Both parties court military veteran candidates as wars continue

With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan hot issues in the national elections, both parties have tried to recruit military veterans to run in congressional races.

The political parties were joined by two organizations, on opposite sides of the Iraq war, which recruited veterans who share their views. And some former service members, perhaps unhappy with Washington's handling of the conflicts, jumped into the political combat on their own.

The result was the largest number of congressional candidates with military experience in decades, and the possibility of reversing the post-Vietnam decline in the number of veterans in Congress.

At least 52 veterans -- about half of whom have served in the current conflicts and some who still are active in the National Guard or reserves -- ran as non-incumbents in House and Senate primaries across the nation. At least 33 of those veterans have survived into the general elections, where they will join about 100 incumbents with military service who are seeking re-election.

Nearly twice as many Iraq-Afghanistan veterans are competing this year as in 2006, but this time Republicans outnumber Democrats. That could be attributed to the appearance of the Veterans for Freedom, which endorsed 14 "pro-surge" GOP candidates in the primaries.

The nominally nonpartisan VoteVets, which emerged in 2006 supporting mainly war critics, mostly Democrats, endorsed a dozen challengers and four incumbent veterans, all Democrats.

The presence of a significant number of lawmakers with experience in the ongoing conflicts could influence the debate in the next Congress on the road ahead in Iraq and Afghanistan. Only one incumbent, freshman Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., served in Iraq, although several House members and one senator are active in the reserves.

Murphy, a critic of the war in Iraq, is being challenged by Republican Tom Manion, a retired Marine colonel whose son, Travis, was killed in Iraq last year.

Many of the non-incumbent veterans are in uphill races--- and a lot are facing fellow vets either in open seats or as challengers to officeholders with service experience. But perhaps enough of the aspirants will win to offset the veterans leaving Congress, which already has the fewest members with military experience in about 50 years.

For much of the last half of the 20th century, Congress was filled with former service members, as veterans of World War II and Korea came forward to serve the country a second time.

But with the anti-military feelings that grew out of the Vietnam War and the decline in widespread military service following the end of the draft in 1973, fewer former service members ran to replace the older vets who left Congress. As a result, the percentage of veterans in Congress steadily declined from the high 70s to 24 percent this year.

At the beginning of this session, 30 senators and 100 House members claimed military service, including time in the reserves or Guard. One of those died and 17 are retiring, are seeking other offices or were defeated in primaries.

One of the primary victims was Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, R-Md., a Marine veteran of Vietnam whose GOP opponent criticized Gilchrest's opposition to the Iraq war. Another was the only female veteran, Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., a former Air Force officer who failed in a primary bid for an open Senate seat. Two more incumbent veterans -- Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Rep. William Jefferson, D-La. -- are in tough races and are facing federal criminal charges.

The heaviest involvement of veterans was in the battle to replace retiring Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a Vietnam combat vet who served as chairman and now as ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.

Most of the seven primary candidates were vets and three saw combat in Iraq. Hunter's son, Duncan Jr., a Marine Reserve captain who had combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, won the GOP nod. He is the favorite over Democrat Mike Lumpkin, a retired Navy SEAL, in the heavily Republican district.

Another vet-rich race was the contest for the open seat of Democratic Rep. Tom Allen, who is challenging Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

Adam Cote, an Army National Guard veteran of Iraq, lost the Democratic primary. But Charlie Summers won the GOP spot even though his wife had to campaign for him while he was deployed in Iraq as a Navy Reservist.

There also are a number of veteran challengers to incumbent veterans.

In the House, they include Steve Sarvi, who served in Iraq with the Army Guard and is challenging Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., a retired Marine colonel and Vietnam vet; retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Rick Goddard, who is opposing Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga., who fought in Vietnam as an Army Ranger; and Wendell Craig Williams, a Persian Gulf War vet who is challenging Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., a retired Navy rear admiral.

In Senate races, Christopher Reed, a Navy vet and political novice, is challenging Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, a Vietnam-era Navy veteran; and Jeffrey Beatty, a former Delta Force commando, is challenging Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., a decorated Navy veteran of Vietnam.