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VIRGINIA BEACH — Aaron Rouse is jumping into a Virginia Senate run earlier than planned.
The Virginia Beach City Council member and former NFL football player announced Monday that he’s running for Sen. Jen Kiggans’ seat in the 7th District.
“I’m running for state Senate because I understand the challenges that families in Virginia Beach and Norfolk are facing,” said Rouse, 38, a Democrat, who was surrounded by nearly two dozen supporters including U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria at Virginia Wesleyan University. “I understand these challenges because I grew up having to face them, learning how to overcome them.”
Rouse announced last March that he wouldn’t seek reelection on the council because was preparing to run in 2023 to represent the newly redistricted District 22, which will include a portion of Kiggans’ 7th District.
But last week, Kiggans beat Luria for Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District. Kiggans has another year left in her Virginia Senate term representing the 7th District, which includes parts of Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
So a special election will be held to fill the seat for the final year of Kiggans’ term.
Kiggans was elected to her Senate seat in 2019, before the districts were redrawn. This means some of 7th District voters, from parts of Norfolk and Virginia Beach, who elected Kiggans in 2019 will get to elect her replacement, The Virginian-Pilot has reported.
She’s expected to resign this week, and a special election will be held to fill the seat, likely in early January.
“We have to have a strong presence fighting for those issues that really matter to Hampton Roads,” Luria said at the announcement before Rouse walked to the podium. “We need you there.”
If elected to the Senate, Rouse said he will defend a woman’s right to choose, will work to protect Hampton Roads’ waterways and supports criminal justice reform.
He was also joined at his announcement by local state Sen. Mamie Locke, Virginia Beach Councilman Guy Tower, Virginia Beach Councilwoman-elect Amelia Ross-Hammond and Virginia Beach Commissioner of Revenue Phil Kellam.
Rouse’s wife, newly elected Virginia Beach Councilwoman Jennifer Rouse, introduced him.
“Behind the football legacy and other honors, Aaron truly is one of the most hardworking and disciplined men I know,” she said.
Born in Norfolk and raised in Virginia Beach by a single mother, Aaron Rouse often talks about his upbringing and how it has shaped who he is today.
“He relates to the youth,” Ross-Hammond told The Pilot. “He’s overcome a lot.”
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At the announcement, Rouse named several Black local and state political leaders who made it possible for “a little Black child from underserved communities like Young Terrace and Friendship Village to stand before you today,” he said.
Kevin Adams, a Republican, announced on Nov. 9 that he’s also running to fill Kiggans’ seat in 2023. Adams, a Navy veteran, lives in the Kempsville area of Virginia Beach. Sen. Bill DeSteph and Sheriff Ken Stolle have endorsed him. Adams’ platform includes improving veteran services, lowering the gas tax and funding law enforcement.
He could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.
Rouse graduated from Virginia Tech and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 2007 NFL Draft. He also played for the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals.
He was elected to the Virginia Beach City Council in 2018. He has supported increased wages for city employees and a new district voting system. He has also served as a liaison to the Minority Business Council and the Something in the Water festival.
“I was proud to lead that effort to bring it back,” he said of the festival.
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com