Category: Military Veteran

Sandy Adams
Sandy Adams


Sandy Adams represented Florida's 24th Congressional District from January 2011 to January 2013. Adams was born December 14, 1956, in Wyandotte, Michigan, into a military family. At the age of 17, Adams left high school and enrolled in the military. After her service, she received her GED, going on to graduate from the police academy. In 2000, she received a B.A. in criminal justice administration from Columbia College - Orlando. Adams served 17 years as the deputy sheriff in the Orange County (Florida) Sheriff's Office. She became an advocate for […]
Jennifer Carroll
Jennifer Carroll


Jennifer Carroll, Florida's 18th lieutenant governor, served from January 2011 to March 2013. She is the state's first black American and first woman elected as lieutenant governor, and the first black person elected to statewide office in Florida since Reconstruction. Carroll was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, West Indies, on August 27, 1959. She immigrated to the United States when she was eight. Following her graduation from Uniondale High School in New York, she enlisted in the U.S. Navy. After 20 years of service, she retired as a lieutenant […]
Tammy Duckworth
Tammy Duckworth


Tammy Duckworth assumed office in the U.S. Senate for the state of Illinois in January 2017. She is the first female military veteran elected to the Senate as a Democrat, joining Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA). In 2018, Duckworth became the first Senator to give birth while serving in office. Prior to being elected senator, Duckworth served in the U.S. House of Representatives for Illinois' 8th District from 2013 to 2017. She was the first woman with a disability elected to Congress and the first member of Congress born in Thailand. […]
Joni Ernst
Joni Ernst


Joni Ernst assumed office in the U.S. Senate in 2015, the first woman from Iowa elected to either house of Congress and the Senate's first female combat veteran. Ernst was born on July 1, 1970, in Red Oak, Iowa. She earned a bachelor's degree from Iowa State University in 1992 and has a master's degree from Columbus College (now Columbus State University) in 1995. Ernst served a combined 23 years with the United States Army Reserve and the Iowa Army National Guard, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel. From 2003 […]
Tulsi Gabbard
Tulsi Gabbard


Tulsi Gabbard assumed office as the representative for Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District in 2013, the first American Samoan Congresswoman and first practicing Hindu member of Congress. In February 2019, she announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States, the first female combat veteran to run for U.S. president. She suspended her presidential campaign on March 19, 2020. Gabbard was born on April 12, 1981, in Leloaloa, American Samoa. She received a B.S.B.A. in business administration from Hawaii Pacific University in 2009. Her father, Mike Gabbard, […]
Jenean Hampton
Jenean Hampton


On November 8, 2015, Jenean Hampton assumed office as Kentucky’s lieutenant governor, the first African-American in Kentucky history to hold statewide office. Hampton earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Wayne State University in 1985 and a master's in business administration from the University of Rochester. After graduating from Wayne State University, she served for seven years as a computer systems officer in the United States Air Force, attaining the rank of captain. After her service in the Air Force, Hampton worked in the corrugated packaging industry while earning […]
MJ Hegar
MJ Hegar


Mary "MJ" Hegar announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate from Texas in April 2019. Hegar was the 2018 Democratic nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives for Texas' 31st Congressional District, losing to incumbent John Carter. Hegar was born in 1976 in Connecticut and moved to Texas at age seven. She received a Bachelor of Arts in 1999 and an Executive M.B.A. in 2016, both from the University of Texas at Austin. While an undergraduate student, Hegar was vice wing commander of Detachment 825 AFROTC […]
Christina “Chrissy” Houlahan
Christina "Chrissy" Houlahan


Christina "Chrissy" Houlahan assumed office as the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District on Jan. 3, 2019. Houlahan was born June 5, 1967, at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, and spent her childhood on various U.S. naval bases in the U.S. because of her father's career as a naval aviator. She earned a Bachelor of Science in engineering from Stanford University in 1989 and a Master of Science in technology and policy from the the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1994. After graduating from Stanford, Houlahan […]
Gina Ortiz Jones
Gina Ortiz Jones


Gina Ortiz Jones was the 2018 Democratic nominee for Texas' 23rd congressional district. She is an American Iraq War veteran and intelligence officer. Attending college on an ROTC scholarship, Ortiz Jones earned a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian studies and Master of Arts in economics from Boston College in 2003. She later earned a master's degree in military arts and sciences at the U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies of the United States Army Command and General Staff College. After college, Ortiz Jones joined the U.S. Air Force […]
Elaine Luria
Elaine Luria


Elaine Luria assumed office as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 2nd Congressional District on Jan. 3, 2019. Luria was born on August 15, 1975, in Birmingham, Alabama. She earned a Bachelor of Science in physics and history at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1997 and a Master of Engineering Management at Old Dominion University in 2004. She served in the U.S. Navy from 1997 to 2017, reaching the rank of commander. She is owner of a small business called Mermaid Factory. For information on Luria's policy subject areas, committee appointments […]