James Osyf, a Navy Reserve commander and national security executive, is running to unseat Virginia Republican U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans in what is expected to be a closely watched House race, and he’s not backing away from defending transgender Americans in the process.
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Osyf, a 40-year-old gay veteran and second-generation Ukrainian American, is running as a Democrat in Virginia’s Second Congressional District, which includes the heavily military areas of Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Suffolk. Nearby Norfolk, which isn’t included in the district, hosts the largest U.S. Navy base in the world. A Naval Academy graduate and Virginia Beach resident, Osyf says seeing constituents suffer and feel unheard, and the Trump-era backlash against LGBTQ+ Americans, including service members, pushed him to run.
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“We’re watching division take root,” Osyf said in an interview with The Advocate. “I am uniquely prepared and situated to ensure that doesn’t happen, and the freedoms and opportunities that I’ve benefited from will be able to be the benefit of the next generation.”
James Osyf and his partner, Bobby.Courtesy of Osyf for Congress
His campaign launches at a moment when his opponent, a fellow Navy veteran, has leaned into culture war battles. As a state senator in 2022, Kiggans carried legislation backed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin to ban the teaching of “divisive concepts” in schools and prohibit transgender girls from playing girls’ sports, measures critics said would stifle honest education and target trans youth. At the time, Kiggans said she intended to “unify,” but civil rights groups, educators, and Democrats widely condemned the bills as discriminatory. Both were ultimately voted down in committee.
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That rhetoric has continued during her time in Congress. In February, Kiggans wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Virginia’s girls deserve better than this. Despite yesterday’s Executive Order, @VHSL_ is continuing to allow transgender athletes to compete in high school girls’ sports. They are deliberately choosing to ignore that 80% of Americans agree on this issue. This is UNACCEPTABLE!”
In June, she wrote, “This is not okay. Despite the clear message sent by the American people last November and the House passing the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act” of 2025, liberal democratic states continue to fail to safeguard female athletes. Women and girls in sports should never be forced to compete against biological men!"
Her February comments came just weeks after President Donald Trump signed a new executive order reinstating a ban on transgender military service. The directive halted enlistments and initiated reviews of serving out trans personnel, reversing a Biden-era policy that allowed transgender people to serve and receive medical care. The move drew immediate backlash from LGBTQ+ advocates, veterans’ groups, and medical organizations, who warned the policy would devastate careers and morale while compromising military readiness.
Osyf, who continues to serve in the U.S. Navy Reserve, condemned the ban, saying it strikes at the heart of American values and national defense.
“They are being penalized for it,” he said of trans service members who came out under the previous policy. “Their livelihoods and their careers are being taken away. However, the foundational piece is that it makes us less secure. It makes us less safe. It makes us less lethal.”
He added, “Any individual who is willing to raise their right hand, swear an oath to defend all of us, not just the people that they like, should be welcomed. That type of dedication and bravery is what we should be celebrating as a country, not castigating or setting aside and using as political talking points.”
Osyf also criticized Kiggans for voting in favor of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which includes steep cuts to Medicaid and food assistance while handing tax breaks to the wealthy. He argued that her vote reflects misplaced priorities that hurt the district.
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“I think that folks’ priority needs to be realigned to what matters and to deliver for all constituents rather than just a select few,” he said. “I would much rather that Jen Kiggans focus on the issues of the day, where she just voted to gut rural health care, to in effect close down hospitals, to lessen the care that our veterans and underserved communities are receiving, and then run away from Washington. So it kind of shows you where priorities and heads lie, and that’s certainly not in a place where the Second Congressional District needs their representative.”
Baltimore Sun CoverCourtesy of Osyf for Congress
Osyf’s résumé spans military service, national security work at the State and Defense Departments, and senior leadership at defense contractor Lockheed Martin, where he works in defense innovation. The Georgetown Law Center-educated lawyer has also served as vice president of Out in National Security and remains an active serving Navy commander in the reserves. He said that his experience under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy shaped both his identity and sense of purpose.
“I certainly made the decision to join the Navy, understanding the impediment to my personal development that ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ was,” he said. “But I did it because I believed in service.”
He lives in Virginia Beach with his longtime partner, Bobby, and their 10-year-old French bulldog, Rupert, who is affectionately known as Roo.
If elected, Osyf would become one of the few out gay veterans to serve in Congress, and one of the rare actively serving military reservists in the House. “People care about raising their families, making rent, and having access to health care,” he said. “My job is to be their voice and their shield.”
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