Mathew Carr

A record 752 veterans running (or ran) for Congress in the 2026 cycle, as billionaires and AI continue theft of country, destruction of democracy (1)

CarrZee asks: is this military insurgence into politics a good thing or bad? Why? reply in comments or to mathew@carrzee.net

Grok reply to my request for how many ex military are getting involved in politics:

c a r r z e e

In the US, With Honor Action tracks a record 752 veterans running (or who ran) for Congress in the 2026 cycle — up 47% from 2024. Includes incumbents + challengers across parties and all 50 states. Many post-9/11 vets.

In the UK, no central tracker like that exists. Serving armed forces members cannot stand for Parliament.

Veterans can and do run in locals, by-elections (like Makerfield) and Westminster races. After the 2024 general, 39 MPs had military backgrounds.

Voters decide in the end.

Horrific example of bad regulation bad policies and human rights abuse by tech bros / billionaires/ military industrial complex :

@theartificialintelligence on Instagram

ChatGPT:

There isn’t a definitive official count for all ex-U.S. military personnel running for any elected office in 2026, because thousands of races are taking place at the federal, state, and local levels.

For Congress, however, there is a recent estimate:

  • The bipartisan veterans’ organization  With Honor Action⁠Attachment.png reported that 752 military veterans are running for Congress (House and Senate) in 2026, a record number and a 47% increase from 2024. Those candidates are spread across all 50 states.  
  • Earlier reporting focusing mainly on competitive House races found at least 67 veteran candidates already running in targeted House contests (more than 50 Republicans and 17 Democrats), but that was only a partial count and has since been overtaken by broader data.  

For context, in the 2022 cycle, about 212 candidates for Congress or governor were veterans, according to a study by  Pew Research Center⁠.  

So if you’re asking about federal office, the best current estimate is roughly 750+ veterans running for Congress in 2026.  

If you’re interested, I can also  break that down by:

  • Attachment.png House vs. Senate,
  • Attachment.png Republican vs. Democratic veterans,
  • Attachment.png women veterans,
  • or Attachment.png identify the highest-profile veteran candidates this year.

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