By Helen Coster
NEW YORK, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Cait Conley kicked off her congressional campaign with a series of cellphone videos in which she addresses affordability, healthcare and other policy initiatives -- while lifting weights in her garage.
She calls the series “Reps and Real Talk,” a nod to the dual identity the former Army special operations officer hopes will carry her to a 2026 election win and flip her congressional district in New York, one of the country’s most politically competitive,
from Republican to Democrat.
Conley is part of the “Hellcats,” a group of four Democratic women with military backgrounds running for Congress in next year's midterm elections. Democrats need to flip three Republican seats to win a House majority, which would give them the firepower to frustrate Trump's legislative agenda and investigate his administration.
The Hellcats, a name that pays homage to the first female Marines of World War One, include a retired Marine Corps drill instructor, a former Navy helicopter pilot, a former Marine captain and a former Army special operations officer. They are campaigning as a bloc from the outset, inspired by the so-called “badass caucus” of five Democratic women with national security credentials who flipped Republican-held seats in 2018.
Unlike that group, which branded itself after taking office, the Hellcats are leaning into their identity early. They came up with the moniker in the spring after months of texting on a group chat.
They face challenges. Conley, 40, must win a crowded June primary in her suburban New York district before taking on Congressman Mike Lawler, who defeated a Democratic incumbent in 2022. Joanna Mendoza, a retired Marine running for Congress in Arizona’s 6th district, trails Republican Congressman Juan Ciscomani in overall fundraising. Maura Sullivan, who lost in a crowded New Hampshire primary in 2018 after moving to the state in 2017, must overcome the carpetbagger label that dogged her previous campaign.
Republican National Committee Regional Communications Director Delanie Bomar said none of these Democrats can defeat "battle-tested candidates, who are delivering real results for their districts.”
"Should any of these Democrats escape their toxic primaries, they’ll be forced to deal with their controversial pasts, which range from carpetbagging to deleting crazy tweets,” Bomar said in a statement.
In the early weeks of campaigning, each of the Hellcats has embraced a similar message: Their military training and ethos of service make them uniquely suited to break through Washington’s dysfunction.
“Veterans are mission-focused,” said Mendoza, 49. “You don’t ask the person to your left or right what their political affiliation is. You work through issues, find compromise, and accomplish the mission."
Campaign strategists say the candidates' backgrounds could help them cross partisan divides and neutralize gender stereotypes that have sometimes dogged female candidates – proving toughness without sacrificing likability. They point to the success of Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, and Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer, who won tough congressional races in New Jersey and Virginia in 2018.
Both were elected governor of their states last month.
Three of the four candidates have children, which can help make the candidates relatable and effective messengers when it comes to campaigning on affordability, they said.
The campaign website for Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot running in New Jersey's 7th congressional district, features a photo of Bennett standing in front of a helicopter at her promotion ceremony. She's holding her baby daughter.
“I have led missions in some of the most challenging environments that exist on this earth, led missions in the middle of the ocean, in the middle of the night, where there's no margin for error, and I got the job done every single time,” said Bennett, 38.
“And also, I'm a mom, and I understand the challenges that we are facing in my district because my family is dealing with them too.”
"SERVANT LEADERSHIP"
The Republican Party itself has recent history of supporting female candidates with military and national intelligence credentials, including Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna, an Air Force veteran, and Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, a retired Army Reserve lieutenant colonel.
And Republican candidates have long held advantages with veteran voters. A 2024 Pew Research Center survey showed that 63% of veteran voters identify with or lean toward the Republican Party, while 35% are Democrats or Democratic leaners.
This election, however, the Hellcats believe they can leverage Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s policies toward women in the military to win over veterans. Those include Hegseth's decision to disband a committee that provided recommendations for female military members’ well-being and treatment and his move to cancel a program that sought to increase the role of women in national security sectors.
“It’s heartbreaking to see the Secretary of Defense undoing something so many of us worked hard on,” said Sullivan, 46, who is hosting house parties across New Hampshire, including with independents and first-time voters, and organizing playground meetups for parents who can’t attend evening events.
“The men and women of the U.S. military deserve a leader who believes in them.”
In Arizona, Mendoza is campaigning on lowering costs for families, strengthening national security and bringing stability to public office. She emphasizes “servant leadership,” likening the trust troops place in their commanders to the trust voters place in elected officials.
“It's very hard to argue that if you have flown combat missions or have served in Afghanistan or Iraq that you may not be strong enough and tough enough to serve in Congress or to be the chief executive of the state,” said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
Democratic Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado, a veteran who co-chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s recruitment efforts, described the candidates as “fierce fighters” who are well-suited to resist attacks from the Trump administration.
"There's no one demographic or one group that we are targeting in races like this," Crow said. "Which is exactly the point, which is exactly why combat veterans and servant leaders are the candidates we need."
(Reporting by Helen Coster in New York; editing by Paul Thomasch and Alistair Bell)
