THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

Three Annapolis graduates are poised at the forefront of a new wave of Democratic politics. Hoping to leverage their military success into political success, these three women, building on the energy of the Women's March to become the first female Annapolis graduates in Congress. And they have the decency to be Democrats.

Their military journeys began at the United States Naval Academy, where Ms. Luria and Ms. McGrath were plebes together when Ms. Sherrill was a senior.

Now they are on a mission that no female Annapolis graduate has accomplished: to win seats in Congress.

A powerful wave of political activism is animating women in the era of President Trump, stoked by women’s marches and the movement to expose sexual misconduct. More than 390 women are running for Congress, a record number, and they are overwhelmingly Democrats.

But the three Naval Academy graduates, all Democrats themselves, are offering something that breaks through — the kind of military credentials and academy service that have propelled men to office since the founding of the country. And they are running in swing districts where military service is likely to resonate and where Democrats must win to wrest control of the House from Republicans.

“It’s incredibly important that I decided to serve my country before deciding to run for office,” said Ms. Sherrill, whose path to the House became easier on Monday when her Republican opponent, Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, announced his retirement. “That shows where my center is.”

But Democrats have the trickier task — flipping enough seats in often gerrymandered Republican districts to take the House. Ms. Luria is running in the Tidewater Region of Virginia, home to the world’s largest naval base and the headquarters of the Christian Broadcasting Network. If she wins her primary race, she is likely to face Representative Scott Taylor, a freshman Republican with his own military credential, as a Navy SEAL.

The district where Ms. McGrath is running in Kentucky sprawls across 19 rural and urban counties that include Lexington. But her contest, even with her compelling background, might be the toughest of the three. Many Democrats in Washington prefer her primary opponent, Jim Gray, the mayor of Lexington, who is better known and can fund much of the race with his own money.

Ms. McGrath has gained a measure of celebrity with an initial campaign video highlighting her military experience and her criticism of Mr. Trump. It has attracted more than one million page views and, more important, generated more than $1 million in campaign contributions.

The New Jersey district that Ms. Sherrill is running in went for Mr. Trump by less than a percentage point, then voted for the new Democratic governor, Phil Murphy.

All three women lean heavily on their military backgrounds to promote their campaigns, with photos in uniform dominating their websites. But they also share the challenges of any first-time candidate: raising money, building an organization and avoiding rookie mistakes.

Facing opposition not only from Republicans but the Democratic establishment which has its own order of whose turn it is to run for an office, it is all uphill for them. But they faced that before when they entered the Naval Academy. The Democratic Party would do well to foster more candidates like these three.