Common Defense Endorses Shaun McMillan for Fayetteville City Council

Fayetteville, NC – Today, Common Defense, the nation’s largest veteran‑led grassroots organization, announced its endorsement of Shaun McMillan for Fayetteville City Council, District 8. McMillan, a U.S. Army veteran and 2024 graduate of the Common Defense’s Veterans Organizing Institute (VOI), embodies the service‑driven, community-rooted leadership that Common Defense trains and empowers across the country. 

Common Defense represents more than 550,000 veterans, military family members, and civilian allies nationwide, including thousands who call North Carolina home. Veterans know exactly what real leadership requires: servant leadership, a true commitment to others, and the courage to stand up for their community. Shaun McMillan is prepared to live out those values in service to Fayetteville’s City Council.  

Jose Vasquez, U.S. Army veteran and Executive Director of Common Defense, released the following statement:

“Shaun is exactly the kind of veteran leader that Fayetteville deserves, he’s steady under pressure, accountable to his neighbors, and skilled at organizing people around solutions. Communities everywhere need bold, emerging leaders. Shaun is a proven organizer who has put in the work to serve Fayetteville with unwavering integrity and purpose. This city deserves a council member who can build trust, stand strong in adversity, and actively work to create equitable opportunities for everyone. Shaun is that veteran leader, and Common Defense is proud to stand with him.”

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Common Defense Civic Engagement (501c4) (CDCE) is a grassroots, veteran-led organization that was founded in 2016. We empower veterans to stand up for our communities against the rising tide of racism, hate, and violence, to organize against the entrenched powers that have rigged our economy, and to champion an equitable and representative democracy, where “liberty and justice” truly is for all. For too long, politicians from both political parties have attempted to use veterans as unwilling political props, and Common Defense serves as a home for veterans to organize and speak for themselves and support the candidates who truly share our values.