Security Democrats (United States Congress)

Security Democrats, also National-Security Democrats, is the informal name for a group of seven people elected in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections, made up of Gil Cisneros of California, Jason Crow of Colorado, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Elaine Luria of Virginia, Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia. All have military or intelligence backgrounds.[1][2] In addition, Politico lists Max Rose of New York and Jared Golden of Maine as members, which would make a total of nine members.[3] Each of their districts is moderate and perceived as quite possibly being lost to Republicans in 2020.[2] The group represents centrist Democrat view focused on national security. All of the won seats previously controlled by Republicans.[1][4] The female members refer to themselves as "the badass women".[3]

Security Democrats:

• Gil Cisneros, CA-39
• Jason Crow, CO-6
• Chrissy Houlahan, PA-6
• Elaine Luria, VA-2
• Mikie Sherrill, NJ-11
• Elissa Slotkin, MI-8
• Abigail Spanberger, VA-7

History and beliefs

The beliefs and political philosophies of the Security Democrats are defined by their national service in the intelligence or military fields. None of them are career politicians. Their focus and goal is to be a solid group that defends the Constitution of the United States. The core seven members jointly wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post on 23 September 2019 that stated their belief that President Donald Trump used pressure and taxpayer money to try to force Ukraine into investigating his political opponents and that his actions are a major threat to the security of the United States. If these allegations are true, they believe impeachment was warranted.[1][2] Thirty minutes after the publication of this op-ed Luria was on the set of the The Rachel Maddow Show.[2] Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry the day after they published an op-ed in the Washington Post. Trump was eventually impeached by the House of Representatives but not convicted by the Senate.[4] Considering that most of them won Republican districts by slim margins, the publication of this op-ed showed they were earnest in their beliefs because it put their political careers and reputations on the line.[5] Crow was one of seven House managers of the impeachment.[6]

They are well-acquainted with each other, meeting, dining, and group chatting together and their families know each other.[2] According to Benjamin Wallace-Wells of The New Yorker, they are a trustworthy, steadfast, earnest and "Eagle Scout sort of group".[2] One of their top goals is to wrest control of national security and foreign policy from Republicans. They also feel there is too much focus on the The Squad, another group of freshmen Democrats elected in 2018.[3] As a whole, the group works towards bipartisanship and supporting current and former military members. However, they do not always agree on issues. Only Cisneros, Houlahan and Luria supported Pelosi for House Speaker in January 2019.[3]

Membership

Member	Born	District	Party		Prior experience	Education	Assumed office
Gil Cisneros	February 12, 1971 (age 49) Los Angeles, California	California 39		Democratic	United States Navy	George Washington University (BA) Regis University (MBA) Brown University (MA)	2019
Jason Crow	March 15, 1979 (age 41) Madison, Wisconsin	Colorado 6		Democratic	United States Army	University of Wisconsin, Madison (BA) University of Denver (JD)	2019
Chrissy Houlahan	January 5, 1967 (age 53) Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland	Pennsylvania 6		Democratic	United States Air Force	Stanford University (BS) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS)	2019
Elaine Luria	August 15, 1975 (age 44) Birmingham, Alabama	Virginia 2		Democratic	United States Navy	United States Naval Academy (BS) Old Dominion University (MS)	2019
Mikie Sherrill	January 19, 1972 (age 48) Alexandria, Virginia	New Jersey 11		Democratic	United States Navy	United States Naval Academy	2019
Elissa Slotkin	January 10, 1976 (age 44) New York City, New York	Michigan 8		Democratic	Central Intelligence Agency	Cornell University (BA) Columbia University (MIA)	2019
Abigail Spanberger	August 7, 1979 (age 41) Red Bank, New Jersey	Virginia 7		Democratic	Central Intelligence Agency	University of Virginia (BA) Purdue University (MBA)	2019

See also

• Women in the United States House of Representatives

References

1. Cisneros, Gil; Crow, Jason; Houlahan, Chrissy; Luria, Elaine; Sherrill, Mikie; Slotkin, Elissa; Spanberger, Abigail (23 September 2019). "Seven freshman Democrats: These allegations are a threat to all we have sworn to protect". Washington Post. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
2. Wallace-Wells, Benjamin (28 September 2019). "How the Security Democrats Came Around to Impeachment". The New Yorker. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
3. Bender, Bryan; O'Brien, Connor (2 August 2019). "The 'gang' of national security Democrats seeking to check Trump's power". Politico. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
4. Wallace-Wells, Benjamin (21 December 2019). "The Political Education of the Security Democrats". The New Yorker. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
5. Clevenger, Andrew; Oswald, Rachel (10 January 2020). "Freshman national security Democrats seize political moment". Rollcall. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
6. Gonzales, Nathan L. (28 January 2020). "Fate of 'national security Democrats' provides key to House majority". Rollcall. Retrieved 18 July 2020.