Named after the first all-female Marine unit that served in World War I, The Hell Cats are four military veteran women running for Congress in 2026. They could determine which party controls the House of Representatives.

This is not a symbolic campaign. These are battle-tested candidates running in swing districts that Democrats must win to reclaim the majority. Each brings combat deployments, national security credentials, and the proven electoral advantage that veteran Democrats consistently demonstrate in competitive races.

The data is clear: Veteran Democratic candidates outperform their non-veteran counterparts by 5.83 percentage points in competitive districts. In races decided by 2-3 points, that advantage is the difference between victory and defeat. The Hell Cats are operationalizing this approach in four must-win districts.

The Hell Cats branding is calculated, not symbolic. It references the first all-female Marine unit that served in World War I, the women who proved female service members could perform at the highest levels under the most challenging conditions.

That historical resonance matters for 2026. These four candidates are making the same argument their predecessors made a century ago: women with military credentials can lead effectively in high-stakes environments. The difference is that in 2026, voters in competitive House districts are proving they agree.

As Emily Cherniack of New Politics noted when announcing the Hell Cats coalition: “In 2018, we elected the BadAss Women, a group of inspirational Congresswomen including Elissa Slotkin, Mikie Sherrill, and Abigail Spanberger who flipped the House.” Those women quickly ascended to Senate races, leadership roles, and statewide campaigns. The Hell Cats represent the next generation.

Military Service: Former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot, currently serving in the Air National Guard. Over 15 years of military service with deployments worldwide.

Professional Background: Healthcare executive with experience from early-stage startups to Fortune 50 companies. MBA from University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

The Race: New Jersey’s 7th District is one of the most competitive in the nation. Republican Tom Kean Jr. has held the seat for two terms, but the district went for Biden in 2020. Bennett raised $1.35 million since launching her campaign (remarkable for a first-time candidate) with $475,000 in Q3 alone.

Electoral Argument: Bennett frames her candidacy around service and problem-solving, not partisan warfare. She was trained in the Navy to “run directly toward the problem,” and she positions herself as a working mom and veteran who understands the challenges facing New Jersey families.

VoteVets backed, Bennett represents the exact profile that won competitive suburban districts in 2018: military credentials combined with moderate, solutions-focused messaging.

Military Service: 16-year Army combat veteran with 6 overseas deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen. West Point graduate (top 2% of class). First woman officer to serve with a special missions unit in an operational capacity. Three Bronze Stars.

National Security Credentials: Director of Counterterrorism at the White House National Security Council. Senior Advisor to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), where she oversaw election security for the 2024 cycle.

The Race: New York’s 17th District is a true swing seat that includes all of Rockland and Putnam counties plus northern Westchester. Republican Mike Lawler won in 2022 by defeating Sean Patrick Maloney and held the seat in 2024. Conley raised $500,000 in her first fundraising period.

Electoral Argument: Conley is running as a fourth-generation Hudson Valley native who fought terrorists abroad and now wants to fight for working families at home. Her launch video showed her flipping truck tires in a gym while promising to “fight for New Yorkers”, combining physical toughness with policy substance.

Conley’s national security resume makes her virtually immune to GOP attacks. You cannot credibly call someone who hunted terrorists in Iraq and Syria “weak on defense.”

Military Service: 20-year veteran of U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. Served as Marine Corps drill instructor. Two tours in Iraq, one tour in Afghanistan. Made the next generation of Marines at boot camp.

Background: Daughter of farmworkers, raised in rural Arizona. Single mother. First-hand experience with government assistance programs including food stamps and Section 8 housing. Master’s degree in Leadership from Grand Canyon University.

The Race: Arizona’s 6th District is a Tucson-area seat currently held by Republican Juan Ciscomani, who won by just 2.5% in 2024. Recent polling shows Mendoza leading 42% to 41%, within the margin of error but demonstrating real competitiveness. She raised over $1.9 million in grassroots support since launching.

Electoral Argument: Mendoza delivers the quote that encapsulates the Hell Cats approach: “As a Marine Corps drill instructor, I had the honor of making the next generation of Marines. I know what servant leadership looks like. The only thing scarier than a United States Marine is a mom, and I am both.”

