Expanded map brings total targets to 58 ahead of November elections
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is adding 12 Republican-held House districts to its midterm target list, expanding into territory that President Donald Trump won easily less than two years ago.
The additions bring the DCCC’s total list of targeted seats to 58, a figure the committee considers ambitious given that many of the newly added districts are in areas Trump carried by comfortable margins.
The expanded map spans from GOP-held districts in swing states like Nevada to seats in Indiana, Arkansas and Tennessee and Democratic-dominated New York, according to the AP. The target list includes Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee and serves as DelBene’s counterpart in the House campaign arms. The list also covers other incumbents and some open seats.
DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene said in a statement that “MAGA Republicans who historically have considered themselves ‘safe’ have let down the people they were elected to represent, passing disastrous policies that are crushing working families and our communities.”
The Associated Press reported that the expansion reflects Trump’s diminished standing with the electorate and Democrats’ belief that they can capitalize on voter frustrations over the economy, the war in Iran and the Republican president’s second administration.