By David Alexander

WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) - When former CIA operative Valerie Plame testified at a congressional hearing bristling with TV cameras, Midge Potts was right there, a distracting figure in a shocking pink shirt emblazoned with "Impeach Bush Now."

She's been ejected, arrested and detained for protests demanding U.S. troops leave Iraq, but that hasn't deterred the Gulf War veteran, former Republican congressional candidate and transgender woman.

"We shouldn't be afraid to vocalize our opinion to our elected leaders," said Potts, one of several members of the Code Pink anti-war group who frequently show up for congressional hearings and debates on Iraq.

Now she and the group are aggressively targeting Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and other presidential contenders they believe have failed to push for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.

"Neither Obama or Hillary Clinton are peace candidates at this point," Potts said. "They're not showing any good faith to really end the war now."

For the 38-year-old Potts, anti-war sentiments began to surface while serving in the U.S. Navy during the first Gulf War. She was Mitchell Eugene Potts then, and worked on the USS Yosemite, a destroyer tender, calibrating pressure gauges.

"I was proud to be in the military," she said. "But I did wonder why we were there and what we were doing, especially when it seemed like we were occupying the Persian Gulf after."

Potts inhaled evaporated mercury in a pressure gauge accident in a hot engine room shortly before her tour of duty was up. She began to suffer from migraines and emotional problems.

After failing to get the treatment she needed, Potts said she was offered an honorable discharge and took it.

A judge ultimately awarded her disability benefits under the Social Security program, and that pays her living expenses now while she spends long days as an anti-war activist on Capitol Hill.

Potts married after being discharged from the Navy and fathered a daughter, now 7, but the marriage ended in divorce in 2003. She began dressing and living as a woman full time after that.

"It's been about four years since I've really been living as a woman," she said. "Although I've always felt like this. I felt like a little girl when I was a kid."

She began protesting with Code Pink after the start of the war in Afghanistan and before the invasion of Iraq.

CHALLENGES TOP REPUBLICAN

Then last year she challenged Rep. Roy Blunt, the House Republican whip, in the Republican primary for a congressional seat in southwestern Missouri.

"I ran as a Republican during the last election because I'm a fiscal conservative definitely," said Potts, who is from Springfield, Missouri.

She campaigned as the first openly transgender candidate in the state and changed her name to Midgelle Regina Potts. She said she was initially concerned about campaigning in some areas, but her worries proved unfounded.

"Maybe one in a thousand people would have something derogatory to say to me," she said.

She finished third, with about 7 percent of the vote.

"I was a little disappointed. I was going for at least 10 percent. I really worked hard," Potts said. "I went all over southwest Missouri to talk to farmers, went to Fourth of July things, went and talked to Republican functions. I was pretty well received in general."

She is mulling another run in 2008, this time on the progressive party ticket. Meanwhile, she has been trying to make her voice heard in Congress even though not a member.

She has interrupted testimony by Henry Kissinger, shouted questions at Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker during a hearing and spoken up from the gallery at the close of a Senate debate.

"I walked up and said, 'The American people voted against the war in Iraq. Bring the troops home now. Take care of them when they get here,'" Potts said.

That got her arrested on charges of disrupting Congress. Potts said she faces a May 15 court date and could get up to six months in jail and a $500 fine if she loses her jury trial.

"It's a small price to pay really," she said. "I got to represent myself in Congress."

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