Elaine Luria

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Elaine Goodman Luria (born August 15, 1975 in Birmingham) is a former U.S. Navy officer and current member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Virginia's 2nd District.

Luria grew up in Birmingham. Her mother, Michelle Goodman was active in several organizations through Temple Emanu-El, including the National Council of Jewish Women, Hadassah, the Temple Sisterhood, and the Birmingham Jewish Federation.

Luria graduated from Indian Springs School in 1993 and entered the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. She earned a bachelor of science with a dual major in physics and history, and a minor in French. She went on to attend the U.S. Navy's Nuclear Power School and also earned a master of science in engineering management at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia in 2004 while serving on active duty.

Luria served as an engineer for Navy nuclear reactors aboard combat vessels, and rose to the rank of commander. She led Assault Craft Unit TWO from 2014 until her retirement in 2017. She married fellow commander Robert Blondin and resides in Norfolk, Virginia with their daughter and his two sons from a previous marriage.

In 2018 she qualified as a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. She defeated Karen Mallard in the primary and went on to unseat incumbent Republican Scott Taylor by a 51%-49% margin in the 2018 general election. She was re-elected in 2020, holding off Taylor's bid to retake his former seat by a slightly higher margin. During that election, she reneged on a promise to reject PAC funding for her campaign.

Representative Luria introduced the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act, which was signed into law by President Trump in October 2019. In September of the same year she authored an editorial in the Washington Post supporting Democrats' plans to conduct an impeachment inquiry relating to Trump's demands for political favors from the president of Ukraine. She voted to charge the president with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in the House's December hearing.

Luria caucuses with the "New Democrat Coalition" and the "Problem Solvers Caucus". She has served in the House Committee on Armed Services, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and House Committee on Homeland Security.

References

  • "Elaine Luria" (May 20, 2021) Wikipedia - accessed May 26, 2021

External links