House Democrats have recruited about 20 military vets to run in 2018 in their effort to reclaim a majority, The New York Times reported.
And another 15 are expected to announce their intention to run as Democrats later this summer, the Times reported.
Democrats think a different type of candidate — if not a new message — is key in next year's midterms, offering up vets as an appealing alternative to career politicians, the Times reported.
Further, running vets rebuts the attitude that Democrats are soft on national security.
"If you look at the type of fear-mongering and scare-mongering that Republicans do quite often when it comes to national security, quite unfairly, there is a strong patriotism that comes with being a veteran that makes those kinds of attacks fall flat and even backfire," John Lapp, former executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told the Times.
The Democrats need a net gain of 24 seats to take back the House and must be aggressive in red states to get that number.
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