- The Washington Times - Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Democrat Elaine Luria on Tuesday defeated GOP Rep. Scott Taylor in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District race, notching another pick-up for Democrats in the state.

Democrats had eyed the southeastern district as one of several competitive GOP-held seats in Virginia and hoped that Ms. Luria, a former Navy commander, could deny Mr. Taylor a second term in Congress.

With nearly all precincts reporting, Ms. Luria held a 51 percent to 49 percent lead over Mr. Taylor.

Earlier in the evening, Democrat Jennifer Wexton defeated GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock in the 10th District and Democrat Abigail Spanberger beat GOP Rep. Dave Brat in the 7th District. Republican Denver Riggleman defeated Democrat Leslie Cockburn in the 5th District, keeping that competitive seat in GOP hands.

Mr. Taylor was first elected in 2016 in a race he won by about 23 points.

Mr. Taylor, who served as a Navy SEAL sniper, sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, and has made issues tied to the country’s armed forces key priorities for the military-heavy Hampton Roads-area district.

Mr. Taylor professed his support for helping immigrant “Dreamers” brought to the U.S. illegally as children, though Ms. Luria chastised him on health care, saying his support for an Obamacare repeal bill in the House would have raised costs for sicker Americans, despite his professed support for protecting people with preexisting conditions.

Mr. Taylor was dogged by claims his campaign forged signatures to boost an independent candidate that might siphon votes away from Ms. Luria.

The congressman said he wasn’t aware of the activity and fired his campaign manager, but the dustup was a big distraction. A judge ultimately ordered that the candidate, Shaun Brown, should not appear on ballots in the race.

• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.

• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.

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