Jen Kiggans and Elaine Luria agree on at least one thing in their rematch for Virginia's 2nd Congressional District: members of Congress should be banned from trading individual stocks. But financial disclosures show the two candidates arrive at that shared position with very different asset ranges, with Luria's assets valued as high as $50.6 million against Kiggans' ceiling of roughly $7.4 million.
The Republican incumbent and the Democratic former congresswoman are facing off again in the Hampton Roads district, a seat Kiggans flipped from Luria in November 2022, according to the Commonwealth of Virginia. As reported by The Virginian-Pilot, Kiggans has accused Luria of unfairly enriching herself while in Congress, a claim Luria says is wrong.
Nvidia Holdings Fuel the Attack Line
At the center of the dispute is Luria's Nvidia stock, which the newspaper's report shows was valued between $1,000,001 and $5 million for most of her congressional tenure and spiked to between $5,000,001 and $25 million in 2021, driven by an apparent increase in the chipmaker's value according to her financial disclosures. Luria held Nvidia stock as far back as 2017, before she was first elected to Congress, per the same account. By the time she left office, that holding had fallen back to between $1 and $5 million.
Kiggans campaign spokesperson Calvin Moore said Luria invested about $25 million in Nvidia before voting for semiconductor legislation, arguing her investments stood to benefit from the subsidies included in the bill. Luria voted for the CHIPS and Science Act in 2022, which included $39 billion in U.S. chip-manufacturing subsidies. Nvidia designs chips but does not manufacture them, the outlet's reporting notes.
Luria's disclosures also show stakes in Uber, valued between $250,001 and $500,000 in 2021, and Netflix, valued between $500,001 and $1 million that same year, along with a smaller Idera holding worth between $1 and $1,000. Her overall assets swelled to between $7.7 million and $36.4 million in 2021 before declining over the course of her time in Congress from 2018 to early 2023. She left office with assets valued between $3.4 million and $12.9 million, down from between $3.8 million and $13.6 million when she first ran in 2017.
Kiggans Says She Owns No Individual Stocks
Kiggans, for her part, does not own or trade individual stocks, the paper's review of her disclosures found. Her total assets are valued between $1.9 million and $7.4 million, a fraction of Luria's reported range of between $14.5 million and $50.6 million.
Both candidates now say they would support legislation banning congressional stock trading, a position that marks a reversal for Luria. In February 2022, she strongly rejected such proposals, calling the idea “bullshit” and arguing that existing reporting requirements under the STOCK Act were sufficient, according to Business Insider. Luria now says members of Congress should set an example because of corruption coming from the White House.
Why a Ban Keeps Stalling in Washington
The policy fight playing out in this Virginia Beach-area district mirrors a broader stalemate in Washington. The U.S. House passed legislation in July 2026 prohibiting members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from purchasing individual stocks, but a Senate procedural vote to advance the separate Stop Insider Trading Act failed 53-47 on September 30, falling short of the 60 votes needed to move forward, as Hoodline reported.
A poll cited by The Virginian-Pilot found that 80% of Americans believe Congress cannot get anything done because lawmakers are focused on enriching themselves and their donors. Under current law, the 2012 STOCK Act requires lawmakers to report stock transactions over $1,000 within 45 days, but the standard civil penalty for late or unfiled disclosures is just $200, according to the Campaign Legal Center, which ethics advocates say fails to deter delayed reporting on high-value trades.
A District Shaped by the Navy
Both candidates built careers in uniform before entering politics. Luria spent 20 years on active duty as a nuclear-trained surface warfare officer, retiring at the rank of commander after commanding a combat-ready unit of 400 sailors, according to the U.S. Naval Academy. Kiggans served 10 years as a Navy helicopter pilot flying H-46 and H-3 aircraft, completing two deployments to the Persian Gulf before using GI Bill benefits to become a board-certified nurse practitioner and serving in the Virginia State Senate, per the U.S. House of Representatives.
Virginia's 2nd Congressional District spans Virginia Beach, the Eastern Shore, and parts of Chesapeake, Suffolk, Isle of Wight, and Franklin, with more than 593,000 registered voters and the state's largest concentration of military personnel, according to WHRO. The seat has swung in recent cycles; Democrat Abigail Spanberger carried the district with 53% of the local vote in the 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election.
The Wider Wealth Gap in Congress
The candidates' finances also sit well above what most district residents earn. Rank-and-file members of Congress make $174,000 per year, a figure unchanged since 2009, while Hampton Roads has a median household income of $90,023. More than half of sitting members of Congress are millionaires, and a poll found 80% of Americans think lawmakers cannot get anything done because they are focused on enriching themselves and their donors.
Virginia Commonwealth University political scientist Alex Keena said wealth in Congress is becoming normalized, arguing that people need to be rich, have wealthy friends, or appeal to rich people to be viable congressional candidates. The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press reported that neither campaign addressed questions about general expenses or concerns about politicians being insulated from the affordability crisis.
Matt Baker and Bishop Staten are also running for the seat. Early voting runs through October 31, with Election Day set for November 3.
