Pete Hegseth is no obscure Cabinet official, and that is becoming a serious political problem for Republicans. While many recent Pentagon leaders remained largely unknown outside Washington, Hegseth has built a much larger public profile, though hardly the kind an administration would want.

The question surrounding the War Secretary is no longer simply whether he is failing at his job. The evidence of incompetence is overwhelming, and recent polling shows that his troubles have damaged his standing with the public.

A CNN poll released less than a month ago put Hegseth’s approval rating at just 34%. That dismal result placed the former Fox News host alongside President Donald Trump, who selected him for the Cabinet.

The same CNN survey also found that Hegseth had weaker support among Republicans than other prominent administration officials. Even within the party responsible for putting him in power, his standing appears notably shaky.

Those findings followed a Quinnipiac University poll in which only 32% of Americans approved of Hegseth’s performance. A striking 57% disapproved of how the War Secretary was handling his job.

The movement in those numbers has been especially grim for Hegseth. One month before the war with Iran began, his net approval rating was 9 points underwater, but by the middle of September, it had fallen to 25 points underwater.

With Hegseth becoming something of a national joke, Democrats are beginning to use his sinking popularity in their midterm campaign messaging. The New York Times reported that the strategy has become increasingly visible during the final weeks of the congressional fight.

Voter opposition to the war with Iran has become a major issue in that battle. Democrats are portraying Hegseth, one of Trump’s most recognizable Cabinet officials and a visible cheerleader for the deeply unpopular war, as a liability for Republicans trying to hold their seats.

Not every Democratic candidate has made Hegseth central to the midterms, but enough have done so for the approach to attract attention. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries made the message unmistakable during a campaign rally last week.

“One of the first things we’re going to do in the majority, we’re going to run Pete Hegseth out of town,” Jeffries declared. The promise offered Democrats a sharp way to connect their campaign for control of the House with Hegseth’s poor standing.

Hegseth has drawn particular attention from Democratic candidates who served in the military and are running in districts with strong ties to the armed forces. Their criticism targets both his qualifications and his conduct as the leader of the Pentagon.

Leela Gray, a retired Army brigadier general challenging Representative Anna Paulina Luna in Florida, has called Hegseth an “unqualified frat boy.” Cait Conley, an Army combat veteran challenging Representative Mike Lawler in a competitive New York district, has called him a “disgrace.”

JoAnna Mendoza, a retired Marine running against Representative Juan Ciscomani in Arizona, has criticized Hegseth’s treatment of women in the military. In South Carolina, retired Navy admiral Nancy Lacore has also made his Pentagon leadership an issue in her congressional campaign.

Lacore, who held three star rank, was removed by Hegseth as chief of the Navy Reserve last year. He did not publicly explain why he removed her, and she is now putting his leadership before voters as part of her campaign.

The situation is historically unusual because Hegseth’s recent predecessors did not command anything close to his level of mainstream attention. Lloyd Austin, Mark Esper, James Mattis and Ash Carter were not widely known during their tenures, making them far less useful as characters in campaign attack ads.

Hegseth, by contrast, is highly recognizable, deeply unpopular and closely associated with a war that polls show voters oppose. Whether the Democratic tactic works will become clear soon, but his public visibility has already given the party an unusually prominent target for its midterm message.