Veterans could bridge partisan divide

Happy Veterans Day. The good news from Tuesday’s general election was the success of military veterans running as first-time candidates and others as incumbents. The veteran lawmakers are representative of both major political parties, but Democrats can credit those from their party for taking back control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Stars and Stripes, authorized for publication by the U.S.

Department of Defense for members of the military community, reported comments from Jon Soltz, chairman of progressive political organization VoteVets. “I think it’s pretty clear now that veterans are the reason that Democrats are going to take back to the House,” Soltz said.

The number of veterans seeking office is increasing. More than 200 veterans ran for seats in the House and Senate, according to With Honor, a new “cross-partisan” group focused on electing candidates with military service to public office. That followed more than 400 who ran in earlier primary races.

This year’s increase in veteran candidates follows dwindling representation of former service members in Congress for several decades, Stars and Stripes reported. Their percentage fell from highs of 81 percent in the Senate in 1975 and 75.2 percent in the House in 1969 to recent lows of 20 percent or less by 2015, according to the most recent figures from Pew Research Center.

Some believe that an increase in veterans in Congress means more bipartisanship. Of the 200 House candidates tracked by With Honor, 102 were Republicans, 61 were Democrats with the remainder third party and write-in candidates, Ellen Zeng, a spokeswoman for With Honor, told Stars and Stripes. With Honor endorsed 20 Republicans and 19 Democrats.

“The problems we are trying to take on, this dysfunction in Congress, are not easy, but definitely are having a debilitating impact on this country,” she said. “We hope a critical mass of these With Honor candidates can help fix our broken politics.”

Indeed. And it makes sense that veterans can get it done. They have experience working and living together as Americans with a common mission. They are from all races, walks of life and political ideologies, yet during their service time they managed to accomplish great things often under harsh circumstances. They ate at the same table and slept in the same barracks. Many relied on one another in life and death situations.

They also have the benefit of having traveled to different points in this country and abroad. They have been exposed to people and cultures different from their own. That experience gives them a greater sense of humanity.

I am optimistic about the uptick of veterans seeking and being elected to positions in our government. Hopefully, they can bridge the partisan divide and model honorable behavior that is sorely missed inside the Beltway.

Choosing to serve in the military and in elected office entails sacrifices large and small, not only by the men and women serving but by their families who sometimes must carry on at home without them.

Thanks for your service and Happy Veterans Day.