Elaine Luria is a Democrat who has won a seat in the US House of Representatives in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District. This is her first political office.
About Elaine Luria
Elaine was born in 1975 in Birmingham, Alabama and now lives in Norfolk, Virginia with her husband Robert and three children.
Education and Military Background
She received her Bachelor in Physics and History with a minor in French from the US Naval Academy in 1997. After graduating from the Academy, she was commissioned as Ensign in the US Navy. In 2000 she became one of the first women to attend the US Naval Nuclear Power School. She retired from the Navy in 2017, after deploying around the world six times during her time in the service. She was a Surface Warfare Officer, on destroyers, carriers and aircraft carriers and enforced sanctions on Iraqi oil smugglers in the Arabian Gulf, launchend jets off the desk of an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean to take down terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan, and operated nuclear reactors. While in the military, she earned her Master’s degree in Engineering Management from Old Dominion University in 2004.
Entrepreneur
In addition to being a Commander in the Navy, Elaine Luria also started her own family business, Mermaid Factory, which sells hand painted mermaid and dolphin designs. They opened the Norfolk location in 2013, and the Virginia Beach location in 2015. Mermaid Factory has created jobs in the community, and has donated over $50,000 of their proceeds to charity. The company likes to give back to organizations in the community that support youth and the arts.
Elaine Luria brings her experience in the Navy as well as owning her own business to Congress. Her district has many military members in it as well as having the world’s largest Navy base, the highest concentration of veterans, and the highest number of female veterans nationwide. She believes in “be good, do good work” and believes that politicians in Washington aren’t looking out for the needs of the American people, and that is why she is running for Congress.
Political Outlook
She believes in the core values of security, equality, and prosperity for the people she is representing in Virginia. Security means providing for the common defense of our nation, having a strong and ready military, to be healthy, to be secure in our neighborhoods, to keep our obligations to our parents with social security and medicare, protecting the environment, being secure in our homes, and protecting the weakest among us. Equality means that we are all treated equally, that no one should feel unsafe in their workplace, that every woman and person of color has equal access to capital and equal pay for equal work, that every child has access to a quality public education, that every American has equal access to the ballot box, and that every woman has the autonomy to make their own healthcare choices. Prosperity means that America is investing in our infrastructure, that Americans have access to jobs with living wages and benefits, that America is investing in our future, that Americans can afford to see a doctor when they are sick and not one car crash away from financial hardship, that we protect and preserve our planet, and that we protect and preserve our democracy.
Elaine Luria won against Republican Scott Taylor in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District.
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