From the Frontlines to the Ballot: The Rise of the Anti-War Veteran Insurgency

In the landscape of American electoral politics, the image of the “veteran candidate” has long been carefully curated by party establishments—often appearing as a stoic, centrist figure designed to appeal to moderate suburbanites and swing voters. However, a new cohort of candidates is dismantling that archetype. Leading the charge is Alex Scheel, a 38-year-old Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran who is mounting a progressive challenge against incumbent Rep. Marilyn Strickland in Washington’s 10th Congressional District.

Scheel’s candidacy is not an isolated experiment; it is part of a broader, tectonic shift within the Democratic Party. Drawing inspiration from the resounding June primary victory of Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner, Scheel and his peers are pivoting away from the traditional, establishment-backed veteran model. Instead, they are running on platforms of deep systemic critique, housing justice, and a staunchly anti-war foreign policy that openly challenges the Democratic status quo.

The Catalyst: A Shift in Political Consciousness

The momentum for this movement began to crystallize in June 2026, when Graham Platner, an oysterman and fellow veteran, secured a primary win that sent shockwaves through the political establishment. For Scheel, the victory was a proof-of-concept.

“Platner is an inspiration for this; he’s got a similar background to me with the veteran thing,” Scheel said in an interview with The Intercept. “I think Americans are so tired and disengaged. There’s hope for more left-wing candidates to challenge Trump and the corporate Democrats.”

Scheel’s background sets him apart from the typical congressional aspirant. A longtime member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), he has served in a variety of grassroots roles, including housing justice chair, secretary-treasurer, and campaign coordinator. This deep immersion in community organizing is the foundation upon which he is building his bid. He believes that his experience navigating the intricacies of local, member-driven politics gives him a distinct advantage over candidates who rely on top-down, party-sanctioned machinery.

A Chronology of Radicalization: From Interrogator to Organizer

To understand Scheel’s political trajectory, one must look back to his formative years in the military. Born in San Diego in 1987 and raised in northern Michigan, Scheel enlisted in 2007. His service as an interrogator in Iraq and later in intelligence in Afghanistan did not result in a hardening of nationalist fervor; rather, it initiated a process of profound personal transformation.

Scheel recounts his time in the field as an experience of "radicalization." By engaging with the people he was tasked to interrogate, he found himself breaking through the dehumanizing rhetoric of the war effort. He specifically remembers an interaction with a man named Muthanna, who detailed the devastation of the U.S. invasion: the bombing of essential infrastructure, the loss of family members, and the systemic imprisonment of local men.

“He was painting this horrible picture,” Scheel recalled. “I had enough empathy to put myself in his spot and go, ‘Holy shit, I would do the exact same thing. I would join any sort of group that tried to defend my country and my family and friends.’”

Following his discharge in 2014, Scheel moved to Washington state to attend Evergreen State College. His transition from soldier to activist occurred during the "Tiki tenants" struggle in Tacoma, where he fought against the displacement of vulnerable, elderly, and disabled residents. This experience cemented his belief that the government’s rhetoric regarding "democracy" often serves as a smokescreen for domestic and international exploitation.

Supporting Data: The Veteran Wave

The trend of veterans entering the political fray is statistically significant. According to data from the advocacy group With Honor, 2026 has witnessed a 47 percent increase in candidates with military backgrounds compared to the 2024 cycle—with 752 candidates running for Congress to date, up from 513.

While the Democratic establishment has historically recruited veterans to flip red seats—often failing, as seen in the high-profile losses of Amy McGrath in Kentucky, MJ Hegar in Texas, and Marcus Flowers in Georgia—this new wave is fundamentally different. These candidates are not looking to court the center; they are looking to mobilize the base.

The success of DSA-aligned candidates in recent primaries in Colorado and New York suggests that the electorate is increasingly receptive to candidates who are willing to challenge the entrenched power structures of their own party. For Scheel, the primary contest on August 4 is not merely about winning a seat; it is about proving that a working-class, anti-war platform can outperform the well-funded, corporate-aligned moderate model.

The Case Against the Establishment

Scheel’s campaign is positioning itself in direct opposition to Rep. Marilyn Strickland, a member of the moderate New Democrat Coalition. The friction between the two highlights the growing ideological rift within the Democratic Party.

The incumbent, Strickland, provides a clear foil for Scheel’s anti-war platform. Her 2024 trip to Israel, sponsored by the American Israel Education Foundation (an arm of AIPAC), has become a central point of criticism for Scheel and other challengers like Adam Arafat. Arafat, another veteran in the race, has explicitly stated his refusal to accept corporate or AIPAC funding—a move that underscores a growing trend of rejecting the influence of special interest money in Democratic primaries.

Scheel’s critique of the party establishment is blunt: he argues that the Democratic Party has failed to deliver on the fundamental promises required to counter the rise of right-wing populism. “This last presidential campaign failed because they didn’t deliver on their promises to fight Trump and to make the country a better place,” Scheel noted. “Standard of living is horrible, affordability is horrible, and it shows in their polling. Their polling is almost as bad if not worse as Trump.”

Implications: A New Way Forward?

The path ahead for Scheel is undeniably steep. He faces an incumbent with approximately $800,000 in campaign cash on hand and the full support of the local party apparatus. Scheel, conversely, has raised roughly $5,000. However, he is betting that the grassroots energy he has cultivated as an organizer will outweigh the financial disparity.

The outcome of the August 4 jungle primary will provide a vital test for the future of the American left. In the jungle primary system, the top two finishers—regardless of party—advance to the November general election. If Scheel can overcome the establishment’s structural advantages, he would force a broader conversation about the party’s direction.

The implications for the Democratic Party are clear. If it continues to prioritize moderate, establishment candidates who are seen as disconnected from the material struggles of the working class, it risks further alienating the very base it needs to succeed. Conversely, the success of "insurgent" veterans like Scheel and Platner signals that a new generation of leaders is emerging—one that is forged in the fires of foreign intervention and domestic struggle, and one that is unwilling to settle for the status quo.

As Scheel puts it: “People are hungry for normal, regular, working-class people to step up and say, ‘If we get together, we can build power, and we can make America, we can make the world a better, safer, peaceful place.’ Whether it’s Mainers or whether it’s Washingtonians, we don’t want the same old neoliberal politics.”

Whether or not this movement can translate electoral frustration into lasting institutional power remains to be seen. But in the 10th Congressional District, the battle lines have been drawn, and the traditional playbook of the Democratic Party is, for the first time in a long time, being aggressively rewritten.