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Tag: house republicans
Maria Elvira Salazar

Six More! Democrats Again Expand House Battleground As GOP Decline Worsens

With less than a month to go to the midterm elections, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Monday announced that it added six more candidates to its “Red to Blue” program, which gives financial and organizational support to top-tier Democratic nominees in Republican-held House districts.

All six candidates sit in districts President Donald Trump carried by double-digit margins in 2024. But as the bottom falls out for Trump and the GOP, with even Republicans abandoning the party amid frustration with the rising cost of living and the boondoggle of a war in Iran, Democrats now view these seats as winnable thanks to both the political environment and the strength of their candidates.

The candidates the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added to the “Red to Blue” program include:

  • Chris Jones, an ordained minister who is running against GOP Rep. French Hill in Arkansas’ 2nd District. Trump won this district by 15.5 percentage points in 2024. But like other areas with large agricultural sectors, Trump’s tariffs and war in Iran have hit the district’s residents hard, putting a seat like this in play.
  • Dwayne Romero, an Army engineer running in Colorado’s 3rd against Republican Rep. Jeff Hurd. Trump won this district by 9.7 points in 2024. A super PAC affiliated with Trump is spending in this seat, which means they have data showing it is at risk.
  • Former television news anchor Eliott Rodriguez, who is running against GOP Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar in Florida’s Miami-based 27th District. Trump carried the seat by nearly 15 points in 2024. But his cruel immigration agenda and his poor handling of the economy has caused Hispanic voters to swing hard to Democrats in polling from this cycle, imperiling Salazar’s reelection hopes. Indeed, Salazar herself is so worried that she cut an ad (lightly) denouncing Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts.
  • Former Nevada state Assembly Majority Leader Teresa Benitez-Thompson, who is running against Republican David Flippo in Nevada’s 2nd District, a seat Trump won by 13.9 points in 2024. Established in 1983, the district has never been held by a Democrat, but Benitez-Thompson is a moderate Democrat running against Flippo, who is so odious that the district’s retiring Republican congressman has refused to support Flippo’s campaign. Polls show the race is close. And Trump is reportedly planning to hold a rally in the district, though that might not be helpful at a time when his approval rating is in the toilet.
  • Blake Gendebien, a dairy farmer running against Republican Anthony Constantino in New York’s 21st District. Trump won the seat—held by retiring Rep. Elise Stefanik—by nearly 21 points in 2024. But as far back as last year, Republicans saw seats like this slipping away, with Trump reneging on his decision to nominate Stefanik to his Cabinet over fears her district could flip to Democrats in a special election. What’s more, Constantino, the GOP nominee, is a Trump-obsessed lunatic who gets into petty social media feuds, making him a poor nominee.
  • Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson, who is running against Republican Brent Taylor in the Volunteer State’s 9th District, which the GOP corruptly redrew to make it unwinnable for Democrats. Trump won the newly redrawn seat by 21.1 points in 2024. But Democrats view Pearson as a strong recruit who could overcome the gerrymander.
“The candidates added to our Red to Blue program today are winning over voters with their message of lowering costs—from gas and groceries to health care and housing,” DCCC Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) said in a news release. “At a time when so many families are struggling to pay the bills, Americans deserve representatives who will actually fight to make their lives better. Less than one month out from Election Day, voters are ready to turn the page on House Republicans’ broken promises and elect Democrats to the House Majority.”

The DCCC’s expansion of its “Red to Blue” program comes a few days after the committee said it was investing in eight other House seats Trump carried by double digits.

Meanwhile, as Democrats go on offense, Republicans are starting to abandon GOP incumbents it now views as DOA in November. CNN reported on Saturday that the National Republican Congressional Committee is in talks to pull out of New Jersey’s 7th District, where GOP Rep. Tom Kean Jr. looks like toast thanks to his infamous disappearing act.

CNN also reported that Republicans are also mulling the abandonment of Iowa’s 1st District, represented by Republican Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks, who is trailing Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan in polls.

Both seats are projected to flip blue by Inside Elections, a top political handicapping outlet..

Indeed, Democrats are feeling so confident about their odds on November 3 that the DCCC’s political director told Politico the party could hold as many as 240 seats when the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3. For reference, that would be two seats shy of what Republicans held after the 2010 red wave.

