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A House Democrat has accused her Republican rival in Virginia of wanting to kiss House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s ‘feet, ring and every other thing’ in one of the tightest races in the US.
Democrat Rep. Elaine Luria accused Republican Virginia state Sen. Jen Kiggans of blindly backing McCarthy who viewed a temporary decline of record-breaking gas prices as bad thing for Republicans as it could hurt their chances of winning the midterms.
The congresswoman accused Kiggans of wanting the public’s ‘gas prices to be high’ for political gain during a second debate between the pair in Smithfield, Virginia.
‘I see I have one minute left, so I’m just going to wrap it up, but the thing is, like this woman wants your gas prices to be high,’ Luria said as she pointed towards Kiggans.
Luria continued: ‘I just listened to an interview with Kevin McCarthy, who she wants to vote with for speaker, and he said: ‘This is becoming a little bit of a problem for Republicans as the midterms approach. I saw from August as gas prices were going down, we Republicans thought that might really hurt us winning the House’.’
Luria was referring to comments made by McCarthy, who would be placed in the speaker’s chair if Republicans beat the Democrats in the midterm elections and took control of the House.
McCarthy had told Punchbowl News that ‘August was not a good month’ for Republicans – in part due to the temporary decline of record-breaking gas prices.
Democrat Rep. Elaine Luria (right) accused Republican Virginia state Sen. Jen Kiggans (left) of wanting the public’s ‘gas prices to be high’ for political gain during a second debate between the pair in Smithfield, Virginia
‘They didn’t care about your pocketbook and the fact that gas prices were going down and that’s what they should want,’ Luria said as the audience clapped, with one man shouting ‘Yeah’.
She continued: ‘They just want gas prices to stay high so they can win the election. And Kevin McCarthy, who wants to be speaker, who she says she’d vote for and will kiss his feet and his ring and every other thing, wants your gas prices to be high.’
‘So why would you vote for someone who’s trying to actually keep gas prices high just so she can get elected to Congress?’ she asked.
Luria’s campaign group told Fox News that the politician had refrained from calling Kiggans an ‘a** kisser’ at the debate because she was ‘too polite’.
Kiggans told the news site: ‘This is what’s wrong with politics. My opponent resorts to disgusting and unhinged attacks because she can’t defend her record of voting with Nancy Pelosi 99% of the time.
‘It’s insulting as a woman and it’s absolutely repulsive. It is clear that Elaine Luria is not the leader Virginia’s 2nd District deserves.’
U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria, D-2nd., left, and Republican challenger Virginia State Sen. Jen Kiggans, R-Virginia Beach, prepare for a debate sponsored by the Hampton roads Chamber of Congress on October 12
Luria and other Democrats are campaigning in a different political environment this year. The anxiety over Donald Trump’s presidency that their party harnessed to flip more than 40 seats and regain the House majority has eased.
In its place is frustration about the economy under President Joe Biden.
And many districts that were once competitive have been redrawn by Republican-dominated state legislatures to become more friendly to the GOP.
‘It was a very different world,’ pollster John Zogby said of 2018. ‘Inflation’s now where we haven’t seen in 40 years and it affects everybody. And this is the party in power. With campaigns, you don’t get to say, “But it could have been” or “But look at what the other guy did”.’
Many swing-district Democrats elected four years ago, like Lucia, were buoyed by college-educated, suburban voters, women and young people shunning Trump.
That means many defeats for second-term House Democrats could be read as opposition to Trump no longer motivating voters in the same way – even though the former president could seek the White House again in 2024.
Trump continues to shape politics in a far more present sense, too. He’s dominated the national Republican Party despite spreading lies about 2020’s free and fair presidential election and now facing a House subpoena for helping incite the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol last year.
Tom Perez, who headed the Democratic National Committee from 2017 until 2021, noted that midterm cycles are historically tough for the president’s party and that – plus grim U.S. economic news – would normally raise the question ‘are Democrats going to get shellacked?’
Luria (pictured) and other Democrats are campaigning in a different political environment this year. The anxiety over Donald Trump’s presidency that their party harnessed to flip more than 40 seats and regain the House majority has eased
Instead, Perez thinks many of the toughest congressional races remain close because of the strength of Democrats elected four years ago.
‘All these folks from the Class of ’18, what they have in common is they’re really incredibly competent, accomplished and they’ve earned the trust of voters in their districts across the ideological spectrum,’ said Perez, co-chair of the super PAC American Bridge 21st Century.
‘That, to me, is why we have a chance here, not withstanding the headwinds of the moment, is that incredible combination of candidate quality contrasted with the extreme views of the people who are running against them.’
In all, 66 new Democrats won House races in 2018, flipping 41 Republican seats. Their party gave back many of those gains in 2020, with Republicans taking 14 new seats. Those GOP victories included defeating a dozen Democrats elected to the House for the first time the previous cycle.
The Democratic House losses were overshadowed by Biden beating Trump. But this time, the ranks of the 2018 Democratic House class further dwindling may draw more attention – especially if it helps the GOP gain the net five seats it needs to reclaim the chamber’s majority.
In addition to Luria, Democrats who may be vulnerable include Reps. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Tom Malinowski of New Jersey. Another Virginia Democrat, Rep. Abigail Spanberger, as well as Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Angie Craig of Minnesota and Sharice Davids of Kansas all also may face tough reelections.
Republicans, meanwhile, have 32 Hispanic nominees and 23 Black nominees running for the House this cycle – both party records. They say their chances of winning the chamber’s majority are built more on high inflation and crime rates rising in some places than Trump or last year’s insurrection.
‘We have a choice between commonsense and crazy,’ Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. ‘And Americans will vote for Republicans up and down the ballot as a result.’
The Democrats’ 2018 House class won’t dissolve completely. Some incumbents are seeking reelection in safely blue districts, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Lucy McBath of Georgia and Colin Allred of Texas, who was the class’ co-president.
Democratic Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens, the other co-president, beat fellow 2018 Democratic House class member Andy Levin when the two incumbents squared off in this year’s Democratic primary based on their state’s new map.
One Democratic 2018 House class member ousted in 2020, former New York Rep. Max Rose, is now running to get back to Congress. Another member, New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew, has since become a Republican.
Former Virginia Rep. Denver Riggleman was a Republican elected in 2018 but lost his 2020 GOP primary. Riggleman is now appearing in a TV ad praising Spanberger.
‘She’s trying to change Congress and make it work,’ Riggleman says in the ad. ‘She puts country first.’
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