Meet the Vets Running for Congress, the Largest Group of Candidates Who Served in a Decade

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House NY District 19 Democratic candidate Pat Ryan.
Democratic candidate Pat Ryan speaks to supporters during a campaign rally, Monday, Aug. 22, 2022, in Kingston, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

There's a new crop of veteran candidates running in this year's midterm elections, and they are part of the largest number of political hopefuls with military experience to seek office in years.

In New York, a rising Democratic star's military resume and pro-abortion rights campaign are giving the party hopes of hanging onto control of Congress. A grieving Green Beret husband in Washington state launched into politics and the Republican right after his wife's death.

And a Black female Air Force veteran running as a Republican in Indiana has turned her bid for a seat her party hasn't won in nearly a century into one of the most competitive races in the country.

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Those are just a few of the 196 Republican and Democrat veterans competing for a seat in Congress on Nov. 8. This year's cohort of major party nominees is the highest number of veteran candidates since 2012 and 14 more than in 2020. Many are incumbents, but a majority would be fresh faces in the Capitol, according to data from the Veterans Campaign, a nonpartisan nonprofit that trains veterans to run for office.

Republicans are expected to win at least the House, and many of the veterans running this year are in races that could determine which party controls Congress next year. The number of veteran candidates exceeds 200 when factoring in independent, third-party and write-in candidates who have little shot of winning, according to data provided by With Honor, a political action committee that supports veterans running for office.

Democrats have been hoping to defy the odds with pro-abortion rights campaigns after a Supreme Court ruling that abortion was not a constitutional right, but Republicans, who have been focusing on inflation, have recently seen momentum shift back toward them.

"Hardworking Americans are hurting from Joe Biden's disastrous, failed economic policies," Jen Kiggans, a Navy veteran running for the House in Virginia, said at her debate against Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., this month.

Those who track veteran candidates say it's important to have people with military experience in public office because they have the potential to be more nonpartisan than their peers. Still, it has become difficult for even veterans in Congress to compromise as politics becomes increasingly polarized on even defense issues, such as whether the military's diversity efforts are too "woke."

"There is the opportunity to work across party lines with shared military service," said Seth Lynn, executive director of the Veterans Campaign. "It doesn't always happen. Maybe it rarely happens. But the opportunity is there, and it's because it's one of the only things that sort of still trumps partisanship in D.C. and across the country."

Indeed, many of the veterans running this year are on the far right of the political spectrum and have falsely denied President Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, despite dozens of court cases and reviews in various states that have failed to provide any proof of fraud that could have affected the election outcome.

That's not necessarily because veterans are moving further to the right, but rather the Republican Party is and more of the veterans running this year are Republicans than Democrats, Lynn said.

"You're seeing more right-wing veteran nominees because you're seeing more right-wing nominees and Republicans are nominating a lot of veterans," he said.

Democratic veteran candidates are largely following the party line on issues such as promising to protect abortion access, accusing Republicans of wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare, and casting the election as a fight to save democracy from extremist supporters of former President Donald Trump.

Political polarization has grown to the point that a recent NBC News poll found 80% of Republicans and Democrats believe the other party "poses a threat that if not stopped will destroy America as we know it."

Rye Barcott, CEO of With Honor, said he does not think veteran candidates are becoming more extreme, just that those who are more radical are louder. Still, Barcott said he does worry about the extreme voices drowning out the "principled" veterans his group is trying to elect.

The candidates whom With Honor supports, who come from both parties, have to take a pledge to serve with integrity, civility and courage, and are expected to join Congress' For Country Caucus, a bipartisan group of veterans who have the stated goal of making the legislature less polarized, if elected.

"The important piece from our perspective is getting principled veterans elected, who have a proven record not only of service but are committed to working across party lines and compromising and getting things done, because that's the only way that things get done," Barcott said.

Here's a sampling of some of the veterans hoping to be sent to Washington for the first time or, in one case, be given a chance to do more than keep the seat warm for a few months.

Pat Ryan, New York-18

Democratic Army veteran Pat Ryan unexpectedly won a special election in August to serve the remainder of a term for a House district in southern New York left open when Antonio Delgado became the state's lieutenant governor, and he's now hoping voters will give him a full term in November's general election.

