Next mission for women with military service: Run for office

WASHINGTON — A dragon winds around a cherry tree in the tattoo across MJ Hegar’s arm and back, over the shrapnel wounds she had, at one point, not wanted to see with her young children around. “It’s such a logical next step for people who are committed to this country and are committed to service.” But their campaigns highlight a set of political concerns specific to female veterans. “I hope that they take away that we have to start putting our faith in people who have a history of putting other people first, fighting against intimidation and bullying, and trying to do the right thing.” Air Force veteran Gina Ortiz Jones, the Democratic nominee for a House seat in West Texas, hopes her active military duty and intelligence work will “neutralize this perceived strength” of Republicans as strong on security issues. Pennsylvania’s Chrissy Houlahan, a retired Air Force officer and now a congressional candidate, said she cringed more than once when a male colonel “used blonde jokes” to introduce her for presentations to superior officers. In the 1990s, she said, speaking out when she felt sexually harassed “would really have impacted the way I was treated in the squadron.” But these days, with a generation of women retiring from the military and a record number running for Congress, “it’s become a lot easier to talk about these things,” she said.