Primary winners Taylor, Luria to square off for 2nd District

Daily Press (Newport News, VA)

June 13--Voters picked freshman Rep. Scott Taylor, R-Virginia Beach, and Norfolk business-owner Elaine Luria as Republican and Democratic candidates in the key 2nd Congressional District race.

Taylor won 28,308 votes, or 76 percent, and former James City County Supervisor Mary K. Jones received 8,978, or 24 percent, with all 181 precincts reporting, according to unofficial results from the state Department of Elections.

Luria won 17,540, or 62 percent, while her opponent, Virginia Beach teacher Karen Mallard, received 10,604, or 38 percent. the department reported.

The Williamsburg-to-Eastern Shore district is one of a handful in the nation where votes last year suggest voters who had favored Donald Trump in 2016 are leaning toward Democrats.

"I think 2nd District voters have made clear that fake, disgusting nasty campaigns -- they don't win," Taylor said, referring to Jones' attacks.

Jones had said Taylor's concern with rising sea level and its impact on military operations and his support for legislation banning discrimination against gays showed he wasn't a real conservative.

Looking ahead, he said he and Democratic opponent Luria have sharply different views on economic and tax policy.

"She voted for me twice, she knows who I am. I guess maybe that third vote would be help I'd have appreciated."

Luria said Taylor hadn't lived up to promises to work across the aisle that he made in the 2016 race.

She said she had talked to Mallard and "we're excited about being able to merge our teams, we're excited about the momentum that's keeping the blue wave rolling."

The district will be one of the most closely watched races in November, since it swung to the Democrats in the 2017, giving Gov. Ralph Northam 51 percent of its votes, after splitting 48 percent for Trump to 45 percent for Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Luria, who promised to focus on sea level rise and the needs of military families, was backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which usually doesn't step into primary contests.

Some of Mallard's key campaign points -- universal single-payer health insurance and a $15 minimum wage -- reflected priorities of Democrats who consider themselves part of the party's progressive wing.

Some 38,286 Republican voters cast ballots, down from 40,737 in the fiercely contested 2016 primary in which Taylor defeated longtime Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake.

Combined turnout, fueled by the more than 28,000 Democrats who voted, of nearly 15 percent was much higher than what Virginia has seen in the unusual situation in which both parties have contests for the U.S. House. In the old South Hampton Roads' to Petersburg 4th Congressional District's 2012 primaries, turnout was 8.3 percent, while turnout in the 2008 primaries for Northern Virginia's 10th district was 5.8 percent.

The 10th District, which covers the western suburbs of Washington to the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley, is another that, like the 2nd, has been trending Democratic while represented by a Republican,

There, Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-McLean, fended off conservative activist Shak Hill.

State Sen. Jennifer Wexton, D-Loudoun, won the six-way Democratic race in the 10th.

In the 1st Congressional District, which stretches from the Washington suburbs to Gloucester County and western parts of James City County, analyst Vangie Williams won 11,001, or 40 percent, of votes, with logistics contractor Edwin Santana receiving 9,020, or 33 percent, and investor John Suddarth getting 7,546, or 27 percent, with all 244 precincts reporting.

Ress can be reached by phone at 757-247-4535.

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