VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. —Elaine Luria knew that many at the church where she spoke here Thursday night weren’t going like what she had to say about impeachment.

But at her first town hall since she led a group of Republican-targeted Democrats who threw their support behind an inquiry into President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine last week, Luria stood her ground.

“People may say, ‘Why would you do that? You might not get reelected,’” she said at the New Hope Baptist Church. “I don’t care. Because I did the right thing.”

The statement was typical of the messaging that came from House Democrats returning to their districts this week as the chamber’s impeachment inquiry gets underway. And the response from Luria’s constituents — a few heckles drowned out by resounding applause — could not have been the type of scene the White House had hoped would greet Democrats in swing districts like hers.