Weekly House Cleaning
A DCCC News Roundup
This week, DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján announced the first round of candidates to qualify for the DCCC’s highly competitive Red to Blue program. These candidates have earned a spot on Red to Blue by surpassing aggressive fundraising, organization and infrastructure goals. Beyond these promising campaign strengths, these candidates also demonstrate the ability to fight on behalf of hardworking people across the country, keep them safe, and make sure that the economy is working for everyone. Here are a few recent story about the DCCC’s slate of strong candidates in 2016:
Politico – House Democrats pick top Republican targets
Roll Call – DCCC Names First 16 Candidates to ‘Red to Blue’ Program
Read Chairman Luján’s op-ed in The Hill on the Red to Blue program here
And our Red to Blue candidates continue to make a splash in their districts:
MI: Eclectablog – Three Michigan Congressional races added to DCCC’s highly-competitive “Red-to-Blue” program
NJ-05: Bergen Dispatch – Democrat Challenging Scott Garrett For Congress Will Get National Support
NY-24: Auburn Citizen – Democrats add Rep. John Katko to list of top 2016 targets
IA-01: Des Moines Register – National group backs Vernon in Iowa congressional race, Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier – Monica Vernon makes DCCC list
UT-04: Salt Lake Tribune – National Dems target seat held by Utah Rep. Mia Love
PA-08: Bucks Local News – Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: Pa.’s 8th District among party’s best pickup opportunities in 2016
PA-07: WHYY – Delco congressional challenger gets national attention
FL-10, FL-18, FL-26 – Florida Politics – Val Demings, Annette Taddeo, Randall Perkins win DCCC ‘Red To Blue’ backing
CA-24: Santa Barbara Independent – DCCC Backs Carbajal.
Yesterday’s Red to Blue announcement was just the first round – look out for that list to grow as House Democrats continue to recruit and develop strong, offensive campaigns this cycle.
MEANWHILE, on the Clan Uniting Front:
(No commentary needed)
“Speaker Paul Ryan made his name with aggressive GOP budgets. Now, he is at risk of becoming the first Republican speaker this decade to fail to pass a House spending blueprint.” [National Journal, 2/8/16]
“Mr. Ryan, himself a former budget chairman, looked away, like a mildly embarrassed father stationed near the sandbox where his kids are throwing sand.” [New York Times, 2/10/16]
SHOT on February 3rd:
Ryan Quoted Braveheart, Called On Republicans To “Unite The Clans” At Heritage Action Event. “House Speaker Paul D. Ryan made his latest attempt Wednesday to keep the Republican Party united amid a fractious presidential nominating contest, calling on conservatives to be ‘inspirational’ and ‘inclusive’ in a keynote speech delivered to this year’s Heritage Action Policy Summit. ‘To quote William Wallace in ‘Braveheart,’ we have to unite the clans,’ Ryan said.” [Washington Post, 2/3/16]
CHASER on February 9th:
The Hill: “Conservative group pushes Ryan to undo Boehner budget deal.” [The Hill, 2/9/16]
Heritage Action Pushed Paul Ryan To Throw Out Budget Deal, Make Deeper Spending Cuts. “Outside conservatives are pushing Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to throw out the budget deal hammered out by his predecessor just a few months ago. Heritage Action, the political arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, said Tuesday it was incumbent on GOP congressional leaders to cut deeper and push President Obama harder.” [The Hill, 2/9/16]
Headline: Politico: “Heritage will honor Ryan’s top staffer even as it tries to upend GOP budget.” [Politico, 2/9/16]
Heritage Foundation Threw Reception Honoring Ryan’s Chief Of Staff As Heritage Lobbying Arm Attempted To Derail Ryan’s Budget. “The conservative Heritage Foundation is throwing a “reception” to honor Speaker Paul Ryan’s chief of staff David Hoppe, even as its lobbying arm tries to derail the House Republican leadership’s 2017 budget. Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint and former president Ed Feulner are listed as the hosts of the Thursday evening event, which is scheduled to be held at the Heritage Foundation’s Pennsylvania Avenue headquarters, according to a source familiar with the event.” [Politico, 2/9/16]
THE PRESIDENTIAL SHINE
Tuesday night, Trump crushed his Republican rivals in New Hampshire, and you better believe that a number of House Republicans are terrified. First of all, the threat of a down-ballot, Trumpocalype plays out in the numbers: According to POLITICO, an NRCC-commissioned poll indicated that “a plurality of respondents — 48 percent to 40 percent — would be less likely to vote for a Republican congressional candidate or incumbent if Trump were the nominee.”