Endorsed by CHC BOLD PAC and LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, Mendoza represents the ideological diversity of the veteran Democrat model. Progressive on policy but credible on toughness.

Military Service: Marine Corps captain who served in the Iraq War, including deployment to Fallujah. Earned Navy Commendation Medal and Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal with Gold Star.

Government Experience: Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs under President Obama. Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School graduate.

The Race: New Hampshire’s 1st District is an open seat with Democrat Chris Pappas running for Senate. This is Sullivan’s second run for the seat. She finished second to Pappas in the 2018 Democratic primary but has since become vice chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party and a grassroots organizing force. She raised $400,000 in her campaign’s first week.

Electoral Argument: Sullivan emphasizes that she “saw too many of my fellow Marines give their lives for this country to just sit by and watch Donald Trump and Elon Musk tear it down.” She positions herself as the candidate who will “make politics boring again” by restoring function over dysfunction.

With endorsements from VoteVets, With Honor, and fellow veteran members of Congress, Sullivan represents institutional credibility combined with electoral competitiveness.

The Hell Cats approach is not based on hope. It is based on empirical evidence from multiple election cycles. Academic research by Nuñez (2025) published in the Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties confirms what Democratic strategists have observed since 2018: veteran candidates obtain 5.83 percentage points higher vote share than their non-veteran counterparts in competitive races.

This advantage manifests in three critical ways:

1. Credibility with Independent Voters: Veterans outperform by 3-8 points with independents specifically. In swing districts where independents determine outcomes, this margin is decisive. The Hell Cats are running in districts where Biden won by 2-5 points or lost by similar margins, exactly the environment where veteran credentials make the difference.

2. Immunity to GOP Attacks: Republicans cannot credibly attack veteran Democrats as “weak on defense” or “unpatriotic.” When Cait Conley hunted terrorists in Iraq and Syria, when JoAnna Mendoza made Marines at boot camp, when Rebecca Bennett flew Navy helicopters in combat zones, when Maura Sullivan deployed to Fallujah, those records counter the standard Republican playbook.

3. Permission to Talk About Other Issues: Because veteran candidates are trusted on national security, they earn permission to focus on healthcare, economic opportunity, and reproductive rights without being painted as naive about threats. The military service creates political space for policy substance.

The Hell Cats are not inventing a new approach. They are scaling a proven playbook. In 2018, VoteVets recruited 30-40 military veterans to run for Congress. Democrats flipped 41 House seats that cycle, and veteran candidates were disproportionately responsible for those victories.

The 2018 veteran Democrats who won competitive seats include:

• Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11): Navy helicopter pilot, former federal prosecutor. Flipped R+3 district.
• Elissa Slotkin (MI-07): Three tours in Iraq with the CIA (intelligence, not military). Flipped R+7 district, now a Senator.
• Abigail Spanberger (VA-07): CIA case officer. Flipped R+6 district, now Governor-elect.
• Max Rose (NY-11): Army combat veteran, Bronze Star recipient. Flipped R+10 district (later lost in 2020).
• Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06): Air Force veteran. Flipped R+2 district, still serving.

The pattern is clear: candidates with national security backgrounds flip Republican-held seats in swing districts. The Hell Cats are targeting the exact same kind of districts in 2026.

New Jersey’s 7th District covers some of the state’s most competitive suburban territory. Tom Kean Jr. won in 2022 and 2024, but the district went for Biden in 2020. Rebecca Bennett is banking on the same suburban swing voters who elected Phil Murphy as governor and rejected Trump twice.

Bennett’s advantages: Moderate messaging, healthcare credentials, military service, and early fundraising success ($1.35M total). VoteVets backing provides national infrastructure.

The vulnerability: Kean is well-funded and has name recognition (his father was a popular New Jersey governor). But Republican support for Trump’s policies on Social Security and Medicare creates an opening.

New York’s 17th District is one of the nation’s premier swing seats. Mike Lawler defeated Sean Patrick Maloney in 2022 and held the seat in 2024, but Democrats view it as flippable with the right candidate. Cait Conley represents that candidate profile.

