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Virginia's 2nd Congressional District election, 2026 (June 16 Democratic primary)

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← 2024
Virginia's 2nd Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: (date not yet available)
Primary: August 4, 2026
General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times:

6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voting in Virginia

Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Toss-up
DDHQ and The Hill: Pending
Inside Elections: Toss-up
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Toss-up
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
Virginia's 2nd Congressional District
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th
Virginia elections, 2026
U.S. Congress elections, 2026
U.S. Senate elections, 2026
U.S. House elections, 2026

A Democratic Party primary takes place on August 4, 2026, in Virginia's 2nd Congressional District to determine which Democratic candidate will run in the district's general election on November 3, 2026.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
(date not yet available)
August 4, 2026
November 3, 2026



A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Virginia utilizes an open primary process in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.[1]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This page focuses on Virginia's 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list of candidates is unofficial. The filing deadline for this election has passed, and Ballotpedia is working to update this page with the official candidate list. This note will be removed once the official candidate list has been added.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Virginia District 2

The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Virginia District 2 on August 4, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Nila Devanath
Nila Devanath
Image of Elaine Luria
Elaine Luria
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Patrick Mosolf
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
James Osyf
Image of Nicolaus Sleister
Nicolaus Sleister  Candidate Connection
Image of Matt Strickler
Matt Strickler
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
John Stringfellow
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Michael Williamson

There are no incumbents in this race.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Nicolaus Sleister

Image of Nicolaus Sleister

WebsiteFacebookX

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Submitted Biography:  "Nicolaus Sleister is a proud military spouse, parent, and advocate for working families and equal opportunity. After moving across the country with his husband’s military career, Nicolaus and his family chose Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District as their permanent home—drawn by its strong sense of community, diversity, and military tradition. With a career in security management and public service, Nicolaus has protected critical infrastructure, led safety operations, and worked to keep people safe. He understands the challenges families face every day—accessing affordable healthcare, securing good jobs, and finding support for military families and veterans. As a member of a multi-racial, middle-class family and the LGBTQ+ community, Nicolaus is deeply committed to fairness, transparency, and service. He’s running for Congress to fight for affordable healthcare, protect Social Security and Medicare, strengthen small businesses and farms, and defend the rights of all Americans. He believes in working together to build a stronger, fairer future. Nicolaus lives in Suffolk, Virginia, with his husband, an active-duty soldier, and their son, Kaden."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Nicolaus is committed to delivering real results for working families—fighting for affordable healthcare, protecting Social Security and Medicare, lowering costs, and ensuring good-paying jobs. As a military spouse and middle-class parent, he knows firsthand the struggles families face and will always put people over politics.

As the spouse of an active-duty soldier, Nicolaus understands the unique challenges military families and veterans face. He’s dedicated to strengthening VA services, improving housing, expanding healthcare access, and ensuring military families get the respect, resources, and opportunities they deserve.

Nicolaus believes every American deserves equal rights and freedom from government overreach. He’s committed to protecting reproductive freedom, voting rights, LGBTQ+ equality, and civil liberties—fighting back against extremist efforts that threaten our democracy and personal freedoms.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Virginia

Election information in Virginia: Aug. 4, 2026, election.

What is the voter registration deadline?

  • In-person: Aug. 4, 2026
  • By mail: Postmarked by July 24, 2026
  • Online: July 24, 2026

Is absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

N/A

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

  • In-person: July 24, 2026
  • By mail: Received by July 24, 2026
  • Online: July 24, 2026

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

  • In-person: Aug. 4, 2026
  • By mail: Postmarked by Aug. 4, 2026

Is early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What are the early voting start and end dates?

June 18, 2026 to Aug. 1, 2026

Are all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, is a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When are polls open on Election Day?

6:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. (ET)

Campaign finance

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Nila Devanath Democratic Party $200,070 $49,518 $150,552 As of December 31, 2025
Robert Hill Democratic Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Elaine Luria Democratic Party $1,126,780 $116,512 $1,010,268 As of December 31, 2025
Patrick Mosolf Democratic Party $24,757 $23,432 $1,326 As of December 31, 2025
James Osyf Democratic Party $410,715 $301,705 $109,009 As of December 31, 2025
Nicolaus Sleister Democratic Party $5,024 $4,889 $135 As of September 30, 2025
Matt Strickler Democratic Party $218,114 $64,370 $153,745 As of December 31, 2025
John Stringfellow Democratic Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Michael Williamson Democratic Party $324,555 $295,030 $29,526 As of December 31, 2025

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.
*** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

  • District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
  • Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2026 U.S. House elections in the state.
  • Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
  • State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.


Below is the district map in place for this election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

2023_01_03_va_congressional_district_02.jpg
See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2026
Information about competitiveness will be added here as it becomes available.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is EVEN. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were about the same as the national average. This made Virginia's 2nd the 210th most Republican district nationally.[2]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2024 presidential election was in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by The Downballot.

2024 presidential results in Virginia's 2nd Congressional District
Kamala Harris Democratic PartyDonald Trump Republican Party
49.3%49.5%

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Virginia, 2024

Virginia presidential election results (1900-2024)

  • 18 Democratic wins
  • 14 Republican wins
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Winning Party D D D D D D D R D D D D D R R R D R R R R R R R R R R D D D D D
See also: Party control of Virginia state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Virginia's congressional delegation as of October 2025.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Virginia
Party U.S. Senate U.S. House Total
Democratic 2 6 8
Republican 0 5 5
Independent 0 0 0
Vacancies 0 0 0
Total 2 11 13

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Virginia's top four state executive offices as of February 2026.

State executive officials in Virginia, February 2026
OfficeOfficeholder
GovernorDemocratic Party Abigail Spanberger
Lieutenant GovernorDemocratic Party Ghazala Hashmi
Secretary of StateDemocratic Party Candi King
Attorney GeneralDemocratic Party Jay Jones

State legislature

Virginia State Senate

Party As of February 2026
     Democratic Party 21
     Republican Party 19
     Other 0
     Vacancies 0
Total 40

Virginia House of Delegates

Party As of February 2026
     Democratic Party 64
     Republican Party 36
     Other 0
     Vacancies 0
Total 100

Trifecta control

Virginia Party Control: 1992-2025
Four years of Democratic trifectas  •  Four years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor D D R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D R R R R D D D D D D D D R R R R
Senate D D D D S S R R R R R R R R R R D D D D R R D R R R R R D D D D D D
House D D D D D D S S R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R D D R R D D

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Virginia in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Virginia, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2026
State Office Party Signatures required Filing fee Filing deadline Source
Virginia U.S. House Ballot-qualified party 1,000 $3,480 5/26/2026 Source
Virginia U.S. House Unaffiliated 1,000 N/A 8/4/2026 Source

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Virginia Legislative Information System, "Va. Code § 24.2–530," accessed December 23, 2025
  2. ↑ Cook Political Report, "2025 Cook PVI℠: District Map and List (119th Congress)," accessed July 1, 2025


Virginia's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Tim Kaine (D)
Mark Warner (D)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
Democratic Party (8)
Republican Party (5)


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