Navy reservist announces campaign to unseat Rep. Jen Kiggans
Osef, a first-generation Ukrainian American and a Navy reservist who served on the USS Norfolk submarine, announced his candidacy Thursday.
'I think running for Congress, at least for me, boils down to one fundamental, and that's really to help Virginia's veteran and working class families who are being left behind,' said Osyf, a 40-year-old who works at Lockheed Martin as a defense innovation executive.
Kiggans has represented the district, which encompasses part of Hampton Roads including Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Suffolk, since 2022. The midterm elections are in 2026.
Osyf, who lives in Virginia Beach, said he was driven to run in part because of the recent passage of President Donald Trump's domestic policy spending bill.
'I think what we're facing right now is what you just saw evidenced by the passage of the 'big, beautiful bill,'' he said in an interview. 'I think that the hypocrisy and the dissonance that is on display, by this administration's priorities and this enabling Congress, is what needs to be tackled, and the only way to do that is to elect a new generation of Democrats that are going to be able to engineer government to work and to deliver for the American people.'
Osyf took aim at Kiggans, who voted last week in support of the bill.
'Jen Kiggans has abandoned her post, voting last week to rip healthcare away from millions, stop children from receiving SNAP benefits they depend on, and give a tax break to the mega donors who funder her campaign,' he said in a statement.
At the time, Kiggans, who also served in the Navy, acknowledged concerns about cuts to Medicaid and clean energy candidates, but said the bill would deliver for the people she represents and voted for its passage.
Osyf is the latest candidate to jump into the race. Nicolaus Sleister, of Suffolk, has also filed paperwork to run as a Democrat for the nomination, as has Virginia Beach resident Burk Stringfellow.
Both candidates have also taken aim at Kiggans over her ultimate vote in favor of the bill.
'This bill is not beautiful. It is brutal,' said Sleister in a statement issued this week. 'Thousands of military families across Virginia Beach, Suffolk, and the Eastern Shore will see their SNAP and Medicaid benefits gutted. And Rep. Jen Kiggans voted yes — again siding with party insiders instead of the people she was elected to serve.'
Stringfellow, who describes himself as more of an activist than a politician, maintains a section on his website entitled 'Jen Kiggans Must Go' with references to her voting record, including on the 'big, beautiful bill.'
Kiggans is seeking reelection and is the only Republican running so far.
The Virginia Public Access Project describes the district as leaning Republican, but Democrats nationally are eyeing it as competitive.
'This Big, Ugly Bill is a laundry list of Republicans' betrayal to the American people,' said Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. 'The DCCC will make sure every battleground voter knows how vulnerable House Republicans — including Kiggans and (Rep. Rob) Wittman — abandoned them by passing the most unpopular piece of legislation in modern American history, and we're going to take back the House majority because of it.'
Kate Seltzer, kate.seltzer@virginiamedia.com, (757)713-7881
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