Tammy Duckworth (D) IL 6th District If there was a poster child for the Democrats’ push to field candidates with war experience, it was Duckworth, an Asian-American Army pilot who lost both legs in 2004 when a rocket-propelled grenade hit the Black Hawk helicopter she was flying over Baghdad. Democratic leaders picked her as the perfect candidate to run for the vacant seat in suburban Chicago, where Duckworth ran against Republican Peter Roskam in a traditionally conservative district. Despite Duckworth’s seemingly unassailable military credentials, a well-financed Roskam won the endorsement of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and defeated Duckworth 51 percent to 49 percent.
Andrew Duck (D) MD 6th District Duck had a 20-year Army career, including a 2003 stint as an intel officer in Iraq that helped sour him on the war. Frustrated, Duck retired from the Army and returned to Maryland to challenge seven-term Republican Rep. Roscoe Bartlett for the 6th district congressional seat. Duck called for closing Guantanamo Bay, increasing international involvement in policing Iraq and for America to achieve energy independence within 10 years. Those positions failed to galvanize one of Maryland’s more conservative districts, and Bartlett, who ran on a platform of tax cuts, gun rights and opposition to gay marriage and abortion, carried 58 percent of the vote to Duck’s 39 percent.
Patrick Murphy (D) PA 8th District Awarded a Bronze Star for his service in Iraq as a JAG Corps attorney, Murphy personally heard the claims brought by more than 1,600 Iraqi civilians who blamed coalition forces for lost family and property. He also taught at West Point, but Murphy called for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq in his campaign for the fiercely contested 8th District seat in Pennsylvania’s Bucks County. Democrats and Republicans alike highlighted the 8th district as a crucial seat, and Murphy’s Republican opponent, one-term incumbent Mike Fitzpatrick, proved to be a tough opponent. Fitzpatrick–who served as a Bucks County commissioner for a decade–distanced himself from Bush on the war and won endorsements from the Sierra Club and League of Conservation voters for his stance on environmental issues. Murphy won by just a few thousand votes.
Van Taylor (R) TX 17th District Taylor, who joined the Marines after graduating from Harvard University and Harvard Business School, was the lone Republican candidate who served in Iraq, and was an early darling of the Republican party, which chose him to oppose eight-term Democratic incumbent Chet Edwards. Vying for the district that includes president Bush’s Crawford ranch and that once claimed the most veterans per capita in the country, Taylor touted his military experience and “traditional family” values. Edwards highlighted his opposition to Bush’s tax cuts and his familiarity with the local political landscape. He criticized Taylor as an opportunistic newcomer to the district. Edwards won the contest 58 percent to 40 percent.
Tim Walz (D) MN 1st District A high school geography teacher who spent 24 years in the Army National Guard and served in Operation Enduring Freedom before retiring in 2005, Walz took on six-term Republican Gil Gutknecht. He didn’t draw much attention to his military service; instead, he stressed the need to unseat “career politicians” like Gutknecht, who three months ago renounced his early support for the war after saying he realized the situation in Iraq was much worse than he’d previously thought. Gutknecht was also dogged by accusations that he’d reneged on a 1995 pledge to serve no more than 12 years–and he lost to Walz 53 percent to 47 percent.
Chris Carney (D) PENN 10th District A Navy Lieutenant Commander, former intelligence analyst in Saudi Arabia, political science professor at Penn State and unabashed advocate for bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq, Carney proposed bringing back one American service member for every fully trained member of the Iraqi Security Forces. He ran against four-term Republican Don Sherwood, whose experience was overshadowed by his admission of an extramarital affair and allegations–which he denied–that he had choked his mistress. Carney defeated Sherwood 53 percent to 47 percent.
Joe Sestak (D) PENN 7th District A 31-year Navy vet who retired in 2006 after reaching the rank of Vice Admiral, Sestak commanded a coalition force of 30 ships and 15,000 soldiers on combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sestak calls the Iraq war a mistake, and said the US should pull its troops out of the country by the end of next year. He ran against scandal-plagued eight-term Republican incumbent Rep. Curt Weldon, who is under investigation by the Justice Department for possible trading of political influence in return for lobbying and business favors for his daughter. Sestak defeated Weldon 56 percent to 44 percent.
Eric Massa (D) NY 29th District A 24-year Navy veteran and former aide to Gen. Wesley Clark during Clark’s tenure as the NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Massa was the sole Iraq war veteran candidate with any political experience. A former Republican staffer on the House Armed Services Committee, Massa claimed he was forced to resign after criticizing the plan to invade Iraq, and he called for withdrawing U.S. troops within two years. Massa ran against one-term Republican Randy Kuhl in the rural 29th district in upstate New York. Kuhl, a supporter of Bush’s positions on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and of Bush’s tax cuts, defeated Massa 52 percent to 48 percent
