Republican Scott Taylor wins Virginia primary, to face Elaine Luria in rematch

Former Congressman Scott Taylor won the Republican primary in Virginia’s 2nd District, setting up a rematch in November against Rep. Elaine Luria (D), who unseated him in 2018.

Taylor, a former Navy SEAL who represented the 2nd District from 2017 to 2019, was leading in the primary with 48 percent of the vote, beating two other Republicans with 61 percent of precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press.

Taylor, also a former member of Virginia’s General Assembly, had initially launched a challenge for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Mark Warner (D) but decided instead to pursue his old seat representing the Virginia Beach area. Taylor lost to Luria by about 2 points in 2018.

The Republican nominee was endorsed by President Trump earlier this month.

The district has been competitive in recent presidential election cycles. President Trump beat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton there by about 2.5 percentage points, and both Mitt Romney and John McCain carried the district narrowly in 2012 and 2008, respectively, even as former President Obama won Virginia’s electoral votes.

The Cook Political Report rates the race as a “toss-up.”

Virginia was originally set to hold its Congressional primaries on June 9 but delayed them for two weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has also led to a surge in mailed-in ballots.