A West Point graduate, Ryan served two combat tours in Iraq as an Army intelligence officer. His campaign materials prominently feature his military service, with his website vowing he will bring West Point's motto of "duty, honor, country" to Congress.

"I was willing to put it on the line for our country, to put myself at risk in service of something bigger than myself, and I think a lot of people feel and I agree we need more of that ethos in politics right now," Ryan said in a recent interview with Military.com.

Ryan's victory in the special election was seen as one of the first concrete signs of electoral backlash against the Supreme Court's decision overturning nationwide abortion rights, giving Democrats hope they can win on pro-abortion rights platforms in November. Ryan's general election race in the Hudson Valley district is rated "lean Democrat" by election forecaster Cook Political Report.

Ryan said he applauds Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's recent move to ease service members' access to abortion and would like to see it codified so a future administration can't reverse it. He also said the Department of Veterans Affairs should broaden its recent decision to provide abortions to veterans in cases of rape, incest or where the life or health of the mother is at risk.

In his short time in Congress, he has already gotten one bill passed by the House, and it was a veterans bill. Specifically, it would expand VA home loan eligibility to more Guardsmen and reservists. If elected to a full term, Ryan said he'd push to establish grants for a veterans peer-to-peer support program, as well as expand veterans' families' access to mental health care.

Ryan also said he thinks it's important to have veterans in Congress with combat experience making foreign policies decisions.

"We need people at the table making foreign policy decisions who've actually been on the receiving end, way out on the edge, as I was in Iraq on two deployments, understanding how grave and serious the decision is to send young men and women into combat," he said.

Ryan's opponent in the general election is Colin Schmitt, who is a sergeant and automated logistical specialist in the New York Army National Guard's 53rd Troop Command.

Schmitt, a New York assemblyman, joined the National Guard in 2015 after having a "really great experience" interacting with Guard leaders as a staffer for the New York State Senate's Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs Committee, he told Military.com in a recent interview. Schmitt was activated for the domestic response to COVID-19, when he helped transport supplies to the emergency field hospital set up in New York City's Javits Convention Center and to other community groups in need of masks, sanitizer or other items.

Schmitt said he thinks his experience in the Guard has made him a "more well-rounded leader" and taught him resiliency. Asked what policies he would advance in Congress to support service members and veterans, he pointed to his opposition to the VA's proposal to close a hospital in the district. The idea was part of a broader VA infrastructure realignment plan that has since been scuttled by sitting lawmakers. Schmitt also cited support for the same peer-to-peer veteran support program Ryan vowed to advance.

"There's a lot of things that can divide us, but doing the right thing for veterans and thanking people for their service, that's what I'm all about," Schmitt said.

Don Bolduc, New Hampshire

Retired Army Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc is hoping to unseat incumbent New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan in a race seen as vital for control of the Senate.

Bolduc served in the Army for 36 years, a career that included 10 tours in Afghanistan and earned him two Purple Hearts.

Since his retirement from the military in 2017, he has become a mainstay on Fox News and has made other media appearances, blasting the Biden's administration's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan as the result of "wishful thinking," saying moves Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley took at the end of the Trump administration to ensure a smooth presidential transition "fall somewhere between treason and dereliction of duty," and calling Pentagon efforts on climate change "dangerous."

Bolduc also spent more than a year spreading the lie that Biden stole the 2020 election, though two days after winning his primary in September, he said he had "come to the conclusion" the election "was not stolen."

Still, in a recent interview with Military.com, Bolduc said he would be a "unifying voice" as a veteran in the Senate.

"We can see that we have a polarization of our parties, Republican and Democrat, not able to come together any longer for the things that matter for Americans that I think veterans and the service of veterans really focus on," he said.

Asked about the apparent contradiction of casting himself as unifying after denying the 2020 election results, Bolduc said he was "not dwelling in the past."

"I don't know how often or how many times I have to say that I am not focused on 2020. I am focused on 2022 and beyond. I am focused on the future," he said. His critics are "trying to drag us back. They're trying to use divisiveness. I'm not. I'm trying to use unity. I am moving forward."

