Last Friday, DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene joined the Christian Science Monitor for their Monitor Breakfast to share updates from the battlefield and discuss how House Republicans’ chaos, dysfunction, and extremism will cost them their majority.
Read more about how Democrats plan to win back the majority below:
Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington state, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) that recruits candidates and supports incumbents facing competitive reelections, is optimistic about her party’s chances to retake the U.S. House this fall. And while she says she is confident that President Joe Biden will win reelection, Ms. DelBene acknowledges that not all Democratic campaigns are the same.
To claw back the Republicans’ current four-seat majority, Ms. DelBene sees an “incredible opportunity” in the 16 seats now held by Republicans in districts that Mr. Biden won in 2020, as well as seats in the blue states of New York and California.
“As someone who came to Congress representing a swing district … I know how important it is to make sure that we not only have great candidates but make sure that folks are running the races that are authentic to them so it’s not so much a cookie-cutter mentality.”
I’d love to see us get back to a place where we have folks who are willing to do that on both sides of the aisle. But frankly, as long as Republicans seem to think that their own role is to follow the word of Donald Trump and not ever be able to express a differing point of view, then we need to show the American people that we reject that. They’re not going to be representing us. And they’re not going to be holding the gavels in the House of Representatives.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Suzan DelBene told reporters Friday that ballot questions on abortion access, which will go before voters in several states this November, can help vulnerable Democratic candidates in swing districts — potentially increasing the odds the U.S. House flips from red to blue.
“We’ve seen huge turnout as a result of that over and over in elections since November of 2022,” DelBene said during a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. “And I have no doubt we’re going to continue to see that all the way through.”
“Folks support women’s reproductive rights across the country,” DelBene said. “And that’s going to be a huge issue. And for some people, it is the issue.”
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairwoman Suzan DelBene confidently declared this morning that “moderate Republicans, there just aren’t any left in Congress.”
That comment to reporters at the breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor was “ridiculous,” said Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.), who pointed to himself as an example of someone who can work across the aisle.
So we pulled the receipts. The nonpartisan Lugar Center and Georgetown University were out this week with an analysis of congressional bipartisanship that ranks every House member according to how often they co-sponsored bills with members of the other party last year. Garcia was assigned No. 126.
Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, who took the reins of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee after the 2022 election, said the House GOP’s misguided priorities were on full display this week. She pointed to House Speaker Mike Johnson and a cadre of his fellow Republicans making a pilgrimage to New York to sit in a courtroom with Mr. Trump and assail the prosecutors.
“That shows you and probably tells you all you need to know where Republicans are at,” Ms. DelBene said at a breakfast meeting with Washington reporters hosted by The Christian Science Monitor. “There are no original ideas. They are all just waiting to have Donald Trump to tell them what to do next.”
“President Biden has been at the table trying to move forward. It’s Republicans who have been thwarting policy over and over and over again,” she said.
“We have seen nothing but chaos and dysfunction and extremism in this Congress from Day One,” she said. “Folks want to see governance work, and that’s going to play a big, significant, role at the ballot box.”