To be clear: Donald Trump – the women, Latino, and Muslim hater – is now the Republican Party’s standard bearer. Shortly after a close second place finish in the Iowa Caucuses, where he had the second highest turnout in history, Donald Trump won the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary with a historic amount of support. His win is the biggest victory in a New Hampshire Republican primary since at least at least 2000.
Vulnerable House Republicans have awkwardly tried to distance themselves from Trump and run away from the devastating impact he would have from their reelection. Here are some of the many examples:
- Ryan Costello
- Carlos Curbelo
- Will Hurd
- Martha McSally
- Tom Reed
- Elise Stefanik
- John Katko
- Dave Reichert
- Bob Dold
FRESH FACES
NJ-05: Businessman Josh Gottheimer officially launched his campaign to unseat vulnerable Rep. Scott Garrett in front of an audience at a small business in Northvale, per the Bergen County Record.
THE DIRT FROM THE DISTRICTS
TX-23: Former CIA operative Rep. Will Hurd may have forgotten his CIA filter at a recent public event when he revealed surprisingly specific information about his time in the CIA, when he apparently conducted cyberwarfare against Russia, a little-known occurrence, if true.
VA-04: Clearly seeing the writing on the wall, Randy Forbes abandons his constituents as he switches to a district he has no intention of living in. The headlines say it all: “Forbes to run in 2nd District, continue living in 4th”, “Forbes makes move to save his job”
MN-02: Kline’s words, not ours! According to The Pioneer Press, John Kline is “concerned” about the fundraising of the numerous Republicans running to succeed him.
NY: House Democrats are on offense in the Empire State. Republicans John Katko, Lee Zeldin, Elise Stefanik and Tom Reed are on notice, and combined with Chris Gibson and Richard Hanna’s open seats, New York represents at least six pickup opportunities.
NH01: Guinta has a serious case of the cooties. The New Hampshire primary has turned the state’s snowscape into a lawless territory, where Marco Robotos run free and debate stages turn into Saturday Night Live skits. But even under those circumstances, no one lives in a parallel universe that is crazy enough to come within 10 feet of scandal-ridden Frank Guinta.
NE-02: Ashford kicked off his campaign with hundreds of supporters and received local coverage for being one of the most independent members of Congress.
IL-10: Chicago area newspaper the Daily Herald endorses Brad Schneider ahead of March 15th primary.
AZ-01: Embattled Sheriff Paul Babeu appears to be self-destructing just like he did in 2012. See scandal after scandal after scandal in only the last few months. This Arizona Republic’s headline says it all: “Pinal County’s Paul Babeu filed to run in wrong congressional district.” Sorry, that doesn’t actually say it all – because the next day it was revealed (in print, AP, radio, and TV) that Babeu could be facing a lawsuit for the misuse of RICO funds. As you’ll remember, this all comes on the heels of Babeu being exposed on video for touting “abusive, inhumane discipline of special needs teens at boarding school” that he ran.
CA-07: Sacramento Bee: Scott Jones under fire for reckless and dishonest statement about San Bernardino shootings.
CA-26, CA-52: Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, Ventura County Star, San Diego Union-Tribune: House Passes Rep. Brownley’s, Rep. Peters’ bill to reduce suicides among female veterans.
CA-10: Wall Street Journal: Rep. Denham sneaks language into the FAA bill that would roll back workplace protects for truck drivers. Of course, Rep. Denham “declined to comment.”
ME-02: Bruce Poliquin is still the laughing stock of Maine. Press and Maine voters alike continue to blast Bruce Poliquin’s absurd manufactured crisis. What will be next?