Democrats believe veterans and former national security officials can help dig them out of the perception that they’re weak.
When Rep. Mikie Sherrill won the New Jersey gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, the “Hellcats” group chat of aspiring female congresswomen lit up in celebration.
All four women in the “Hellcats” chat — named after the first female Marines who served in World War I — have military experience and are running for Congress in 2026. Sherrill, as a former Navy helicopter pilot, offers some much-needed inspiration for the party’s next generation of candidates.
Democrats, looking to turn around their struggling brand and retake the House in 2026, point to Sherrill and presumptive Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger, a former congresswoman and CIA officer, as reasons the party will do well.
Sherrill and Spanberger are held up as the model for how the party might turn the tables — running moderate, former veterans and national security officials in tough districts who can say they “have put their country ahead of their party,” said Dan Sena, who served as the executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2018.
“Candidates with records of service showed in 2018 their ability to win in the most challenging districts and states in the country,” Sena added. “This cycle, the same dynamics are playing out with those kinds of candidates.”
Democrats say these House candidates can point to their political aspirations as an extension of their public service that began in the military or national security realm, and bristle at Republicans claiming MAGA is equivalent to patriotism.
“Right now, especially as this administration continues to create more chaos and dismantle our democracy, you’re seeing veterans continuing to answer the call to serve their country,” said JoAnna Mendoza, a retired US Marine who served in combat, now running to challenge Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.).
Mendoza is a member of the “Hellcats” group chat, along with Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy officer who is taking on Rep. Tom Kean (R-N.J.), Maura Sullivan, a former Marine looking to replace Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) and Cait Conley, an Army veteran and former National Security Council official, who is up against Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.).
Democrats say these candidates bring in necessary enthusiasm that translates to fundraising. In Pennsylvania, Ryan Crosswell, a Marine and federal prosecutor who resigned when President Donald Trump pressured him to drop charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, raised more than $215,000 in the first 48 hours after announcing his campaign on Monday, one of the biggest launch hauls that the party has seen this cycle.
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