partisan.
The two squared off a week ago in a fiery debate where Luria hammered the Trump-alligned election denial critiques. The two also sparred over federal spending, the economy and abortion restrictions, all common talking points this election cycle.
FiveThirtyEight gives Luria a 5 percentage point advantage in the race, at 39% to Kiggans’ 34%.
