Abortion Access & the Right to Choose
You have an innate right to control your own body. You should not lose that right depending on where you live, who controls your state legislature, or where your military orders station you and your family. Extreme politicians are determined to take away our personal freedoms, like the right to make decisions about our bodies and reproductive healthcare. I will steadfastly advocate for your personal freedom, and one of my top priorities will be restoring Roe v. Wade into law to protect the rights of Virginia women from politicians like Jen Kiggans.
Kiggans on Abortion
Jen Kiggans backed a national abortion ban that would overturn Virginia law. She’s voted repeatedly in Congress to restrict abortion rights for Virginia women and even jail doctors and nurses for providing reproductive care. She even voted to restrict access to abortion for servicewomen in the military.
Defending Democracy
Defending democracy is my number one priority. In the Navy, I fought to support and defend our Constitution, and I’ll do the same in Congress. Too many Washington politicians have eroded faith in our democratic institutions in order to expand their own power, and we need real, sensible leadership in Congress to ensure we defend our democracy from those who seek to exploit and weaken it for personal gain.
Kiggans on Democracy
Jen Kiggans has backed the MAGA movement that stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 and attempted to overturn a free and fair election. She said she was a “big supporter of President Trump” and declared that “I think he’s a genius.” In the Virginia legislature, Kiggans gave support to “Big Lie” conspiracy theorists by being one of only four Senators to vote for an unnecessary and wasteful audit of the 2020 election that would cost Virginia taxpayers $70 million and was pushed by an extremist MAGA conspiracy theorist. Kiggans also voted to roll back measures ensuring Virginians had their right to vote protected.
Standing Up for Veterans
I joined the Navy to serve our country. Veterans and military families deserve someone who will stand up for them. I understand firsthand that those who have risked their lives for our country have earned, not only our respect, but the benefits they were promised. While national politicians clamor to say they care about our veterans, all too often veterans and military families are exploited for political gain. Veterans deserve elected officials who will honor our promises to them. Their earned benefits should never be used as political leverage. I understand the challenges military families face and will be a champion for veterans and military families in Congress. That means always protecting the VA and improving veterans’ healthcare, making life more affordable for military families, and ending veteran homelessness.
Kiggans on Veterans Affairs
Jen Kiggans voted for a plan to gut the VA that could have resulted in 30 million fewer veteran outpatient visits and reduced access to telehealth for veterans, increasing wait times and putting lives at risk. Her plan could have cost tens of thousands of veterans access to housing vouchers that keep them out of homelessness. She also voted to restrict access to abortion for servicewomen in the military.
Bipartisanship
Coastal Virginians want results, not partisan infighting. I will work with anyone, Republican or Democrat, to bring results for Coastal Virginia.
Kiggans on Political Parties
Jen Kiggans called Marjorie Taylor Greene and MAGA politicians her “teammates,” saying that “we all want the same things.” Kiggans opposed the bipartisan infrastructure law that is reducing traffic and boosting our roads, bridges, and ports, solely because it wasn’t authored by her own party.
The Economy & Cost of Living
Coastal Virginia faces rising prices on everything from groceries to rent. We need to curb rising inflation while preventing giant corporations from exploiting the situation to rake in record profits. We need to stop the price gouging on groceries, and stop massive corporations from buying up houses and raising rent. Instead of constant Washington infighting and favors for donors, Coastal Virginians deserve lower prescription drug prices, affordable housing, and child care. We deserve a Coastal Virginia where we can afford to live, drive, and educate our children. I will always advocate for policies that make life more affordable for our community.
Kiggans on the Economy
Jen Kiggans voted to raise housing, grocery, and energy costs for Coastal Virginians. More than 470,000 Virginia households, including many military families, are paying up to $800 more each year for their internet costs after Kiggans allowed a key affordable broadband program to expire. Kiggans opposed the law that lowered prices for seniors by letting Medicare negotiate for lower prescription costs, capped insulin costs at $35 a month for seniors, and held drug companies accountable for price gouging.
Climate & the Environment
We live at sea level and must protect our homes and businesses from the effects of climate change and rising seas. It’s not only an environmental concern here in Virginia Beach, it also affects our economy, schools, transportation, and, because of our Naval bases, our national security. We need urgent action. In Washington, politicians on both sides push their partisan political goals rather than focusing on real solutions that will protect Virginians. Serving as the Virginia Citizen Rep on the Chesapeake Bay Commission has been a great lesson in the success of working in a bi-partisan way to deliver results. The Commission works on legislation to restore the health of the Bay and improve conditions for all of us in the Bay Watershed. From combating coastal flooding, to helping farmers with funding for best practices, to creating good jobs and lowering energy costs through clean energy production, science-based solutions can help our district improve resiliency and lead the way on addressing the climate crisis.
Kiggans on Climate
Jen Kiggans opposed the bipartisan infrastructure law that is expanding flood prevention infrastructure to keep coastal communities safe. She broke her promise to stop offshore drilling, repeatedly voting to allow drilling off Virginia’s coast. Kiggans also voted to repeal measures that support clean energy manufacturing, putting good factory jobs at risk, and making it easier for China to get ahead.
Gun Violence Prevention
As a veteran, mom, and advocate for safer schools, I’m committed to gun violence prevention, safer communities, and preventing veteran suicide. There are commonsense measures supported by large majorities of Virginians that can make our neighborhoods safer while also protecting individual rights.
Kiggans on Guns
Jen Kiggans has been endorsed by the NRA and has voted against bipartisan, commonsense gun safety proposals. She voted against universal background checks; she voted against expanding red flag laws that take guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and those who pose a threat to Virginians; and she voted against prohibiting guns in schools and childcare centers.
Immigration
A secure border is fundamental to our national security as well as the safety of our communities and the health of our economy. For decades, Washington has played politics with the border. Instead of real solutions we’ve gotten chaos and inaction. It is essential that we provide increased technology and manpower at ports of entry, increase the capacity and efficiency of immigration courts with more judges and smoother processes. We can have both a secure border and a humane and fair immigration system if leaders in Washington put their politics aside and go to work.
Kiggans on Immigration
Jen Kiggans voted for an extreme plan that could fire up to 28,500 law enforcement officers nationwide, including 2,400 border patrol agents, and cut funding for local law enforcement. Then she opposed the toughest border security deal in a generation that was backed by the border patrol and created by both Republicans and Democrats. She opposed putting more than 1,500 more Border Patrol agents on the border, expanding fentanyl detection equipment to stop drug trafficking, and expanding processing capacity to prevent the border from becoming overwhelmed.
Healthcare
Virginians deserve access to high quality affordable health care. Insurance and prescription costs are simply too high. We must protect the Affordable Health Care Act and create a public option that can lower insurance costs for all Virginians by increasing choice and competition – while preserving private insurance for those that want it. And I’ll work to lower prescription prices by capping insulin costs at $35 a month, expanding Medicare’s ability to negotiate lower prices to more prescriptions while extending those savings to all Americans, and holding drug companies accountable for price gouging.
Kiggans on Healthcare
Jen Kiggans is funded by more than $150,000 from the drug and insurance industries and has repeatedly put their profits ahead of lower costs for Virginians. She supported repealing the Affordable Care Act, which would let her insurance industry donors deny coverage to Virginians with a pre-existing condition and charge women and seniors more for the same care – all so they can make more money. Jen Kiggans opposed the law that lowered prices for coastal Virginia seniors by letting Medicare negotiate for lower prescription costs, capped insulin costs at $35 a month for seniors, and held drug companies accountable for price gouging.