Conley’s advantages: Fourth-generation Hudson Valley native (countering carpetbagger attacks), elite military credentials, national security expertise, strong early fundraising.

The challenge: Lawler is considering a run for governor, which would open the seat. But if he runs for re-election, he starts as the favorite. Conley needs to make this a referendum on Trump rather than a personality contest.

Arizona’s 6th District was decided by 2.5% in 2024, one of the closest House races in the country. Juan Ciscomani is vulnerable, and recent polling shows JoAnna Mendoza leading 42-41.

Mendoza’s advantages: Native Arizonan, Latino heritage in a Latino-plurality district, Marine Corps credentials in a military-heavy state, grassroots fundraising strength ($1.9M).

The opportunity: If Ruben Gallego’s Arizona Senate victory proves anything, it is that veteran Latino Democrats can win statewide in Arizona. Mendoza is applying that same formula to a single district.

New Hampshire’s 1st District is open with Chris Pappas running for Senate. This creates a rare opportunity for both parties in a district that regularly flips between them.

Sullivan’s advantages: Previous campaign experience (runner-up in 2018 primary), institutional support (vice chair of NH Democratic Party), veteran credentials, Obama administration experience, strong fundraising ($400K in week one).

The complication: The Democratic primary includes Stefany Shaheen (daughter of Senator Jeanne Shaheen) and other candidates. Sullivan must win a competitive primary before facing the Republican nominee in what will likely be a close general election.

Democrats need to flip at least 4-5 seats to retake the House in 2026, depending on the final 2025 special election outcomes. The Hell Cats represent four of the most competitive opportunities on the board.

If all four win, Democrats likely retake the House. If three of four win, Democrats are in striking distance. If two of four win, Democrats make significant gains but may fall short of the majority. If fewer than two win, the Republican majority likely holds.

This is why the Hell Cats matter: They are not just individual candidates. They are a coordinated deployment of the veteran Democrat advantage in must-win districts. Their collective success or failure will determine the balance of power in Washington.

Other veteran Democrats running in 2026 include dozens of House candidates in competitive districts, plus Senate candidates in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Maine. VoteVets is recruiting 100+ candidates total. The Hell Cats represent the most visible and best-funded cohort of this larger effort.

Fundraising Benchmarks: All four candidates need to match or exceed Republican incumbents in fundraising by Q2 2026. Early numbers are encouraging: Bennett ($1.35M), Mendoza ($1.9M), Conley ($500K in first period), Sullivan ($400K in first week) all demonstrate competitive fundraising.

Polling Trends: Watch for head-to-head polling in each district. Mendoza already leads Ciscomani 42-41 in AZ-06. Bennett needs to close Kean’s lead in NJ-07. Conley needs to establish viability against Lawler in NY-17. Sullivan needs to consolidate Democratic support in the NH-01 primary.

National Investment: VoteVets, EMILY’s List, and other national groups will signal their confidence through independent expenditure commitments. The more money these groups commit early, the more seriously Republicans must take each race.

GOP Responses: Watch how Republicans attack these candidates. If they try the standard “weak on defense” playbook, it signals they don’t understand the veteran advantage. If they pivot to other attacks (policy positions, local ties, fundraising sources), it signals they recognize the military credentials counter traditional GOP strengths.

The Hell Cats represent the clearest test of whether the 2018 veteran Democrat approach still works in the post-Trump political environment. These four candidates have elite credentials, competitive districts, strong fundraising, and institutional backing.

If the 5.83-point veteran advantage holds (and all evidence suggests it will), Democrats should win at least three of these four races. That alone could flip the House.

More importantly, the Hell Cats demonstrate that the veteran Democrat model works across geographies (New Jersey to Arizona), ideologies (moderate to progressive), and candidate profiles (Navy pilot to Marine drill instructor). This is not a niche approach. It is a scalable blueprint for Democratic success in competitive districts.

The 2026 midterms will be decided in districts like NJ-07, NY-17, AZ-06, and NH-01. The Hell Cats are the candidates Democrats need in exactly those battlegrounds. Watch these four races closely. They will tell us whether Democrats can retake the House and whether the veteran advantage remains the most reliable predictor of Democratic success in swing districts.