VoteVets.org, a political action committee that seeks to elect military veterans to public office, has endorsed Tulsi Gabbard in her race for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District, representing rural Oahu and the neighbor islands.

"To earn the endorsement and support of my fellow veterans means more to me than any other endorsement because they know who I am," Gabbard, a captain in the Army National Guard, said Monday. "They are brave men and women who really are true heroes and who know what it means to sacrifice and put their lives on the line for the people of Hawaii and our country."

Gabbard, a Democrat and former state representative who is in her first term on the Honolulu City Council, was deployed to Iraq in 2004 and to Kuwait in 2008.

She is running for the 2nd Congressional District seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono. Also in the race is former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, former Office of Hawaiian Affairs Chief Advocate Esther Kiaaina, Honolulu attorney Rafael del Castillo and Hawaii island attorney Bob Marx.

VoteVets.org says it has raised and spent more than $30 million since its inception in 2006.