Three former Navy SEALs win elections as governor and members of U.S. Congress

In an election night that saw Republicans sweep political races in the state of Missouri, all the way up and down the ballot, former Navy SEAL Eric Greitens (pictured above) became became just the THIRD former Team guy to ascend to the office of chief executive of an American state, following in the footsteps of Jesse Ventura, the former governor of Minnesota, and Bob Kerry, the former Governor of Nebraska.

Greitens beat his Democratic opponent, Missouri’s Attorney General, Chris Koster, to surprise the Show Me state in a race that favored Koster most of the way through.  According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the 42-year old Greitens will become the 56th governor of Missouri when he succeeds Democrat Jay Nixon in January.  He won with approximately 52 percent of the vote.

Greitens was not the only former SEAL to win an election victory on November 8th, as a former Assault Team Leader at the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (NSWDG), Ryan Zinke, also won re-election as the (only) congressman for Montana in the House of Representatives.  He will now serve a second term in that office, as a Republican.