Kiggans and Smasal will face off in the highly competitive Virginia Mercury 2nd District

A drive along Route 13 on the East Coast shows Kiggans signs along much of the highway, indicating the district’s Republican leaning. But pockets in Northampton and Accomack went to Kiggan’s Democratic opponent Elaine Luria in 2022, as did parts of Chesapeake, Suffolk and the Isle of Wight in mainland Virginia. Much of Virginia Beach, which anchors the district, is also Republican territory, but 51% of the area appeared for President Joe Biden in 2020. Despite the Republican party’s leanings, the district has bounced back and forth between the parties over the years and is among a number of competitive districts in Virginia and across the country that help determine partisan control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Smasal said sharing services is something that excites her most about potentially becoming a congresswoman.

“That’s one of the most interesting parts,” she said. “And when I go around the district and (people) have stories for me … they remember someone in Elaine Luria’s congressional office helping them.”

Kiggans, whose campaign was not followed up after arranging an interview with The Mercury, has gone local with some of her advertising.

Recent digital ads have included the refrain “that’s Jen Kiggans!while people noted that some of her voting results included supporting veterans’ health care. Home to America’s largest naval base, veterans and active military personnel make up a significant portion of the 2nd District.

For example, she supported the “Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act” including funding for VA health programs and benefits.

As they prepare for an upcoming debate next month, a Christopher Newport University poll released on September 13 found Kiggans a five point lead above Smasal. It also showed that voters surveyed Kiggans are more likely to trust veterans’ concerns, while Smasal is more confident in addressing reproductive rights issues such as access to abortion.

Pew Research Center shows that 55% of Virginians believe this is how abortion should be legal in all or most cases. A top issue for Smasal, she hopes this is the key to dethroning Kiggans so she can help restore federal protections.

“People talk to me all the time about protecting reproductive rights,” Smasal said. “It’s really the most important thing I hear from people about what they’re concerned about.”

Smasal argued with Kiggans last year about how the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act played out when it passed the House of Representatives and failed to make progress in the Senate.

The bill was part of an interpartisan row within President Joe Biden’s administration oppose itin part, for a provision that would revoke veterans’ access to funding if they had to leave the state for an abortion if their location of duty prohibits the procedure.

In the US Senate Alabama, Republican Tommy Tuberville held back military promotions in protest of the Biden administration’s abortion travel policy. Kiggans told the media at the time that she disagreed with his method but supported his reasons.

“Taxpayers should not fund elective procedures,” she says told an NBC affiliate in Hampton Roads last summer. “If I wanted to get a nose job in Hollywood, California, I wouldn’t expect the Navy to pay my travel expenses to get there.”

But Smasal highlighted the complexity of why someone wants or medically needs an abortion, and how the national patchwork of state laws creates all kinds of additional barriers for people.

“I don’t understand how a female veteran could do this to other women in service,” Smasal recently told the Virginia Mercury. “She went to Congress and voted to restrict reproductive rights, so she chose to be more extreme.”

But Kiggans took aim at Smasal in a recent video on her social media, claiming Smasal is lying when she refers to Kiggans as someone who is “extreme.”

In the video, Kiggans cited her status as the 19th most bipartisan member of Congress from a rankings report from Lugar Center and Georgetown University.

“I believe it is an issue that should be legislated at the state level,” Kiggans added, clarifying her abortion policy preferences. “I have always advocated that women choose life, with exceptions in cases of rape, incest and the life of the mother.”

There is no mention of fetal abnormalities, many of which are discovered during or after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

And while Kiggans favors abortion laws that are a matter for individual states, she has done just that repeated a false statement that Democrats support “the moment of birth.”

On other reproductive health bills, both women expressed support for protecting access to contraception and family planning procedures such as in vitro fertilization. If the sitting, Kiggans has voted for expanded access to contraception And co-sponsor of a resolution to protect IVF.

Immigration policy has featured prominently in both presidential and congressional campaigns this year. Republicans and Democrats often diverge on solutions when it comes to immigration concerns. Republicans are in favor of increasing deportations of people who enter America illegally, while Democrats have proposed improving pathways to U.S. citizenship. This year, Democrats in Congress teamed up with Republicans boosting funding for border security, but the efforts failed.

“No one has done enough to solve the cases,” Smasal said. “Both Democrats and Republicans have failed on this issue.”

However, she was pleased that Democrats came to the table with Republicans on the bipartisan border deal that was rejected earlier this year. It’s something she would have supported and something that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has said she would support.

“(Republicans in Congress and Trump) wanted the political issue (for this election) rather than doing anything substantive to actually address the border,” Smasal said.

She emphasized how supporting border security efforts can help detect drugs like fentanyl entering the country and combat human trafficking.

“I strongly believe that we need to be safety conscious,” she said.

In related legislation, Kiggans is a co-sponsor of the “Defense of Borders and Defense of Democracies Act.The accountwhich has not yet moved past the rollout, would suspend the entry of some immigrants at the U.S. border and require asylum seekers to “remain in Mexico” during the review of their immigration status.

She also voted for the Secure The Border Act, which would expedite the construction of border barriers. It passed the House but failed to gain approval from the Senate.

On its website, Kiggans called the increase in border crossings a “self-inflicted crisis” that “threatens the safety of Americans and emboldens cartels, which make enormous profits from drug trafficking and exploiting vulnerable migrants.”

On a local yet national issue, both candidates have emphasized how they want to curb inflation and the rising cost of living. Kiggans’ campaign website references her support of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 which was passed by Congress and signed into law by the President.

Smasal said addressing affordable housing is an important part of addressing the cost of living. If elected, she wants to start championing federal legislation to prevent big corporations from buying up housing stock and raising prices or creating more short-term rentals in places like Virginia Beach.

“If everything turns into an Airbnb, where will our teachers, our firefighters and our police officers find housing?” she said.

Both women also support ways to help to alleviate the country’s rising childcare costs and access issues.

Kiggans called it an “unfortunate reality” that some parents are feeling forced to leave the workforce, take on debt or dip into their savings as a result of the growing problem.

To see this article to learn more about the positions of Virginia’s congressional candidates on key issues and find other voter information in our Voter guide.