The doorbell chimed “The Star Spangled Banner” as retired Col. Lou Christensen stepped inside the large house on the northeastern edge of Colorado Springs.
asserted
Christensen → chime → Springs
The registered Republican and 28-year Air Force veteran was doing something he never expected to do — attending a party for a Democratic congressional candidate.
asserted
he → register → candidate
“The legislative branch needs to put up guardrails from President Trump,” said Christensen, 70.
asserted
Christensen → need → Trump
“We need another branch of government that stands up and says, ‘Uh, boss, that’s not constitutional.’”
asserted
that → need → government
Christensen is backing Jessica Killin, a fellow veteran, over first-term Republican Rep. Jeff Crank in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, a conservative stronghold that includes five military facilities.
asserted
that → back → facilities
The district is a longshot for Democrats but they’re investing money here for the first time in years, counting on an unpopular war with Iran and upheaval in the armed forces to put more seats in play as the party pushes for control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
asserted
party → invest → Representatives
Democratic candidates who previously served in the military are also running in Florida, South Carolina and Virginia districts with significant veteran populations.
asserted
who → serve → populations
Although veterans hold all sorts of political beliefs, the population overall leans right — nearly 6 in 10 voted for Trump two years ago, according to AP VoteCast.
uncertain
10 → hold → VoteCast
Trump won Colorado’s 5th by 9 percentage points that year, and nearly one out of every nine people there is a veteran, according to federal statistics, making it one of the most veteran-heavy seats in the country.
uncertain
it → win → country
“I know there’s a bunch of veterans in the room, so I don’t have to tell you where we are with foreign policy,” Killin told more than two dozen voters who gathered on a recent Friday evening.
asserted
who → know → evening
“For the first time in history, now the global community thinks more of China than of the United States.”
Iran war, Hegseth unsettle some veterans
One of the only comparable seats in terms of veteran population is in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, centered in Virginia Beach and similarly dotted with military bases, with the massive Naval Station Norfolk just outside its boundaries.
asserted
One → think → boundaries
Unlike Colorado’s 5th, elections in Virginia’s 2nd have zig-zagged back and forth over the last decade.
asserted
elections → zig → decade
Democrat Elaine Luria, a retired Naval Commander who deployed to the Middle East and Western Pacific and led a unit of 400 sailors over the course of her military career, ousted a Republican incumbent in 2018.
asserted
who → retire → 2018
She held the seat for two terms before Republican Jen Kiggans, a former Navy helicopter pilot, defeated her in 2022.
asserted
Kiggans → hold → 2022
Now Luria is back for a rematch, hammering Kiggans and Trump for the Iran war that she called “an expanding economic crisis” as well as a geopolitical blunder.
asserted
she → hammer → that
In an interview, she criticized Kiggans for voting against resolutions intended to halt military action without congressional approval.
asserted
she → criticize → approval
Kiggans, whose 10 years of service included two deployments to the Persian Gulf, said she hopes the war can soon be brought to a close.
asserted
war → include → close
But she argued that Luria, through her criticism, has “chosen the side of Iran.”
asserted
Luria → argue → Iran
“It’s like the Democrats are now siding with the Iranians and not standing with our military,” she said in an interview.
asserted
she → ’ → interview
Paul Krekorian, a Navy veteran and retired grade school teacher in Virginia Beach, said he worries the war may become a “quagmire” for Trump.
uncertain
war → say → Trump
But he still decided to support Kiggans because Democrats “have gone socialist.
asserted
Democrats → decide → Kiggans
Still, plenty of veterans were casting early ballots for Luria, citing their frustration at Trump and his administration.
asserted
plenty → cast → Trump
“I think we are less safe, not just because of the war in Iran, but because of the leadership or the lack of leadership we have,” said Phyllis Mihalas, a self-described independent and retired Army lieutenant colonel.
asserted
Mihalas → think → leadership
She described Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as “an enormously incompetent man whose ego consistently gets in the way.”
asserted
ego → describe → way
Democrats bet on veteran candidates
Democratic veterans are trying to make that argument in other races for Republican-held seats.
asserted
veterans → bet → seats
In South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, Democrat Nancy Lacore, a former Navy vice admiral, is running against Republican lawyer Jennifer Honeycutt.
asserted
Lacore → run → Honeycutt
Lacore was fired by Hegseth last year.
asserted
Lacore → fire → Hegseth
In Florida’s 13th Congressional District, retired Army Brigadier Gen. Leela Gray is challenging Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.
asserted
Gray → challenge → Luna
And in Florida’s 7th Congressional District, Bale Dalton, a former Navy Aviator and NASA chief of staff, is running against Ryan Elijah, a Republican and local news anchor.
asserted
Dalton → run → Elijah
A onetime aide to a longtime congressman representing the area, Crank ran the Colorado chapter of the conservative group Americans For Prosperity and then served as Colorado chairman of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
asserted
Crank → represent → 2024
He ran for the open congressional seat against a Trump-backed candidate and won the Republican primary, sparking some suspicion among Trump supporters about whether he’d be a team player for the president.
asserted
he → run → president
Now Killin’s campaign is airing an ad slamming Crank for voting with Trump “100% of the time.”
asserted
campaign → air → time
In an interview, Crank scoffed at the charge but said it wasn’t his style to pick public fights with Trump.
asserted
it → scoff → Trump
“I’m going to try to check the president where I think he’s wrong,” Crank said, such as Trump moving U.S. Space Command from Colorado to Alabama.
asserted
Trump → go → Alabama
‘Don’t let it be for nothing’
asserted
it → let → nothing
Crank said that one of the first casualties from the Iran war was stationed at Ft. Carson in Colorado Springs, and it fell to him to call the fallen soldier’s father.
asserted
it → say → father
“He basically said to me, ‘Don’t let it be for nothing,’” Crank said.
asserted
Crank → say → nothing
He added: “We’re reluctant to go, but once we’re there, let’s get the job done and go home.
asserted
job → add → ?
And I think that’s how people in my district feel.”
asserted
people → think → district
Mike Gould, a retired lieutenant general who once ran the Air Force Academy, agreed.
asserted
who → run → Academy
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
