VIRGINIA (LifeSiteNews) – A Republican candidate running for a House seat with the endorsement of House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faced tough questions this week over her support for various left-wing agenda items in the Virginia State Senate.
State Sen. Jennifer Kiggans is one of four Republicans running in the primary for Virginia’s 2nd District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. In February, McCarthy endorsed her as “the experienced and battle-tested conservative in this race who will ensure we get the job done in 2022.” McCarthy’s endorsement followed the support of the McCarthy-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund, giving a boost to her then-lagging fundraising efforts.
On April 8, Kiggans was interviewed by conservative radio host John Fredericks, who pressed her on concerns that she is “going to get there [Congress] and not do anything,” as conservatives say has been the case at the state level, as well as her support for various left-wing pieces of legislation, most significantly the so-called Virginia Values Act, which added sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s nondiscrimination law and has been interpreted as forcing businesses, such as photographers, to participate in same-sex “weddings,” as well as forcing female public school students to share restrooms with males.
Kiggans claimed she voted for the law for far more modest reasons, namely LGBT-identifying Virginians’ access to employment and housing, and cited votes she has cast for other measures to oppose transgender overreach, such as on restrooms.
Fredericks also questioned her votes in favor of other liberal measures, including to raise the monetary value stolen goods have to reach before stealing them constitutes a felony. Additionally, the pro-abortion group NARAL gave the senator’s voting record a 0 percent score for 2021, but says she voted with them 25 percent of the time the year before.
Kiggans responded by implying she felt at least somewhat obligated to defer to the Democrat majority that controlled the legislature at the time: “They were brought to me with an agenda from the radical left. And these guys brought it to me and I had to vote because that’s what I was sent here to do.”
The House seat at stake is currently held by Democrat Rep. Elaine Luria. Republicans have an opportunity to use the race, which is currently considered a toss-up by election analysts, to pick up another seat in their bid to retake Congress this fall.