Luria’s redrawn district, which pulled in all of Virginia Beach, now abuts nearby Norfolk, while the state’s 3rd Congressional District absorbed Norfolk entirely. Today, the ousted two-term U.S. representative, who is vying this year to reclaim her 2nd District seat following a 2022 upset, has yet to leave Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District despite her past promises to move the district over.

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According to Norfolk real estate records reviewed by the Washington Examiner, it appears Luria never moved out of the affluent coastal town — as she vowed to do on the 2022 campaign trail — and later purchased another residential property down the street in the same Norfolk neighborhood.

In fact, the two Norfolk homes both owned by Luria are one house number apart, though situated several doors down from each other.

Norfolk land records indicate that Luria acquired the second four-bedroom brick house in 2024 at a sale price of $777,000. Meanwhile, she has kept her neighboring two-story stucco home and recently completed a $200,000 expansion project in May, according to a city-issued permit to increase the first property’s square footage.

Luria’s husband, Robert Blondin, continues to list their original stucco house address as his home residence on campaign contribution forms. Federal Election Commission filings show that Blondin, a retired Navy commander, wrote down that Norfolk address for the $7,000 he has donated so far to his wife’s 2026 comeback campaign.

Blondin and Luria, also a retired Navy commander originally from Alabama, met during their military service and settled together in Norfolk, a major Virginia port city home to the world’s largest naval station.

In response to a Washington Examiner inquiry into Luria choosing to remain in Virginia’s solidly blue 3rd Congressional District, the Luria campaign said she was forced out of her home district due to the state’s 2021 redistricting process.

“After her four years in Congress,” a spokesperson for the Luria campaign said, “Elaine was deliberately drawn out of Virginia’s Second Congressional District after representing the majority of this district and delivering for her community.”

The campaign spokesperson added that “Elaine is proud to call Hampton Roads home like so many other veterans and military families,” referring to a region comprising the greater Norfolk-Virginia Beach metropolitan area.

“This is yet another pathetic attempt by the Kiggans campaign to distract Virginians from Kiggans’ record of raising prices on working families and standing in lockstep with Donald Trump as he uses the Oval Office to enrich himself and his family and start reckless wars,” the Luria spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.

In 2021, the boundaries of Luria’s district were altered under a court-approved congressional map that was intended to be politically neutral.

That year, the new bipartisan Virginia Redistricting Commission was unable to agree on a map after repeatedly splitting along party lines, so the Supreme Court of Virginia stepped in and appointed two independent special masters to take over the map’s design.

As a result, Democrat-aligned areas, including northern portions of Norfolk, were removed from the 2nd Congressional District while it gained generally Republican-leaning territories, consequently shifting Luria’s already competitive jurisdiction rightward. Luria was ultimately sent packing, losing to her GOP challenger, fellow Navy veteran Jen Kiggans, by about 4 percentage points.

Luria told reporters when she was running for reelection in 2022 that she had plans in motion to move to a property in Virginia Beach by the end of the year once she figured out the logistics.

“I have deep ties across the newly drawn district, which is home to over half a million of the same constituents I proudly represent today,” she said at the time. “I culminated my Navy career of 20 years by commanding a unit based in the district and grew a successful family business at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.”

Luria’s father was at one point involved in the family scrap iron and steel brokerage, Luria Company. According to a 2026 financial disclosure report required of congressional candidates with investment holdings, Luria made as much as $1 million last year from a similarly-named, now-dissolved company located in Norfolk. Luria disclosed owning 100% interest in the Norfolk-based business called the Luria Company LLC.

Blondin and Luria also operated the Mermaid Factory, a retail shop in Norfolk selling customizable mermaid statues that customers can hand-paint. Mermaids are the official symbol of Norfolk. In addition to the Norfolk location, Luria opened another Mermaid Factory site on Virginia Beach’s oceanfront.

It is unclear which Virginia Beach home Luria was referencing in 2022. Virginia Beach property records show that her parents had a low-rise condominium there but Luria’s mother sold it in 2024 following the death of her father. An obituary for Luria’s father said the couple recently relocated to Virginia Beach before he died of cancer. Luria’s mother says she is now living in Norfolk too, with her daughter close by.

Luria’s current fundraising committee lists a P.O. box in Virginia Beach as its mailing address, the same one her previous campaign used.

Candidates are technically allowed to run for Congress in a district they do not currently reside in. Congressional prospects simply need to be “an inhabitant of that state,” according to candidacy qualifications stipulated by the Constitution.

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Luria clinched the Democratic nomination in a landslide Aug. 4 primary win and is set to go against Kiggans for a highly anticipated rematch in the November general election. The tight House race is rated a complete toss-up, favoring neither Luria nor Kiggans, who had a narrow edge the first time the two faced off.

With only four congressional seats standing between Democrats and recapturing the lower chamber, the party is betting on Luria to defeat Kiggans and flip the swing district back to blue.