“Anywhere between 218 and 240 feels very viable,” the DCCC’s Brooke Butler told Politico. “We feel confident that we will get to 218. The question that I’ve told people from the beginning cycle is ‘How much?’”
Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos

Scott Perry

Republican Strategists Wail As More House Seats Are Seen Slipping Away

With 34 days until the midterms, Republican strategists see at least five U.S. House seats are a lost cause for their party as President Donald Trump’s abysmal approval rating threatens to drag the GOP into the political abyss.

Punchbowl News reported that Republicans are broadly resigned to losses in California’s 48th District, Iowa’s 1st District, Nebraska’s 2nd District, New Jersey’s 7th District, and Pennsylvania’s 7th District—all GOP-held seats that in a neutral environment would be highly competitive.

“Nearly every senior Republican and Democrat involved in 2026 believes these five R seats are all but lost,” Punchbowl News co-founder Jake Sherman wrote in a post on X.

Three of those contests (CA-48, NE-02, and NJ-07) are currently rated as “Lean Democratic” races by the Cook Political Report, while Iowa’s 1st and Pennsylvania’s 7th are still in the “toss-up” category. Given that even Republicans say they are the underdogs in these seats, it suggests that the political handicapping organizations are slower to react to the electoral landscape and thus their current ratings may not reflect the true peril the GOP is in.

What’s more, Punchbowl reported that a handful of other districts are also close to being cooked. They include:

Punchbowl said these four seats “are growing more difficult for Republicans but still within reach.” It’s why even the typically gun-shy race-rating groups have declared that it’s “almost impossible” for Republicans to keep control of the House.

Indeed, Republicans’ political situation is so dire that many in the party are downright despondent, shocked at how their party went from riding a high in November 2024 to now bracing for the kind of blue wave that could take down GOP lawmakers in seats Trump won by double-digit margins.

Independent journalist Tara Palmeri said one unnamed Trump ally told her the following at Trump’s midterm convention in Texas three weeks ago: “It’s going to be a tsunami. Total wipe out. Anyone saying we’re going to hold the Senate, that’s not going to happen. They’re delusional. Get ready for impeachment. Everyone needs a lawyer now.”

Another anonymous Republican operative told her this at an event during the two-day convention event: “What are we doing here? We’re all going to lose. … We’ve known this is all over for two months. It’s over. I guess we’re just supposed to party until then?”

Personally, I’ve been covering political campaigns and elections for 14 years now, and I have never seen one side more freaked out about what they are seeing than Republicans are right now. The fact that GOP operatives are this miserable and admitting that they are about to get their asses handed to them is, for lack of a better word, stunning.

Republicans’ collective freakout suggests their internal polling matches how bad the public polls are for their party.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Democrats currently hold an 8.8-percentage-point lead on the generic ballot, according to election analyst Nate Silver’s polling average.

Democrats generic ballot 2026 Chart by Andrew Mangan/Source: Silver Bulletin/Created with Datawrapper

“A D +8.5 generic ballot (likely bigger among likely voters) would produce a very blue map,” Nate Silver wrote Monday in a post on X.

Ultimately, Republicans are in this position because of Trump’s idiotic tariffs and boondoggle of a war in Iran—two economically disastrous policies that the cowardly Republican Party refused to stop.

Trump’s tariffs helped spike inflation, while his war has caused gas prices to surge. And both are squeezing Americans financially, with a growing number of Trump’s own voters saying they regret their votes.

Given that gas prices are unlikely to meaningfully drop before early voting starts, Republicans are in a massive amount of trouble. It’s no wonder they are panicking.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos

What's Their Excuse? Republicans Send Regrets To Trump's Midterm Confab

What's Their Excuse? Republicans Send Regrets To Trump's Midterm Confab


President Donald Trump will host a midterm convention this upcoming Wednesday and Thursday, which he absurdly says will help Republicans hold onto their House and Senate majorities this fall.

But even many Republicans admit the production is a shambolic affair that won’t help the GOP with voters and may even hurt their electoral prospects since Trump cannot stay on a palatable message.

And thus, numerous Republican lawmakers are not planning to go, making up excuses for their absences in a likely effort to avoid being the target of Trump’s wrath.

Rep. Max Miller, the Ohio Republican facing an unexpectedly tough reelection race due to domestic violence accusations, told The New York Times he won’t be going because he is “staying home to campaign and spend time with family.”

