A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
For the past 18 years, the party that wins Virginia's 2nd Congressional District has won control of the entire House of Representatives. We'll find out next week if that streak continues. The district is home to the largest concentration of Navy families in the country. Here's Steve Walsh with WHRO in Norfolk, Virginia.
STEVE WALSH, BYLINE: Recently, the USS San Antonio returned to Norfolk after two deployments totaling over a year. Rena Ritter (ph) waited on the pier for her husband, Isaiah Wells, with their baby daughter. She says the lengthy deployments have taken a toll on the crew.
RENA RITTER: Fake promises and, like, destroying their mental health. Some days, he, like, is not eating or not sleeping. He's an engineer, so, like, they spend so much time trying to prepare and like, fix things before they pull in that, like, they go days without sleeping.
WALSH: The USS Gerald R. Ford broke a record for the longest carrier deployment before returning to Norfolk this summer. At least 15 Navy ships are still in the Middle East, with more on the way as the war with Iran continues. At the Black Food Festival in Virginia Beach, Terraza Brooks (ph) says her son is on one of those ships.
TERRAZA BROOKS: He missed his brother's graduation. He missed his little brother's prom. So there's times with family that you can't be with them because you're on deployment.
WALSH: Though she and her husband, Brian (ph) - a retired Navy vet - say their votes won't be about their son's extended time at sea, at least not directly.
BROOKS: I'm not going to vote on that. I'm going to vote on what's best for everybody, because that war is affecting everybody, especially with those gas prices. Those gas prices are high.
WALSH: The two main candidates for Virginia's 2nd District were both stumping for votes at the same festival. Democrat Elaine Luria is a retired Navy officer. She was first elected in 2018 during Trump's first term, before losing to Republican Jen Kiggans in 2022. Luria says Republicans are not asking the tough questions about the war and the ongoing deployments.
ELAINE LURIA: A lack of sensitivity, the lack of oversight, and the lack of an attempt to make our military and uniform and civilian leadership answer for those military families, for those questions of national defense, for those questions of readiness.
WALSH: Kiggans is a nurse practitioner and a former Navy pilot. A few days before the festival, Kiggans brought Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to an event at a local college, one of several high-ranking Trump administration officials that she's brought into the district. Kiggans answered a question about supply shortages on Navy ships in the Middle East.
JEN KIGGANS: We're asking even longer of our servicemen and women on deployment. It's always a concern. We always want to do the best, and I think we are doing the best with what we have. We can strive to do better. But when you're in a conflict part of the world, the supply chains can be tricky.
WALSH: Kiggan's staff cut off a follow-up question about the impact of the war on her campaign. According to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project, roughly $20 million has been spent in the general election, evenly divided between the two candidates. Despite the large number of troops and their families living in the district, they can be tough to target. Many of them don't vote where they're based. Strained supply lines in the Middle East and mail hiccups at home can delay absentee ballots. Sarah Streyder is with Secure Families Initiative, which helps military families navigate the voting process.
SARAH STREYDER: The No. 1 issue we're hearing from voters who have reached out this cycle is them still waiting for their ballot to arrive.
WALSH: With the election less than a week away, Streyder tells them not to give up.
For NPR News, I'm Steve Walsh.
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