DCCC Expands Offensive House Battlefield, Adds Sri Preston Kulkarni to ‘Red to Blue’ Program

Today, DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos announced the committee is pushing even further into Republican-held territory by adding AR-02 and OH-10 to the DCCC’s offensive battlefield. Additionally, the DCCC will add TX-22 Democratic nominee Sri Preston Kulkarni to its highly competitive Red to Blue program.

“It’s never been more important to protect and expand this historic House majority and elect leaders who are committed to fighting for all Americans,” DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos said. “House Democrats are leading the fight to ensure health care is affordable and accessible, protect our medical providers, and strengthen our hospitals. We’re staying on offense to expand our majority and ensure these communities finally have a voice in Congress.”

CANDIDATES ADDED TO RED TO BLUE

SRI PRESTON Kulkarni (TX-22)

A Foreign Service Officer who represented America abroad under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Sri Preston Kulkarni is ready to flip Texas’ 22nd Congressional District from red to blue.

Raised by an immigrant father and a mother who traces her Texas roots back to Sam Houston, Sri left the University of Texas to care for his father he was diagnosed with leukemia. After medical bills brought his family to the brink of bankruptcy, Sri became an advocate for quality, affordable health care. In Congress, he’ll seek common ground, find solutions and make sure every Texan has a voice in Congress.

When he ran for this seat in 2018 – campaigning in 16 languages across a quickly-diversifying district – Sri expanded the electorate, grew the Asian-American vote, and came within 14,000 votes of defeating Congressman Pete Olson. TX-22 is a toss-up open seat, vacated by Rep. Pete Olson, situated in one of the nation’s most diverse districts, making it a top-tier Red to Blue race.

• Located in the southern Houston suburbs, Texas 22 is a suburban, highly educated district that mirrors the types of districts Democrats flipped from red to blue in 2018. The changing demographics of this district, combined with Kulkarni forcing the retirement of Rep. Pete Olson, make this seat a top pick up opportunity for Democrats in 2020.
• Kulkarni is a lifelong public servant and national security expert whose record of service will compare favorably to the two extreme GOP candidates who advanced to Texas’ July 14 runoff.

Beto O’Rourke narrowly lost this district in 2018 with 49.7% of the major party vote, after Clinton earned 45.9% in 2016 and Obama earned 37.1% in 2012.  Running a diverse and multi-lingual grassroots campaign, Kulkarni expanded the electorate and won 47.5% of the major party vote in 2018, 7 points higher than 2016 and 15 points higher than the 2014 candidate.

DISTRICTS ADDED TO HOUSE BATTLEFIELD

AR-02

• This district has had strong performances from Democrats in recent years, most notably when Frank Scott won the Little Rock mayoral race in 2018. The demographics also play to Sen. Elliott’s strengths with the electorate made up of over 29% college educated voters and over 21% African American voters.
• State Senator Joyce Elliott is a decades-long teacher with high name recognition and reputation as a strong and focused leader A former State Representative, she went on to become a State Senator and to serve as the Arkansas State Senate Majority Leader. She has already proven herself a formidable fundraiser to put this district on the map.

OH-10

• The Cook Partisan Voting Index (PVI) rates OH-10 an R+4, one of the most competitive swing districts in the state. Senator Sherrod Brown won the district twice, in 2018 with 52.7% of the vote and in 2012 with over 50.4%, and President Trump only won the district with 51% of the vote in 2016. This is a diverse districts with significant opportunities for a strong Democratic candidate to boost turnout. The Citizen Voting Age Population (CVAP) is 16.4% African American, the fourth highest of any district in Ohio.
• Mike Turner has proven to be a very poor fundraiser throughout his time in Congress. In 2017/2018 he raised only $1.2 Million for his re-election bid, and as of his most recent FEC filing he had only $557,956 cash on hand.

2020 HOUSE LANDSCAPE BY THE NUMBERS

FUNDRAISING

• The DCCC has raised $154 million during the 2020 cycle. It raised $125 million by this point in 2018.
• The DCCC has $72 million cash on hand compared to the NRCC’s $45 million.
• By the end of Q4, 13 Frontline Members had more than $2 million cash on hand.
• By the end of Q4, 36 Frontline Members had more than $1 million cash on hand.

REPUBLICAN RETIREMENTs and failed RECRUITMENT

• 28 Republicans have retired, including in key districts like TX-23, in comparison to just 10 Democrats.
• Republican recruitment failures have recently caused race raters to shift at least four Trump-won districts towards Democrats.
• At least 12 Democratic challengers outraised GOP incumbents or open seat challengers in Q4 of 2019.

2020 DCCC Offensive Battlefield