Washington’s greatest hope for political bipartisanship and action may be in the hands of the nation’s most lethal outfit — U.S. Navy SEALs.
In a show of political force never before seen, five retired SEALs are running for House seats in 2022, hoping to join Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw, who is expected to win a third term.
“We all believe Congress is a place where you can make a sizable impact, and I think that’s why a lot of us are trying to get there,” said first-time Republican candidate Eli Crane of Arizona, a winner on the Shark Tank investor TV show.
“I personally believe that Americans, and that includes people on the Left, are really looking for a group that they understand that they can intuitively trust to do something better,” said Derrick Van Orden, who nearly won in 2000 and who is again challenging Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Ron Kind in 2022.
The “old man” of the group, former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, a former Montana House member running to return to Congress, said that while they are all Republican Party faithful, the SEALs “caucus” could have an outsize impact on bridging the political gap in Washington.
“I’m gonna win,” said Zinke, already endorsed by former President Donald Trump. “But I guess I’m reluctant because I know what D.C. has become. It is fixable. If I didn’t think it was fixable, I wouldn’t do it. We got to learn to work together as a nation. I don’t think the biggest threats are Russia, China, or even Iran. I think it’s the division within this country,” he said from Kalispell, Montana.