By Daniela Altimari, CQ-Roll Call
WASHINGTON — The campaign arm of House Democrats on Tuesday added five seats to its target list, reflecting the party’s renewed confidence of flipping Republican districts and winning the House majority this year.
The new offensive opportunities bring the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s total “Districts in Play” to 44.
The newly targeted seats include four districts with Republican incumbents seeking reelection: Colorado’s 5th, which has never been represented by a Democrat and is currently held by freshman Rep. Jeff Crank; Minnesota’s 1st, held Rep. Brad Finstad; Montana’s 1st District, held by Rep. Ryan Zinke; and Virginia’s 5th, held by Rep. John McGuire. Also on the list is South Carolina’s open 1st District, which Rep. Nancy Mace is vacating to run for governor.
Donald Trump carried all five seats in 2024 by margins ranging from 9 points (Colorado’s 5th) to 13 points (South Carolina’s 1st), according to calculations by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales. But with Trump’s job approval ratings dropping over the past year, Democrats have seen their candidates overperform such margins in special and off-year elections across the country.
The boundaries of Virginia’s 5th District could also change before the midterms. Under a map unveiled by Democratic legislators in the commonwealth last week, the seat would shift to one that backed Kamala Harris by 9 points, according to calculations by The Downballot. Barring any court intervention, Virginia voters will decide on the new map in an April 21 special election.
House Republicans are defending a razor-thin majority in this year’s midterm elections, which traditionally favor the party out of the White House.
“Democrats are on offense, and our map reflects the fact that everyday Americans are tired of Republicans’ broken promises and ready for change in Congress,” DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene of Washington said in a statement. “Going into the midterms, Democrats have the winning message, top-tier candidates, and the public on our side, paving the way for a new Democratic House majority under the leadership of a Speaker Hakeem Jeffries.”
Republicans dismissed House Democrats’ expanded list of targets as overly ambitious and said the battleground continues to favor the GOP.
“Democrats are getting demolished in the money race, their incumbents are hanging by a thread, and their disastrous primaries are producing unelectable far-left socialists,’’ Mike Marinella, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement.
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