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Lawmaker-vets bring military credentials

By Kimberly Hefling / Associated Press

WASHINGTON - A handful of new Democratic lawmakers are military veterans, now with figurative campaign combat badges. Other vets fell short on Tuesday.

In Pennsylvania, three of the four Democrats who beat GOP House members have military credentials. Also, Tim Walz, a retired command sergeant major in the Army National Guard, won a seat in Minnesota. On the Senate side, Jim Webb, a Vietnam veteran and former Navy secretary, beat George Allen in Virginia.

Patrick Murphy, an Iraq war veteran who unseated Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick by just 1,500 votes in a northern Philadelphia suburban district, said he thinks his military record was a big factor.

"As a witness to foreign policy, I have a different perspective than a regular candidate," said Murphy, a former Army lawyer.

But even as the party was able to win control of the House and Senate, Democratic veterans had their fair share of losses in what had been dubbed the year of the "Fighting Dems."

Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran who lost her legs in combat, did not win her race in Illinois. In New York, retired Navy Cmdr. Eric Massa appeared to be losing narrowly in his race. In Kentucky, Ken Lucas, who served in the Air Force and Air National Guard, was not able to win back his seat from Republican Rep. Geoff Davis.

Republican challengers with military experience also struggled.

GOP candidate Van Taylor, who participated in the operation to rescue POW Jessica Lynch, was unable to unseat Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas. Chris Wakim, who served in the Army, lost to Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va. Martha Rainville, a former adjutant general of the Vermont National Guard, lost to Democrat Peter Welch for an open seat in Vermont.

While military experience is an asset, "it isn't enough on its own," said Robin Kolodny, a political science professor at Temple University.

The winners in Pennsylvania had other factors in their favor.

In northeast Pennsylvania, Chris Carney, a lieutenant commander in the Navy Reserve who served as an intelligence analyst at the Pentagon, beat Rep. Don Sherwood, who admitted last year to a marital affair and settled a lawsuit against the woman after she accused him of choking her — an allegation he denied.

In another suburban Philadelphia district, Rep. Curt Weldon, a 10-term member who is vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, was under investigation by the FBI. He was beaten by Joe Sestak, a retired Navy vice admiral.

Murphy and Sestak won in districts that are historically Republican but have had an increase in Democratic registration.

In Pennsylvania, 42 percent of voters strongly disapproved of the war, according to an exit poll by The Associated Press.

Recognizing the anti-war sentiment while campaigning, Murphy and Sestak proposed plans that said all troops in Iraq should be removed by the end of 2007.

Republicans tried to use Carney's military record against him in a mailing to voters. They accused him of helping to start the war in his position at the Pentagon — though Sherwood had voted to give the president the authority to use military force to oust Saddam Hussein.

In the 1950s, as many as 70 percent of lawmakers were war veterans. Today the figure is about 40 percent.