WASHINGTON — A total of 258 veterans were on the ballot in congressional races Tuesday, a 21% increase from two years ago, according to the nonprofit group With Honor Action.

With some races still not decided, at least 70 veterans were elected as of the morning of Nov. 6, including 40 Republicans and 30 Democrats, the group said.

They will join 10 veterans in the Senate who were not up for re-election.

Among the new members is Democrat Zach Dembo, a former Navy Judge Advocate General officer who flipped a red seat blue in central Kentucky’s sixth congressional district.

He won by 10 points, according to unofficial results.

“One of the biggest things we have in this campaign, as you all know, was being opposed to this war in Iran,” Dembo told Spectrum News on election night. “Very clearly, the people of Central Kentucky are opposed, too, so it's my job to make sure their voice is heard.”

The Democratic Party has tried in recent years to recruit and support military veterans to run for Congress, hoping to appeal to independent and conservative voters in swing districts.

That effort paid off several times on Tuesday.

In central New Jersey, Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot, defeated Republican Rep. Thomas Kean Jr.

In New York’s lower Hudson Valley, Army veteran Cait Conley defeated Republican Congressman Mike Lawler.

At least 16 freshmen in the new Congress will be veterans, and at least 12 women veterans will be in the House and Senate -- a record, up from nine in the current Congress, according to With Honor Action.

“On Tuesday, voters sent a more evenly divided class of Republican and Democratic veterans to Washington, and helped produce the most women veterans ever to serve at one time,” With Honor Co-Founder and CEO Rye Barcott said in a statement. “Many of them came up through a military that didn’t always make room for them. They earned it anyway.”

Key priorities outlined by House Veterans' Affairs Committee Democrats include:

• Major Richard Star Act: Top Democrat Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) initiated a discharge petition to force a vote on the bill (H.R. 2102), which would allow combat-injured, medically retired veterans to receive both military retirement pay and VA disability compensation without an offset (ending the "wounded warrior tax").

• Protecting Earned Benefits: Democrats aim to defend the VA home loan program, combat unaccredited "claims sharks" who exploit veterans seeking benefits assistance, and oppose Republican-led proposals like the Taking Benefits from America's Veterans Act, which seeks to cut billions from disability compensation for conditions like tinnitus and sleep apnea.

• VA Healthcare and Community Care: Democrats plan to scrutinize network delays, denials, and privatization trends in VA Community Care while working to strengthen direct care services inside VA medical facilities.

• Oversight and Accountability: Committee Democrats intend to investigate VA leadership, contractor spending, electronic health record modernization, and staffing cuts or vacancies resulting from federal workforce actions.

• Honoring the PACT Act: Democrats pledge ongoing defense and implementation support for the PACT Act—the landmark legislation expanding health care and benefits for toxic-exposed veterans—alongside targeted efforts to combat veteran homelessness.

The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star-systems will slip through your fingers.