In 2018, a group of Democratic women with military and intelligence backgrounds ran for Congress in suburban swing districts and won. They called themselves the “Badasses.” Elissa Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, flipped a seat in Michigan. Mikie Sherrill, a Navy helicopter pilot, won in New Jersey. Chrissy Houlahan, an Air Force veteran, took a district in Pennsylvania. Elaine Luria, a Navy commander, won in Virginia’s 2nd District.

Those women changed the composition of Congress and showed the party a recruitment model that worked. Now, eight years later, the next generation is building on that foundation. And the numbers are significantly larger.

With Honor, a bipartisan nonprofit that tracks and supports veteran candidates, reports that 71 women veterans have officially filed to run for Congress this cycle. That’s up from 54 in 2018, a 31% increase. More than 60% of them are Democrats, and a disproportionate number are running in exactly the kind of competitive districts that will determine which party controls the House after November.

At the center of this cycle’s movement are four women who found each other after the 2024 election and formed a Signal group chat they named the “Hell Cats,” after the first women Marines who served during World War I. Each is running in a district that could flip, and each brings a military record that would be exceptional for any candidate in any year.

If elected, Mendoza and Sullivan would be the first women Marine veterans to serve in Congress. That fact alone speaks to how recent this phenomenon is. Women weren’t allowed in ground combat roles until 2016. Many of the women running this cycle served during the period when the military was actively expanding opportunities for women while simultaneously deploying them to Iraq and Afghanistan.

A Gallup survey conducted with the With Honor Institute in August 2025 found that about 55% of Americans said military service makes them more likely to vote for a candidate. More than 80% agreed that veterans possess strong leadership skills. Those numbers hold across party lines.

For Democrats specifically, veteran candidates solve a persistent branding problem. Voters in competitive districts often view the party as weak on security, distant from working-class concerns, and overly focused on cultural issues. A candidate who can say “I served in Iraq” or “I flew helicopters for the Navy” disrupts that perception immediately.

Women veteran candidates add another layer. Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics, has noted that voters often express skepticism about women’s strength and foreign policy understanding. A combat service record takes that concern off the table entirely. When JoAnna Mendoza talks about serving as a Marine drill instructor, or when Rebecca Bennett describes flying Navy helicopters, the conversation shifts from gender to experience.

Fundraising tells a story about viability, and these candidates are raising real money. Mendoza has brought in more than $2.9 million, outpacing the Republican incumbent she’s challenging in AZ-06. Both Bennett and Sullivan have each raised roughly $1.9 million, leading their respective primary fields. Conley’s Q4 haul of $560,000 in the crowded NY-17 race signals she can compete.

Those numbers reflect a support infrastructure that didn’t exist a decade ago. VoteVets has endorsed all four Hell Cats and is providing both financial and organizational support. EMILY’s List has backed Mendoza. New Politics, which specifically recruits candidates from military and service backgrounds, endorsed Conley. The organizations that identified veteran recruitment as a winning approach in 2018 have refined their methods and expanded their investment.

And the candidates themselves have become savvy about grassroots fundraising. Bennett raised $125,000 in her first 24 hours. Sullivan raised $600,000 in a single quarter. Small-dollar donations make up a significant share of their totals, suggesting genuine voter enthusiasm rather than just institutional support.

The Hell Cats get the most attention, but the 71 women veteran candidates running this cycle span the country. Elaine Luria, the Navy veteran who won Virginia’s 2nd District in 2018 and lost it in 2022, is running again to reclaim her seat. In California, several women veterans are running in targeted districts. Across the country, Air Force veterans, Army officers, and Navy service members are on primary ballots from coast to coast.

Erika Cornelius Smith, a researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who studies women veteran candidates, has pointed out that structural barriers still exist. Recruitment pipelines remain uneven. Fundraising networks can be harder for women to access. And stereotypes about authority persist despite the evidence that voters respond well to military women. But the sheer number of candidates running in 2026 suggests those barriers are weakening.

All four Hell Cats are running in districts where the outcome could determine the House majority. Republicans currently hold a 218-214 edge with three vacancies, meaning Democrats need to flip just a few seats.

In AZ-06, Mendoza is polling in a dead heat with Republican Juan Ciscomani in a district Trump won by less than a point in 2024. In NJ-07, Bennett is targeting Tom Kean Jr. in a district he won by only two points in 2022. In NY-17, Cook Political Report rates the Lawler seat a toss-up. Sullivan’s NH-01 race is rated “likely Democrat,” but the district has flipped between parties multiple times over the past two decades.

If Democrats flip even two of these four seats, it changes the math for House control. All four would be an earthquake.

There’s a generational story underneath the numbers. Women who enlisted or commissioned in the aftermath of September 11th are now in their late 30s and 40s. They’ve built careers after the military. They’ve started families. And many have watched the political upheaval of the past decade with a growing sense that they need to act.

Rebecca Bennett described the moment this way: standing in her bathroom after the 2024 election, telling her husband that nobody was coming to save them, and deciding to run. Mendoza framed it around her son, asking whether he’d still have rights and a functioning democracy when he grew up. Conley, who served under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell for nearly a decade, saw the erosion of hard-won rights as a personal call to action.

These aren’t career politicians looking for the next rung on a ladder. They’re women who already proved their willingness to sacrifice and serve, now applying that same instinct to a different kind of fight. Whether 2026 produces victories or lessons, the pipeline they’re building will shape Democratic recruitment for cycles to come.

In 2018, a handful of women with national security backgrounds showed the party a path through competitive suburban districts. In 2026, 71 women veterans are testing whether that path can become a highway. The strategy is no longer a theory. It’s a movement with candidates, money, and districts that could decide the majority. For Democrats looking to take back the House, these are the campaigns to watch.