Can Democratic veterans running for Congress reclaim the patriotism narrative from the GOP?

Some of the military veterans running for Congress as Democrats in the 2026 midterms see themselves as part of the party’s push to showcase itself as patriotic amid polling showing Democrats broadly feeling less proud of the country than Republicans. 

An Ipsos poll conducted earlier this year found 63% of Republicans saying that the phrase “I feel proud to be an American” described them extremely well, compared to just 14% of Democrats. The same poll found 65% of Republicans saying the phrase “there’s no place I’d rather live than the U.S.” described them extremely well, compared to 19% of Democrats.

One caveat: the discrepancy between Democrats and Republicans in the poll could be explained in part by Democratic opposition to the White House and its policies.

But those military veteran Democrats are campaigning in part on saying that patriotism isn’t partisan, or that critiquing the government can itself come from having pride in the country and wanting it to improve.

“I think that’s kind of silly to think that patriotism belongs to one particular party,” said Nancy Lacore, a retired vice admiral and former Chief of Navy Reserve running for Congress in South Carolina after having been removed from her position by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in 2025.

“In my mind, patriotism isn’t about, like, ‘Oh, I got the biggest flag’ or ‘I’m cheering the loudest at events.’ To me, patriotism is grounded in service, that you love your country enough to try to make it better, serve your country, strengthen it, uphold the Constitution.”

‘The most patriotic duty you have is to question’

In Florida’s 13th Congressional District, Leela Gray, a retired Army brigadier general, is one of the Democrats running for the chance to flip a seat held by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna. Gray told ABC News, “I served in uniform for 30 years. I had no idea if people were an independent or a Republican or a Democrat. It didn’t matter. What mattered was, could you trust the person next to you?” 

Over in Kansas, two former service members are among the Democrats competing in a crowded field to unseat incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall.

State Sen. Patrick Schmidt is a former naval intelligence officer based in Topeka who still serves in the Army Reserve. He told ABC News he rejects the premise that Democrats need to “reclaim” patriotism: “We’re all trying to figure out how do we communicate with more people, how do we meet more people, but I think I reject the idea that we’ve lost the plot.”

Another Democrat in the race, Noah Taylor of El Dorado, is a former Army infantryman and counterintelligence analyst who co-founded the nonpartisan political advocacy group Leading Kansas.

“We stopped talking about the things that make America great, and being a patriot doesn’t mean that you can’t criticize this country. In fact, the most patriotic duty you have is to question, to make things better,” Taylor said in an interview.

‘I love this country’

In New Jersey’s toss-up 7th District, Rebecca Bennett won the Democratic nomination in early June to take on GOP Rep. Tom Kean. Bennett is a former Navy helicopter pilot and served for over a decade and also worked as a test pilot and served in the Air National Guard. 

She said she does not shy away from any themes of patriotism: “I am a patriot. I love this country. It’s why I joined the military. It’s why I’m doing this now. And I explicitly say that in my stump [speech] every time when I’m talking to people.”

Democratic veterans running for Congress also point to their military bona fides when discussing the Iran war and how it’s driven up prices.

Matt Maasdam, a retired Navy SEAL and onetime military aide to former President Barack Obama who is running in a swing district in Michigan, told ABC News, “As somebody who watched Baghdad and Kabul roads get fixed while I was overseas, I want to see Michigan’s roads get fixed. If we don’t have money to spend on health care and education in America, why are we spending billions of dollars dropping bombs on the other side of the world?”

Maasdam is a candidate in Michigan’s 7th District Democratic primary in which the winner will take on incumbent GOP Rep. Tom Barrett. Barrett, himself a former Army helicopter pilot, has voted in Congress to rein in President Donald Trump’s powers to conduct the Iran war.

Jason Cabel Roe, a spokesperson for Barrett’s campaign, told ABC News, “Tom Barrett wasn’t elected to Congress because of his service in the Army, he was elected because he has deep ties to the 7th District, and faces the same struggles as thousands of other families living in the district.” 

Will it work?

Running a large set of veteran candidates is something of a reprisal of a strategy that worked before for the Democratic Party, like in the 2018 midterms when former Navy helicopter pilot Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey and former CIA case officer Abigail Spanberger in Virginia flipped GOP-held seats. Both went on to be elected governor in their respective states.

The strategy isn’t foolproof by any means, even in intra-party Democratic primaries. For instance, in Texas’ 9th Congressional District, former astronaut and Air Force fighter pilot Terry Virts lost in the Democratic primary in March. In Kentucky, former Marine Corps fighter pilot Amy McGrath — who was the party’s nominee for a Senate seat in 2020 — lost in the state’s Democratic Senate primary in May.

Are Democrats intentionally prioritizing or recruiting veterans this cycle because of the gulf between the parties on patriotism? 

Sawyer Hackett, a Democratic political strategist, told ABC News, “As much as I would love to credit the Democratic Party leaders for recruiting a slate of fantastic veteran candidates, I think, honestly, most of it is organic,” because, he argued, veterans are more attuned to actions taken by Trump as commander-in-chief.

Hackett acknowledged that the party is also recruiting veterans, but thinks that veterans already active with the party are encouraging others. 

But why do Democrats feel veterans can be successful candidates? 

Emily Cherniack, CEO of the Democratic-aligned New Politics, argued that along with high prices, “people are really pissed that Trump has not solved the problems he promised to solve, and so they’re really looking for a new generation of leadership.”

New Politics recruits candidates with military backgrounds and has endorsed Bennett and Maasdam.

And Matt Corridoni, a Democratic strategist who advises Democratic groups The Bench and VoteVets, which are boosting some candidates including Maasdam and Lacore, argued, “Because they are veterans and they have the experience of putting service over self, people trust them on a wide range of issues. … especially right now, though, with Iran, they can speak with an extra level of credibility.”