party stands for now are not representative of the values of the people in this district who have voted republican. reporter: recruitment of veterans like haguer was a concerting strategy by democrats. the majority of veterans in congress today are republican like martha mcsally, the military s first female fighter pilot. i m ready for that mission and i m honored for the opportunity. reporter: 2018 is seeing a surge of female democratic veterans like mikey cheryl. we have a lot of newly engaged people in this race and we have to get them to the polls. reporter: she is running in new jersey s 11th congressional district, a newly opened seat held by republicans for generations. i went to naval academy and was a helicopter pilot. in my final tour i was a russian policy officer. reporter: mother of four and former federal prosecutor she stands a strong chance at
the house of representatives, to be in the majority, to be the chair of the. democratic caucus in the majority. i m doing that job right now. i want to be the best chair of the democratic caucus i can be, help my colleague get reelected and help win back seats. that s the focus and goal of the entire democratic leadership. we are of one mind. we want to win back the house. that s goal one and the only goal right now. chris: one last question. there s one top democrat quoted saying at age 56, that you are now, that you are a spring chicken by creational standards. i ve had congressional standards. i ve had others say i m not a spring chicken at all. at the end of the day, we have a vibrant democratic caucus. we have incredibly talented young people. mikey cheryl, she was a navy grad, she s running for office in new jersey, i think of joe naguse running in l colorad. great people are running all