20% of candidates for Congress report military experience
It's a far cry from the 1970’s when nearly 70% of Congress had a military background.
Introduction
At BallotReady, we gather and analyze information on tens of thousands of candidates running for office across the United States each cycle, including reported work experience.
Thus far this year, about 20% of Congressional candidates have reported military experience, which is about in line with the 2020 and 2022 cycles.
In this analysis, we take a deeper dive into the 2022 midterm slate of candidates in particular where we compiled experience records for nearly 50,000 distinct candidates. Among these, over 3,000 candidates reported having military experience, representing approximately 6.5% of the total.
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Slight increase in federal candidates with military experience from 2020
Of candidates who reported any experience in 2022, the highest concentration of military experience was among federal and state candidates. Over 20% of federal level candidates who reported experience had military experience, as well as over 10% of state level candidates.
These rates are in line with recent cycles, however, represent a noticeable departure from the Congressional makeups of the 20th century.
Less than 10% of both Republican and Democratic candidates had military experience
Both Republicans and Democrats ran a small share of military members across our government during the 2022 cycle. In fact, despite the party’s stated opposition to high defense spending, Libertarians represented by far the largest share of candidates with military experience.
Candidates with military experience have a high win rate
By comparing our candidate data with our officeholder results, we find that candidates with reported military experience have a significant win rate advantage. However, according to our data, this is also true for candidates who report work experience generally versus candidates who do not.