"In 2018, they called themselves "the Badasses"-a cadre of female national-security and military veterans running for Congress as Democrats, in what turned out to be a wave of anti-Donald Trump victories and a landslide for women candidates. All five-Michigan's Elissa Slotkin and Virginia's Abigail Spanberger, both ex-CIA officers; New Jersey's Mikie Sherrill and Virginia's Elaine Luria, both ex-Navy officers; and Pennsylvania's Chrissy Houlahan, an Air Force veteran-won their contests in purple districts that year."
"They emerged as an effective force of center-leaning liberals that challenged Trump and then helped President Joe Biden enact his social-welfare and infrastructure agenda. In 2024, Slotkin was elected to the Senate, and in 2025, Spanberger and Sherrill won landslide victories to become the governors of their states. Only Luria lost her seat, in 2022; she's running again this year and has a good chance to take it back."
"In 2026, their counterparts are the "Hell Cats," four female Democratic military veterans seeking to follow the Badasses' battle plan to win congressional seats in purple districts. They are Arizona's JoAnna Mendoza, a retired Marine challenging Representative Juan Ciscomani; New Jersey's Rebecca Bennett, a Navy pilot officer taking on Representative Thomas Kean; and Maura Sullivan, a New Hampshire Marine looking to replace Representative Chris Pappas, who is running for an open Senate seat."
"There's also Cait Conley, a West Point graduate, former National Security Council official, and Army veteran with six tours overseas and three Bronze Stars, who is up against New York's Hudson Valley Representative Mike Lawler in one of the only three districts won by Kamala Harris in 2024 that is still held by a Republican. They could be key to the Democratic Party assuming control of the House in 2027, since it will need just three seats to flip the chamber."
In 2018 a cohort called the Badasses, female national-security and military veterans, ran as Democrats and won in purple districts amid an anti-Trump, women-led wave. The five included Elissa Slotkin, Abigail Spanberger, Mikie Sherrill, Elaine Luria, and Chrissy Houlahan, who helped enact President Biden's social-welfare and infrastructure agenda. Slotkin later won a Senate seat in 2024; Spanberger and Sherrill became governors in 2025; Luria lost in 2022 but is running again. In 2026 the Hell Cats—JoAnna Mendoza, Rebecca Bennett, Maura Sullivan, and Cait Conley—seek similar victories and could help Democrats flip three seats needed to retake the House in 2027.
Read at The Nation
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