Republican Who Flip-Flopped on Energy Credits Risks Voters’ Ire

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(Bloomberg) — In the weeks before the House of Representative’s vote to gut clean energy tax credits in President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill, Virginia Congresswoman Jen Kiggans cast herself as the leading Republican champion of renewables.

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Yet in the end, she cast the deciding vote in favor of the bill despite its blow to wind and solar. Now the swift elimination of those subsidies, a rollback that also remains in the Senate version of the legislation, put Kiggans at odds with many in her district — already among the most competitive in the nation — as Democrats seize any opening to take Republicans’ House narrow majority next year.

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Her vote reflects a dilemma facing swing-state Republicans who have to choose between supporting President Donald Trump’s top legislative priority, risking his ire, or supporting a bill that could be a political liability in their home districts.

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“This provides ammo for Democrats, and obviously Kiggans is one of their top targets this cycle,” said Erin Covey, House Editor at Cook Political Report. “She has to walk this fine line between both appeasing the more middle of her district and also appeasing Trump.”

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In Virginia alone, green energy projects are on track to contribute $37 billion to the economy by 2035, in large part because of federal incentives, the two-term lawmaker told the House’s tax writing committee. Those projects include the nation’s largest offshore wind farm now under construction by Dominion Energy Inc. off the coast of Kiggans’ Virginia Beach district, which stands to gain hundreds of millions of dollars from the credits.

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She said she voted for the House legislation in part because she said it would lower taxes and supports the US military. “I’ve always believed in an all-of-the-above energy strategy that keeps costs down and promotes innovation,” she said in a statement. 

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Kiggans did not respond to a request for comment about the cuts to energy tax credit.

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Democrats, hoping to turn Kiggans’ vote into a political liability, seized on her vote to ax the green energy credits.

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“Jen Kiggans’ brazen flip-flop on supporting clean energy tax credits is exactly what voters hate about D.C. politicians: She says one thing back home, but turns around and votes another way in Washington,” Eli Cousins, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a email. 

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“We will hold Kiggans accountable by making sure voters know that she voted to jack up energy costs, eliminate good-paying Virginia Beach jobs, and undermine energy security in Hampton Roads,” he said.

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Her district, which voted for Trump by just two-tenths of a percentage point in the last election, is expected to be one of the most competitive in the nation, with Kiggans’ re-election rated a tossup by both Inside Elections and Sabato’s Crystal Ball. 

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A former state senator, Kiggans won her seat in 2022, flipping it to Republican-control after ousting Democratic incumbent Elaine Luria, a fellow Navy veteran.