Kiggans declares victory in Republican primary
Published 9:16 pm Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Republican voters in Isle of Wight County and throughout Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District chose state Sen. Jen Kiggans on June 21 as their preferred candidate to challenge U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., in the Nov. 8 general election.
According to unofficial results, Kiggans won Tuesday’s Republican primary election with 55.5% of the 38,964 votes cast districtwide, with 207 of 236 precincts reporting as of just after 9 p.m. In Isle of Wight, Kiggans received 52.7% of 2,614 votes cast countywide, with 18 of 20 precincts reporting.
Kiggans had already declared victory an hour earlier, posting to her campaign Facebook page just after 8 p.m. that she was “honored and humbled to be the Republican Nominee in #VA02 this November!”
“I promise to work hard to earn each and every vote in November,” Kiggans continued. “But Virginian’s (sic) are fired up and ready to get our country back on track! And I know I have what it takes to beat Elaine Luria and deliver the results Hampton Roads taxpayers deserve.”
She faced three challengers — Jarome Bell, Andrew Baan and Tommy Altman — for the party’s nomination. Bell, who’d pledged during his campaign to “carry the Donald J. Trump torch,” finished second with just under 27% of the district vote and a slightly higher share — just over 35% — in Isle of Wight County.
In third place with 14.5% of the vote and 8.6% of Isle of Wight’s share came Altman, who’d added his own intrigue to the race in May by joining with lawyer-turned-state Del. Tim Anderson to file a lawsuit seeking to bar the nationwide book retailer Barnes & Noble from selling “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe and “A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas to minors, arguing that the books are too sexual for children.
Baan finished fourth with just over 3% of the districtwide vote and a slightly higher 3.48% share of Isle of Wight’s ballots.
Luria, a Democrat, is unchallenged within her own party. Surry County held no primary for either party since incumbent U.S. Rep. A. Donald McEachin, D-Va., and his Republican opponent, Leon Benjamin Sr., are both unchallenged within their respective parties.
Absentee ballots postmarked by election day will still be counted if received by the local registrar’s office by noon on June 24.