This November, voters in the Second Congressional District will decide between two candidates whose biographies, on paper, sound remarkably similar to represent them in the U.S. House.
Republican incumbent Jen Kiggans and Democrat Missy Cotter Smasal are both Navy veterans who have made military issues central to their campaigning.
Both are moms from Virginia Beach and present themselves as advocates for families.
And both had success in private business before turning to politics — Cotter Smasal as a small business owner, and Kiggans as a nurse practitioner in a private practice.
They are running in a notorious swing district that encompasses urban, suburban and rural areas in a sweep from Isle of Wight County; to Suffolk, part of Chesapeake and all of Virginia Beach; and up the Eastern Shore. Independent Robert Reid is also running.
It’s a district that’s seen as a bellwether for national politics. Neither party has held the majority in the U.S. House without also holding Virginia’s second congressional district seat since 2001.
The key demographic that has made a difference in the district — that turned it blue in 2020 for Biden and propelled Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin into office the next year — is women, particularly suburban white women.
Virginia Wesleyan University political science professor Leslie Caughell said the candidates’ backgrounds are indicative of who the parties are trying to relate to — and who largely controls the fate of the district.
“People who don't know much about politics and vote in elections are often getting their information close to the time they're casting their vote,” Caughell said. “And things that people who are obsessed with politics wouldn't think of mattering, matter, like their background story.”
As it’s become more evident that women in the suburbs are the key to some major elections, the parties have selected candidates in part to appeal to them and organizations have formed to court them directly.
Red Wine and Blue is a left-of-center political group formed in 2019 to mobilize suburban women in swing states.
Penny Blue is the group’s program director in Virginia. She said the similarities in the two candidates’ biographies makes it even more important to get the word out about their policies.
“It's about real life experiences,” she said. “So you can have similar backgrounds, whether you are male, female, in the military, etc., but you still have different experiences in your life, and those are some of the things that shape your values and your vision.”
Kiggans boosts her bipartisan rating and believes in bringing civility to politics. She said her campaign centers around security — of the economy, the nation and its border.
Cotter Smasal sharply distinguishes herself from her opponent, saying Kiggans aligns with the more extreme values of her party. She presents herself as a strong proponent of reproductive rights and voting rights.
According to a Christopher Newport University poll released in September, Kiggans leads Cotter Smasal by five points in the district. Her lead is bolstered by Independents, men and white voters.
Cotter Smasal is favored by women, Black voters and college educated voters.
Top issues for voters are inflation and the economy, immigration, threats to democracy and abortion.
Kiggans on the issues
Kiggans, 53, served as a helicopter pilot in the Navy before becoming a nurse practitioner. She was elected to the Virginia State Senate in 2019 and served three terms before winning the U.S. House seat in 2022.
“My priorities revolve around security,” Kiggans said in an interview with WHRO.
People don’t have security in the economy right now, Kiggans said, citing inflation in the four years since the Covid-19 pandemic. She said she prioritizes national security and supporting service members through her work on the Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs Committees.
Border security is also one of her top concerns.
“We’re seeing that every state is now a border state,” she said, saying border issues, such as drug trafficking, “reach even Virginia.”
Kiggans said the back-and-forth party representation in the U.S. House for District 2 has been “challenging.”
“We need more seniority in our congressional representation. I think it hurts things like our military installations and our bases when we don’t have a congressional representative who understands how to get things done in a bipartisan atmosphere and who can direct federal dollars and investment back to our bases.”
On abortion, Kiggans released a statement in 2022 supporting the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. She reaffirmed her belief in 2024 that abortion should not be a federally protected right.
“As a mom, as a woman, as a healthcare provider, I feel like it’s an issue that we should be discussing with some grace,” Kiggans said, saying she gets frustrated when abortion is politicized.
“I also truly believe that this is a state issue.”
Kiggans touted her ranking as one of the most bipartisan members of Congress and said she focuses on common sense leadership that appeals to her district.
“People watch the work we’ve done over the past two years, they know what kind of leader I am,” Kiggans said. “I think people are happy with our leadership.”
As of June 30, Kiggans has raised $4.2 million for her campaign, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
Cotter Smasal on the issues
Cotter Smasal, 46, served as a surface warfare officer in the Navy before becoming a small business owner. She is the executive director of a nonprofit that honors military women, an adjunct professor at Old Dominion University and a citizen representative on the Chesapeake Bay Commission.
“I am running to protect reproductive rights, I am running to protect voting rights, and ultimately, I’m running to protect our democracy,” Cotter Smasal said in an interview with WHRO.
Cotter Smasal highlights access to abortion as a key issue, and says women should have the right to control their body, regardless of where they live or where the military stations them.
She highlights Kiggans’ 2023 vote to repeal a Pentagon policy that reimburses travel costs for military personnel who must go out of state for an abortion or related care.
“We have this wonderful tradition of military service in this district with over 60,000 veterans. We have specifically a naval tradition of service here, and people are patriotic and we care about protecting our democracy,” Cotter Smasal said.
“That’s what’s motivating voters, and that’s why I feel confident we’re going to win.”
She said she is focused on protecting veterans’ benefits and public education funding.
She also highlighted the economy: “We need to make sure that we have serious people working in D.C. who are passing budgets on time, who are not threatening to shut down the government because our local economy is so dependent on federal spending.”
This is not Cotter Smasal’s first campaign. In 2019, she challenged longtime state Sen. Bill DeSteph and lost by about 2,400 votes. Gun violence prevention was a central issue for campaigning and fundraising in her 2019 run.
As of June 30, Cotter Smasal has raised nearly $1.3 million.
Caughell, the political scientist from Wesleyan, said it’s hard to say who has the edge in the district right now because of the larger political climate.
“When abortions have been on the ballot, Democrats have overperformed. And that's especially interesting, because when Trump has been on the ballot, physically, Republicans have tended to overperform expectations,” Caughell said.
While District 2 voters trust Kiggans more to handle military and veterans’ issues, they trust Cotter Smasal more to handle reproductive rights, according to the Christopher Newport University poll.
Kamala Harris has an even favorability rating of 47%, while Donald Trump has a -4 rating — 45% are in favor while 49% are not.
“I'll be curious to see with those two competing realities … if those boosts cancel each other out,” Caughell said.
