After it was reported that the 117th Congress would have the least amount of military veterans walking its halls since World War II, a new crop of Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans have decided to put on their political boots on the ground and run for the U.S. Congress in the 2022 midterm election.
Interestingly enough, but not surprising, many of these veterans have seen combat as members of the elite U.S. Special Operations community.
U.S. Army Special Forces, Navy SEALS, Marine RECON, and other elements of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) took the lead in the War on Terror.
This past week, SEAL PAC, a political action committee led by former Navy SEAL Team 6 Commander and former Congressman Ryan Zinke (R), held an event in Washington to honor former military veterans who they support running for the U.S. Congress in the 2022 midterm election cycle.
The event was held at the Republican enclave better known as the Capitol Hill Club on Capitol Hill and attended by about a dozen or so congressional military veterans, including Reps. Ronny Jackson, Neal Dunn, Brian Babin, Brian Mast, Dan Crenshaw, Jake Ellzey, Michael Waltz, Greg Steube, and others.
As expected whenever a bunch of former military guys get together, the jokes and cutdowns begin to fly.
Rep. Zinke, who is also running for re-election to the House of Representatives, pitted SEALs vs. Green Berets.
Zinke had SEAL Rep. Crenshaw introduce all of the former SEALs running for office, where the wounded veteran took the opportunity to mow down his Army brethren by all but saying they were inferior to his Navy SEALs.
Crenshaw introduced Eli Crane, who is running in Arizona’s 1st District, Brady Duke, who is running in Florida’s 7th District, Morgan Lutrell in Texas' 8th District, along with other SEALS.
Rep. Waltz (pictured), who is a decorated U.S. Army Green Beret, was tasked with introducing the Army veterans, including former Green Beret Derrick Anderson, who is running in the Republican-leaning 7th District in Virginia.
Waltz took his jabs at Crenshaw and the Navy before introducing the Army representatives. He had to. So self-respecting Army veteran is going to let a Navy vet smack him down without a rebuttal.
Former combat veteran Cory Mills, who operated as a member of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) CJTF 20 and who is running in a contested Republican primary race against the aforementioned Brady Duke, was also in attendance and attended a private reception with Zinke and all of the new SEAL PAC candidates.
The Republican primary race in Florida’s 7th District will be one of the most-watched contests in the country. The district is represented by Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy (D) and leans Democrat, but is expected to shift to favor Republicans after the redistricting maps are drawn.
State Rep. Anthony Sabatini (R), the firebrand Army National Guard Captain, is also running in the Republican primary. All three candidates—Sabatini, Mills, and Duke—have raised over $500,000 since announcing their respected congressional races.
Mills, who has penned a couple of big-dollar checks to his campaign, leads in “Cash on Hand” and has garnered the most congressional endorsements, including the support of fellow veteran Reps. Steube, Mast, and Freedom Caucus founder, Rep. Jim Jordan.
Sabatini has announced support from Sen. Rand Paul and Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Matt Gaetz.
Duke has not announced any endorsements so far but has received a $5,000 check from SEAL PAC.
While this is a hotly contested primary race, redistricting could eventually steer one or two of these candidates into the new congressional district that is expected to be created in central Florida.
