Luria, Elaine, 1975-

U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria represents Virginia’s Second Congressional District. Prior to her election in 2018, Rep. Luria served two decades in the Navy, retiring at the rank of Commander. Rep. Luria served at sea on six ships as a nuclear-trained Surface Warfare Officer, deployed to the Middle East and Western Pacific, and culminated her Navy career by commanding a combat-ready unit of 400 sailors. Vice Chair of the House Armed Services Committee and a member the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Rep. Luria was one of the first women in the Navy’s nuclear power program and among the first women to serve the entirety of her career in combatant ships. She serves on the House Armed Services Committee, where she is the committee’s Vice Chair, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, where she serves as Chair of the Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee, and the House Committee on Homeland Security. Of all members in the House Democratic Caucus, she served the longest on active duty, having completed 20 years of active military service with the U.S. Navy. Rep. Luria graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and received a master’s in engineering management from Old Dominion University.

LURIA, Elaine, a Representative from Virginia; born in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Ala., August 15, 1975; B.S., United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., 1997; attended United States Naval Nuclear Power School, Goose Greek, S.C., 2000; M.S., Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Va., 2004; United States Navy, 1997-2017; small business owner; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Sixteenth and to the succeeding Congress (January 3, 2019-present).

<p>Elaine Goodman Luria (/ˈlʊriə/; LUUR-ee-ə; born August 15, 1975) is an American politician and Navy veteran from the Commonwealth of Virginia who has served as the U.S. representative from Virginia's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2019. Luria's congressional district includes most of Hampton Roads, including all of Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, and Poquoson and parts of Norfolk and Hampton. Before running for Congress, she served as a Navy officer for 20 years. Luria rose to the rank of commander and spent most of her career deployed on navy ships. She defeated Republican incumbent Scott Taylor in 2018. She defeated Taylor in a rematch to win a second term in 2020.</p>

<p>Luria was born on August 15, 1975, in Birmingham, Alabama. Her mother Michelle's family immigrated to Jasper, Alabama, in 1906. The family sold goods to coal miners in Walker County, Alabama. In the early-1900s, Luria's great-grandfather helped spawn a Reform Jewish congregation in Jasper, and her immediate family joined the Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham. Luria's mother and grandmother were active in the National Council of Jewish Women (of which her mother was president), Hadassah, the Temple Emanu-El Sisterhood, and the Birmingham Jewish Federation.</p>

<p>Luria graduated from Indian Springs School in 1993. She graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science (BS) with a double major in physics and history, and a minor in French. In 2000, Luria attended the United States Naval Nuclear Power School. While serving in the Navy and stationed aboard the flagship USS Blue Ridge, she earned a Master of Science (MS) degree in engineering management from Old Dominion University in 2004.</p>