In terms of supporting veterans and service members if elected, Bolduc said his priority would be to "fix the VA." Specifically, he proposed taking primary care out of the VA's purview and giving that responsibility to private doctors. He said he's been passed around to five primary care VA doctors in the five years since he retired.

"Every time you have a different primary care provider, it's a two-hour to two-and-a-half-hour process for them to interview," he said. "They don't even get to know you. They don't get to know you as the patient to be able to provide health care for you."

Hassan, who is campaigning on what she describes as a record of bipartisanship, as well as on Democratic stances such as abortion rights, sits on the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. Cook Political Report gives her the edge in the race, rating it as "lean Democrat."

Jen Kiggans, Virginia-02

It's Navy veteran vs. Navy veteran in this race for a toss-up district along Virginia's Eastern Shore that is seen as critical in the battle to control the House.

Republican Jen Kiggans is seeking to unseat Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria, a nuclear-trained surface warfare officer who served in the Navy for 20 years.

In her four years in office, Luria has earned a reputation for conducting fierce oversight of her former service, criticizing Navy shipbuilding plans as insufficient, and crossing party lines to support sizable increases in the defense budget. But she also risked backlash from Republicans in her district by serving on the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.

Kiggans, who serves in the Virginia state senate, was a Navy pilot for 10 years, flying H-46 and H-3 helicopters, and deployed twice to the Persian Gulf. After leaving the Navy, she used GI Bill benefits to attend nursing school, becoming an adult geriatric primary care nurse practitioner.

Kiggans has cited her military experience in trying to fend off attacks that she has extreme positions on issues such as abortion and the 2020 election, telling a voter in September that she's "a mom, a Navy veteran and a normal person," according to The Washington Post. Her campaign did not respond to an interview request. Kiggans has called a nationwide abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy "common sense" but has not said whether she would vote for it. She has also repeatedly sidestepped questions about whether Biden was legitimately elected, but has not explicitly endorsed stolen election lies.

On her campaign website, Kiggans also points to her military experience in pledging that she will work toward "securing critical funding for military bases and installations, never voting for defense cuts, and always advocating for military families." The site also says she supports more job and career training for veterans and "long-overdue reforms to our broken VA so our veterans and their families can get the care they need, when they need it."

Jennifer-Ruth Green, Indiana-01

Black Republican Air Force veteran Jennifer-Ruth Green leans into her military experience prominently in her campaign materials, declaring on her website's homepage that she will bring "battle-proven leadership" to Congress and calling her campaign platform her "battle plan."

Green, who is hoping to flip the Indiana district for the first time since 1930, is looking to unseat freshman Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan, who serves on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee as the chair of its technology modernization subcommittee.

Her background -- she is one of only two Republican female veterans of color running this cycle -- has helped propel the race to become one of the most competitive in the country, with Cook Political Report rating it as a toss-up with a slight edge toward Democrats.

Green graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2005, starting her career in aviation before becoming a special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Her military career included a deployment to Iraq as a mission commander for counterintelligence activities. She has retired from active duty, but continues to serve in the Indiana Air National Guard.

She supports the "America first" foreign policy espoused by Trump and incorrectly states that the Biden administration's National Security Strategy labels domestic terrorism as the country's primary threat instead of China. She's also leaned into the GOP culture wars, saying on "Fox and Friends" in May that she "wholeheartedly" disagrees with critical race theory, which she described as a theory that all systems are inherently racist.

"If it were, I would not have the opportunity of becoming a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force and the Indiana Air National Guard," she told the program.

Her military experience was the focus of a recent controversy in the campaign when news outlet Politico reported she received a poor performance review in 2010 that said she did not meet leadership, professionalism and judgment standards.

The review cited two incidents, one where she loaded her weapon inside a military facility and another where she walked away from the rest of her group while visiting a facility in Iraq, according to Politico. During the Iraq incident, she alleges she was sexually assaulted by an Iraqi serviceman grabbing her breast and exposing himself.

The evaluation stalled her career, and she was removed from active duty in 2012 as part of a larger force reduction, according to Politico. Green's campaign did not respond to a request for an interview.

Green has maintained the evaluation was retaliation for her reporting the assault after a superior told her not to, and accused Mrvan or his supporters of "illegally" obtaining and leaking her military records to smear her. Politico said in the article the records were obtained through a public records request and given to it by someone outside Mrvan's campaign.

J.R. Majewski, Ohio-09

Republican Air Force veteran J.R. Majewski was considered to be in a toss-up race against longtime incumbent Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur until an Associated Press investigation undercovered that he inflated his military record. The race is now rated "lean Democrat" by Cook Political Report.

Majewski had talked on the campaign trail about "tough" conditions while deployed to Afghanistan and also tweeted that he'd "gladly suit up and go back to Afghanistan" while criticizing the Biden administration's withdrawal. But military records obtained by AP show the closest he got to the war zone was a six-month deployment to Qatar to help load cargo planes.

Most of Majewski's time in the Air Force, which lasted from 1999 to 2003, was spent based in Japan, according to the records obtained by AP.

The news agency also reported that he misrepresented the circumstances that led to his demotion and prevented him from reenlisting. While he had said he got into a "brawl" at an Air Force dormitory in 2001, records published by AP show he was cited for drunk driving.

Majewski, who did not respond to an interview request, has offered shifting defenses for himself, including at one point claiming his deployment to Afghanistan was not in his records because it was "classified." He has since said he misunderstood the paperwork he cited to claim his deployment was classified. In a lengthy statement on his website earlier this month, he argued that he never intentionally misrepresented his service and accused political opponents of trying to "stoke confusion or diminish my service."

On his website, Majewski, who was outside the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot but maintains he never entered the building and has not been charged in connection with the attack, vowed to "support our troops at all times, without question."

Joe Kent, Washington-03

Republican Army Green Beret veteran Joe Kent first entered the public eye after his wife Shannon, a Navy cryptologic technician, was killed in an ISIS suicide bombing in Syria in 2019.

He has since carved out a political path on the far right, winning his primary election by defeating an incumbent Republican congresswoman who voted in favor of Trump's impeachment over the Jan. 6 attack. Trump has endorsed Kent.

His Democratic opponent in the general election race, which Cook Political Report rates as "lean Republican," is Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who is running a pro-abortion rights campaign and is seeking to appeal to working-class voters.

Kent joined the Army at 18 and applied to join the Special Forces shortly before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. His Army career included 11 combat deployments. He joined the CIA after retiring from the Special Forces and left after his wife's death.

Kent has blamed his wife's death on "unelected bureaucrats" who opposed Trump's attempts to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, a goal the former president never accomplished in the face of fierce pushback from military officials and members of Congress in both parties.

Now, Kent, who did not respond to an interview request, is running on an "America first" platform and espousing many of the same falsehoods as Trump, including that the 2020 election was "rigged and stolen" and that those arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack are "political prisoners."

Kent, whose campaign website pledges to "end our endless wars," has vowed to impeach Biden in part over last year’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, which was marred by chaotic scenes of desperate Afghans scrambling to get onto U.S. military evacuation flights and the death of 13 service members in an Islamic State suicide bombing. He also said that after years of focus on counterterrorism, the military must make "a decisive pivot to fighting a modern nation," particularly China, "in every warfare domain, especially cyber and information warfare."

Here’s a list of all the veterans running for Congress on the November ballot:

District First Name Last Name Party Military Service Status Combat Deployment
AK Chris Bye Libertarian* Army Active OIF, OEF
AL-2 Barry Moore Republican (i) Army Guard None
AL-4 Rick Neighbors Democratic Army Active Vietnam
AR-1 Monte Hodges Democratic Army Reserve, Guard None
AR-1 Rick Crawford Republican (i) Army Active None
AR-3 Steve Womack Republican (i) Army Guard None
AR-4 John White Democratic Air Force Unknown Unknown
AZ-2 Eli Crane Republican Navy Active OEF
AZ-3 Ruben Gallego Democratic (i) Marine Corps Active OIF
AZ-4 Kelly Cooper Republican Marine Corps Active None
CA-1 Max Steiner Democratic Army Active OIF
CA-3 Kermit Jones Democratic Navy Active OIF
CA-4 Mike Thompson Democratic (i) Army Active Vietnam
CA-5 Mike Barkley Democratic Navy Active None
CA-6 Tamika Hamilton Republican Air Force Active, Reserve OEF
CA-8 Rudy Recile Republican Army Active None
CA-10 Michael Kerr Green Army Active None
CA-19 Jimmy Panetta Democratic (i) Navy Reserve OEF
CA-21 Michael Maher Republican Navy Active None
CA-24 Salud Carbajal Democratic (i) Marine Corps Reserve None
CA-27 Mike Garcia Republican (i) Navy Active, Reserve OIF
CA-28 Wes Hallman Republican Air Force Active Southern Watch
CA-35 Mike Cargile Republican Army IRR None
CA-36 Ted Lieu Democratic (i) Air Force Active, Reserve None
CA-36 Joe Collins Republican Navy Active OIF
CA-39 Aja Smith Republican Air Force Reserve OEF
CA-44 Paul Jones Republican Marine Corps Unknown Unknown
CA-45 Jay Chen Democratic Navy Reserve OIR
CA-46 Chris Gonzalez Republican Army Active None
CA-48 Darrell Issa Republican (i) Army Active None
CO-4 Ike McCorkle Democratic Marine Corps Active OIF
CO-5 David Torres Democratic Air Force Reserve None
CO-6 Jason Crow Democratic (i) Army Active OIF, OEF
CO-6 Steven Monahan Republican Navy Active None
CO-7 Erik Aadland Republican Army Active OIF, OEF
CT-2 Mike France Republican Navy Active Gulf War
FL-2 Neal Dunn Republican (i) Army Active None
FL-6 Mike Waltz Republican (i) Army Active OEF
FL-7 Cory Mills Republican Army Active Bosnia
FL-10 Calvin Wimbish Republican Army Active OIF, OEF
FL-12 Kim Walker Democratic Army Active, Guard None
FL-13 Anna Paulina Luna Republican Air Force Active None
FL-14 James Judge Republican Coast Guard Active OIF
FL-16 Vern Buchanan Republican (i) Air Force Guard None
FL-17 Greg Steube Republican (i) Army Active OIF
FL-18 Scott Franklin Republican (i) Navy Active, Reserve Bosnia
FL-21 Corinna Balderramos Robinson Democratic Army Active OIF
FL-21 Brian Mast Republican (i) Army Active OEF
FL-25 Carla Spalding Republican Navy Active None
FL-28 Robert Asencio Democratic Army Reserve None
GA-2 Sanford Bishop Jr. Democratic (i) Army Active None
GA-2 Chris West Republican Air Force Guard None
GA-3 Val Almonord Democratic Army Reserve None
GA-4 Jonathan Chavez Republican Air Force Active OIF
GA-6 Bob Christian Democratic Army Active OIF
GA-6 Rich McCormick Republican Navy Active OEF
GA-9 Mike Ford Democratic Army Active Vietnam
GA-9 Andrew Clyde Republican (i) Navy Active, Reserve OIF
GA-11 Barry Loudermilk Republican (i) Air Force Active None
GA-14 Marcus Flowers Democratic Army Active None
HI-1 Conrad Kress Republican Navy Active None
HI-2 Joe Akana Republican Air Force Active None
IA-1 Mariannette Miller-Meeks Republican (i) Army Active, Reserve None
IA-3 Zach Nunn Republican Air Force Active, Guard OEF
IL-1 Eric Carlson Republican Army Active None
IL-2 Thomas Lynch Republican Army Active OIF
IL-6 Keith Pekau Republican Air Force Active Gulf War
IL-8 Chris Dargis Republican Navy Active, Reserve None
IL-12 Homer "Chip" Markel Democratic Navy Active None
IL-12 Mike Bost Republican (i) Marine Corps Active None
IL-17 Esther Joy King Republican Army Reserve None
IN-1 Jennifer-Ruth Green Republican Air Force Active, Guard OIF
IN-3 Gary Snyder Democratic Army Active, Guard None
IN-3 Jim Banks Republican (i) Navy Reserve OIF
IN-4 Jim Baird Republican (i) Army Active Vietnam
IN-6 Greg Pence Republican (i) Marine Corps Active None
IN-8 Larry Bucshon Republican (i) Navy Reserve None
KS-2 Patrick Schmidt Democratic Navy Active, Reserve None
KS-4 Bob Hernandez Democratic Army Active, Guard OIF
KY-2 Brett Guthrie Republican (i) Army Active None
KY-5 Hal Rogers Republican (i) Army Guard None
MA-4 Jake Auchincloss Democratic (i) Marine Corps Active OIF, OEF
MA-6 Seth Moulton Democratic (i) Marine Corps Active OIF
MA-7 Donnie Palmer Republican Army Active None
MA-9 Jesse Brown Republican Marine Corps Active None
MD-1 Andy Harris Republican (i) Navy Reserve Gulf War
ME-1 Ed Thelander Republican Navy Active Bosnia, OEF
ME-2 Jared Golden Democratic (i) Marine Corps Active OIF, OEF
MI-1 Jack Bergman Republican (i) Marine Corps Active Vietnam
MI-4 Joseph Alfonso Democratic Marine Corps Active None
MI-7 Tom Barrett Republican Army Active OIF
MI-10 John James Republican Army Active OIF
MI-11 Mark Ambrose Republican Army Active, Reserve None
MI-12 Steven Elliot Republican Marine Corps Active None
MN-2 Tyler Kistner Republican Marine Corps Active, Reserve None
MN-3 Tom Weiler Republican Navy Active None
MO-4 Jack Truman Democratic Army Active None
MO-5 Jacob Turk Republican Marine Corps Active None
MO-6 Henry Martin Democratic Army Guard Gulf War
MS-1 Trent Kelly Republican (i) Army Guard Gulf War, OIF
MS-2 Brian Flowers Republican Navy Active None
MS-3 Shuwaski Young Democratic Army Guard None
MT-1 Ryan Zinke Republican Navy Active OIF
NC-1 Don Davis Democratic Air Force Active None
NC-6 Christian Castelli Republican Army Active Somalia, OEF
NC-8 Scott Huffman Democratic Navy Active None
NC-9 Ben Clark Democratic Air Force Active None
NC-10 Pam Genant Democratic Army Active None
NC-14 Patrick Harrigan Republican Army Active OEF
NC-14 Jeff Jackson Democratic Army Guard OEF
NE-2 Don Bacon Republican (i) Air Force Active OIF
NJ-9 Bill Pascrell Democratic (i) Army Active None
NJ-9 Billy Prempeh Republican Air Force Active None
NJ-11 Mikie Sherrill Democratic (i) Navy Active None
NV-1 Mark Robertson Republican Army Active OIF, OEF
NV-2 Mark Amodei Republican (i) Army Active None
NV-4 Sam Peters Republican Air Force Active OIF, OEF
NY-1 Nick LaLota Republican Navy Active None
NY-2 Jackie Gordon Democratic Army Reserve OIF, OEF
NY-6 Tom Zmich Republican Army Reserve Gulf War
NY-11 Max Rose Democratic Army Active, Guard OEF
NY-12 Mike Zumbluskas Republican Army Active None
NY-18 Colin Schmitt Republican Army Guard None
NY-18 Pat Ryan Democratic Army Active OIF
NY-22 Francis Conole Democratic Navy Active OIF
NY-22 Brandon Williams Republican Navy Active None
NY-23 Max Della Pia Democratic Air Force Active None
NY-24 Steve Holden Democratic Army Active, Guard OIF, OEF
NY-26 Steve Sams Republican Army Active OIF, OEF
OH-2 Brad Wenstrup Republican (i) Army Reserve OIF
OH-6 Bill Johnson Republican (i) Air Force Active None
OH-7 Max Miller Republican Marine Corps Reserve None
OH-8 Warren Davidson Republican (i) Army Active None
OH-9 J.R. Majewski Republican Air Force Active Disputed
OH-10 David Esrati Democratic Army Active None
OH-11 Eric Brewer Republican Air Force Active Vietnam
OH-14 Matt Kilboy Democratic Navy Active None
OH-15 Mike Carey Republican (i) Army Guard None
OK-3 Jeremiah Ross Democratic Army Guard None
OR-1 Chris Mann Republican Army Active, Guard OIF
OR-2 Joe Yetter Democratic Army Active None
OR-4 Alek Skarlatos Republican Air Force Guard OEF
PA-1 Ashley Ehasz Democratic Army Active OIR
PA-5 Dave Galluch Republican Navy Active None
PA-6 Chrissy Houlahan Democratic (i) Air Force Active None
PA-10 Scott Perry Republican (i) Army Guard OIF
PA-14 Guy Reschenthaler Republican (i) Navy Active OIF
PA-17 Chris Deluzio Democratic Navy Active OIF
SC-2 Joe Wilson Republican (i) Army Active None
SC-4 William Timmons Republican (i) Army Guard None
SC-7 Daryl Scott Democratic Army Active, Guard OIF
TN-7 Mark Green Republican (i) Army Active OIF, OEF
TX-2 Dan Crenshaw Republican (i) Navy Active OIF, OEF
TX-3 Keith Self Republican Army Active None
TX-4 Pat Fallon Republican (i) Air Force Active None
TX-6 Jake Ellzey Republican (i) Navy Active OIF, OEF
TX-8 Morgan Luttrell Republican Navy Active OIF, OEF
TX-9 Jimmy Leon Republican Army Active None
TX-11 August Pfluger Republican (i) Air Force Active OIR
TX-13 Ronny Jackson Republican (i) Navy Active OIF
TX-20 Kyle Sinclair Republican Army Guard None
TX-22 Troy Nehls Republican (i) Army Reserve OIF, OEF
TX-23 John Lira Democratic Marine Corps Active, Guard OIF
TX-23 Tony Gonzales Republican (i) Navy Active OIF, OEF
TX-35 Dan McQueen Republican Navy Active None
TX-36 Brian Babin Republican (i) Air Force Active, Guard None
TX-36 Wesley Hunt Republican Army Active OIF
UT-2 Chris Stewart Republican (i) Air Force Active None
UT-3 Glenn Wright Democratic Air Force Active Vietnam
VA-1 Herb Jones Democratic Army Active, Guard OIF
VA-2 Elaine Luria Democratic (i) Navy Active None
VA-2 Jen Kiggans Republican Navy Active None
VA-3 Bobby Scott Democratic (i) Army Guard, Reserve None
VA-3 Terry Namkung Republican Air Force Active None
VA-4 Leon Benjamin Republican Navy Active None
VA-10 Hung Cao Republican Navy Active OIF, OEF
VA-11 Jim Myles Republican Air Force Active None
VT Liam Madden Republican Marine Corps Active OIF
WA-1 Vincent Cavaleri Republican Army Reserve None
WA-2 Dan Matthews Republican Air Force Reserve Vietnam, Gulf War
WA-3 Joe Kent Republican Army Active OIF
WA-10 Keith Swank Republican Army Active None
WI-3 Derrick Van Orden Republican Navy Active Bosnia, OIF, OEF
WI-5 Scott Fitzgerald Republican (i) Army Reserve None
WI-8 Mike Gallagher Republican (i) Marine Corps Active OIF
AZ-Senate Mark Kelly Democratic (i) Navy Active None
CT-Senate Richard Blumenthal Democratic (i) Marine Corps Reserve None
IL-Senate Tammy Duckworth Democratic (i) Army Guard OIF
IN-Senate Thomas McDermott Jr. Democratic Navy Active None
IN-Senate Todd Young Republican (i) Marine Corps Active None
NH-Senate Don Bolduc Republican Army Active OEF
NV-Senate Adam Laxalt Republican Navy Active OIF
SD-Senate Brian Bengs Democratic Air Force Active None
VT-Senate Gerald Malloy Republican Army Active Gulf War
HI-Senate Bob McDermott Republican Marine Corps Active Gulf War
IA-Senate Michael Franken Democratic Navy Active None
OH-Senate J.D. Vance Republican Marine Corps Active OIF

Credit: Compiled with information from the Veterans Campaign and With Honor

(i) Indicates a candidate is an incumbent.

* Chris Bye is included because of Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system. All other third-party candidates have been excluded.

** The list excludes candidates from Louisiana, which will hold its primary elections on Nov. 8, and if no candidates receive more than 50% of the vote, general elections Dec. 10.

-- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel.

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