Rep. Nick LaLota, Republican of New York, told Politico that he is skipping the event in order to take his daughter to visit colleges.

Florida Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar told CNN she has events in her district she can’t miss. The same went for vulnerable GOP Reps. Tom Barrett of Michigan and Zach Nunn of Iowa, who told Politico they have events back home on the same day.

“I just felt I’d be more useful in my district,” Barrett said to Politico. “I travel a lot for this job and if I can be back home and see my family and do the job back home as well, then that’s sort of what I lean toward doing.”

Vice President JD Vance was asked on Thursday about the poor attendance from GOP lawmakers at his boss’ event, and he claimed that it wasn’t a big deal.

“No, that doesn’t concern me,” Vance said. “We don’t need a congressman in a tight race to be there in all cases. Sometimes it might be better if that guy’s out there raising money. But I think people are going to make a determination: What is the best way for me to spend my time as a candidate?”

However, it’s not just vulnerable Republicans who aren’t going. Lawmakers in safe seats are also skipping, citing all sorts of reasons.

Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole said he is going to a “dove hunt” and thus can’t make it. Also scheduled to attend the hunt are Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, and Oklahoma GOP Reps. Kevin Hern and Frank Lucas, putting their attendance in question.

“I had stuff already planned in my congressional district, or I would be there,” Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky told NewsNation about why he won’t be at the convention.

Other Republicans said they were undecided about going, citing not the politics but the insane cost of entry. It’s at least a $25,000 donation for two tickets, the ability to book one hotel room at an additional cost, and entry to a welcome event. What a steal!

“It’s $25,000, apparently—I just got a bill,” Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee told Politico, saying because of that he’s “not sure” if he’ll go.

Ultimately, while Vance said he’s not worried about lackluster attendance, you better believe Trump will take it poorly. He is obsessed with optics and looking like a tough guy, and if the convention has sparse crowds, you can bet an infamous Trump tantrum is on the horizon.

We’ve got our popcorn ready. This thing is going to be a mess.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos


Trump Pressuring House Republicans To 'Expunge' Both Impeachments Of Him

Trump Pressuring House Republicans To 'Expunge' Both Impeachments Of Him

President Donald Trump is planning to hassle Congress to expunge his impeachments.

The president is trying to get Republican lawmakers to remove his impeachments from the record even though legally such a move is impossible, reported The Wall Street Journal’s Annie Linskey, Olivia Beavers and Natalie Andrews on Thursday.

“It should be done because I did nothing wrong,” Trump told the Journal. “It was a rigged deal—it was a whole rigged situation.”

The Journal noted that this could backfire, saying “Any move to attempt to erase the two impeachments, in 2019 and 2021, would open up a debate about Trump’s past behavior in office, forcing GOP lawmakers to relitigate charges of abuse of power, obstruction of Congress and inciting an insurrection. Facing the prospect of losing their majority in the House, Republicans are trying to shift focus to the economy and high costs, the issues that voters care about most.”

Yet even though “the measure likely wouldn’t be considered until after the November election,” the issue could still become a political lightning rod. “Trump has posted news clips about voiding the impeachments on his Truth Social account,” the Journal reported. “But this week, he played down his own role in the effort. ‘If they want to do it, I’m honored by it,’ the president said.”

The Journal added that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R—LA) has discussed the resolution with Trump. He has also discussed it with Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz

“I think it makes a lot of sense the more the evidence comes out, the more we know they really were sham impeachments,” Johnson told the Journal, later adding that “we were saying it at the time, now we know. And they make a very compelling case that it should be expunged from the record, because it was a hyperpartisan attack job.”

Speaking with this journalist for Salon in 2019, Dershowitz — who later defended Trump during one of his impeachment trials — denied that he would ever refuse to step down if he lost an election, which is what prompted the impeachment at which Dershowitz did not represent Trump.

No president will refuse to step down if his opponent is elected in his place,” Dershowitz told Salon. “It just will not happen, and the American public would never tolerate it.”

Discussing the Wall Street Journal story, CNN correspondents agreed that Trump’s attempt to scrub the impeachment is both purely symbolic and likely to resurrect the Ukraine coercion and election-denying scandals that prompted those impeachments in the first place.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet


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