Jennifer Ann Kiggans (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Moore; born June 18, 1971) is an American politician and

nurse practitioner A nurse practitioner (NP) is an advanced practice registered nurse and a type of mid-level practitioner. NPs are trained to assess patient needs, order and interpret diagnostic and laboratory tests, diagnose disease, prescribe medications an ...

serving as the U.S. representative for

Virginia's 2nd congressional district Virginia's second congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, U.S. congressional district in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It currently encompasses all of the counties of Accomack County, Virginia, Accomack, Nort ...

since 2023. A Republican, Kiggans is a former

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

helicopter pilot. She defeated incumbent

Elaine Luria Elaine Goodman Luria (; ; born August 15, 1975) is an American politician and United States Navy, US Navy veteran who served as the List of current members of the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from from 2019 to 2023 ...

in the 2022 election and was re-elected in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Early life and career

Kiggans was born in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, and graduated from high school in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

. As a high school student, she worked at

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...

. She is an alumna of

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. In 1993 and 1994, she taught English in Japan through the

JET Programme The , shortly as , is a teaching program sponsored by the Japanese government that brings university graduates to Japan as Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs), Sports Education Advisors (SEAs) or as Coordinators for International Relations (CI ...

. She also lived in Japan as a Navy spouse for five years. Kiggans joined the

in 1993 and was a Navy pilot for ten years, flying H-46 and H-3 helicopters. After serving in the military, Kiggans attended nursing school at

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

and Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. She is an adult geriatric nurse practitioner at

Eastern Virginia Medical School Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS), part of the Macon and Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University, commonly known as Virginia Health Sciences, is a public medical school in Norfolk, Virginia operated by Old Dominion U ...

and in private practice.

Early political career

In 2019, Kiggans ran for the

Virginia Senate The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...

for the 7th district, which was being vacated by Republican incumbent Frank Wagner. In the Republican Party primary, Kiggans defeated Virginia Beach School Board member Carolyn Weems, 52% to 48%. In the general election, Kiggans faced Democratic state Delegate Cheryl Turpin. The race was viewed as competitive, as the district had very narrowly favored Democrats in recent statewide elections. Kiggans and Turpin each spent over $500,000 on television advertisements. Kiggans won, 50.4% to 49.5%. ''The Washington Post'' reported that "Her record didn't always fit neatly along a party line." She voted to expand nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people and for environmental protection measures. In 2022, Kiggans introduced a bill to prohibit transgender girls from playing girls' sports and voted for an audit of the 2020 election.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2022

Kiggans was the Republican nominee for

in the 2022 election. She narrowly defeated Democratic incumbent

in the November 2022 general election, by a vote of 153,328 (52%) to 143,219 (48%)

2024

Kiggans ran for re-election in Virginia's 2nd Congressional District. Her district was considered relatively competitive, and the

Cook Political Report Amy Elizabeth Walter (born October 19, 1969)"Profile: Amy Walter"

rated her district as "lean Republican." Kiggans defeated Democrat Missy Cotter Smasal by a vote of 201,023 (51%) to 184,174 (47%).

Political positions

2020 presidential election

According to ''The Washington Post'', Kiggans "has never beat a 'stolen election' drum", but has hesitated to acknowledge

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

as a legitimate president. She called for a forensic audit of Virginia's 2020 presidential election results; a previous audit of those results found no evidence of fraud. She has said that she does not believe the

FBI search of Mar-a-Lago On August8, 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, the residence of then-former U.S. president Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Florida. The search warrant application was authorized by U.S. At ...

was justified.

Abortion

Kiggans supports banning abortions after fifteen weeks of pregnancy, except for in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother. In June 2022, she expressed support for the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in ''

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization'', 597 U.S. 215 (2022), is a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court in which the court held ...

'', which overruled ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected the right to have an ...

''.

Veteran's issues

Kiggans opposes cuts to funding in the Military Construction, Veteran Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act and supports improving military housing which she has described as, "in disrepair and unlivable".

George Santos

On December 1, 2023, Kiggans voted to expel Representative George Santos, and was the only Republican from Virginia to vote in favor the resolution.

Budget and taxes

In May 2025, Kiggans voted for the Republican

One Big Beautiful Bill Act The proposed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, also referred to as OBBBA, OBBB, BBB or OB3, is a budget reconciliation bill in the 119th United States Congress. OBBBA passed the House of Representatives on May 22, 2025, in a largely party-line vote o ...

that significantly cut

Medicaid Medicaid is a government program in the United States that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by U.S. state, state governments, which also h ...

, despite previously signing a letter opposing such reductions. The legislation included an expansion of Section 199A—a tax provision set to expire at the end of the year—which could personally benefit Kiggans, who reported over $50,000 in pass-through rental income. The deduction is estimated to cost $730 billion over the next decade, with proposed changes adding an additional $50 billion.

Caucus memberships

Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus The Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus (CWRC) is a large bi-partisan Congressional Member Organization in the U.S. House of Representatives formed to support the National Wildlife Refuge System The National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) i ...

Republican Main Street Partnership The Republican Main Street Partnership is a nonprofit organization that was founded to raise funds to support politicians in the moderate wing of the Republican Party. As of 2024, the organization seems to be leaning away from its original cent ...

Republican Governance Group The Republican Governance Group, originally the Tuesday Lunch Bunch and then the Tuesday Group until 2020, is a group of moderate Republicans in the United States House of Representatives. It was founded in 1994 in the wake of the Republican ta ...

Personal life

Kiggans is a lifelong

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. She has been married since 1999 to Steve Kiggans, a retired Navy

F-18 The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack airc ...

pilot. They have four children. Kiggans’ father is also veteran, serving in the Vietnam War as an Army Green Beret.

Electoral history

References

External links

Congresswoman Jen Kiggans
official U.S. House website
Campaign website
* *
Jen Kiggans
at the Virginia Public Access Project , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiggans, Jen 1971 births 21st-century American women politicians American expatriates in Japan American women nurses Aviators from Florida Aviators from Virginia Catholics from Florida Catholics from Virginia Female members of the United States House of Representatives Living people Military personnel from Florida Military personnel from Virginia Nurses from Virginia Nurse practitioners Old Dominion University alumni Politicians from Orlando, Florida Politicians from Tampa, Florida Politicians from Virginia Beach, Virginia Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Republican Party Virginia state senators Vanderbilt University alumni Women state legislators in Virginia Women United States Naval Aviators 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly