FL-SEN: Florida Dems play up midterm candidates with military cred

It’s part of a midterm trend nationwide and in Florida, as Democrats try to inch the state back to battleground status — and, more broadly, take back control of Congress. Democrats have actively recruited centrist candidates with military backgrounds, some of whom didn’t ascribe to a party until recently. In the Senate race and several House elections, numerous ex-military Democrats are jumping into politics for the first time.

After enduring several election cycles of stark defeats by Republicans, the noticeable shift shows Democrats have come into Florida this cycle with a strategy of focusing on candidate quality and message. It’s similar to 2018, when Democrats flipped the House during Trump’s first term. That Democratic class of 2018 included former Reps. Abigail Spanberger, Mikie Sherrill, Andy Kim and Elissa Slotkin — all of whom had national security and military backgrounds and now serve as senators or governors.

But testing the strategy in Florida — which has 1.4 million veterans, but has become a place where Democrats have lost significant ground — is another matter entirely.

“Honestly, Florida was not on our bingo card this cycle when we first started out,” said Emily Cherniack, founder of the New Politics organization that recruits and advises candidates with public-service backgrounds.



https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/13/florida-dems-play-up-candidates-with-military-cred-00778126