One candidate in Michigan would be the first Navy SEAL to serve in the House as a Democrat. Another Democrat in Arizona is a former Marine drill instructor seeking to be the first woman from the Marines to serve in the House. A third Democrat in New Jersey is a former Navy helicopter pilot whose campaign logo incorporates pilot wings.

The Democratic Party is turning to an unusually large crop of military veterans in an effort to flip the House in 2026, recruiting and promoting veterans in some of the top battleground districts in a reprisal of a strategy that helped deliver the House in 2018 during President Trump’s first term.

But this time the push for veterans is being embraced to a greater extent by a party establishment keenly aware of the urgent need for Democratic challengers to create distance from a national party brand that remains deeply unpopular.

“We can’t just have people who seem like tired old Democrats,” said Representative Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts and a former Marine who has been involved in recruiting veteran candidates in recent years. “It’s a cycle when people are very frustrated with the Democratic Party — including Democrats.”

To retake the House, Democrats must flip at least three seats in 2026, and veterans are already running in at least triple that many swing districts — including in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nebraska, New York and Virginia — though most must still navigate competitive primaries. Some Democratic officials are in talks with or tracking more than 30 potentially new Democratic veteran candidates for the House.