Impeachment is already backfiring on the Democrats even before the full House votes on two articles of impeachment. A Democratic member of Congress is preparing to switch parties, joining Republicans amid the Democrat-led impeachment effort that has put dozens of moderate Democrats in a tough position with their Trump-supporting constituents.
Representative Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey has been in talks with top advisors for President Trump, according to The New York Times. Mr. Van Drew is concerned about losing his seat in the Democratic primary or in the 2020 general election. Van Drew's district is a traditionally Republican district that voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
Van Drew won his seat in the 2018 midterm elections, following the retirement of former Republican Congressman Frank LoBiondo who represented New Jersey's second district for 24 years.
In a recent interview, Van Drew told Fox Business that some of his fellow House Democrats shared his concerns about the partisan impeachment of President Trump. Van Drew was one of two Democrats who joined with every single Republican in the House to vote against the impeachment inquiry resolution.
"My district is red — a good chunk of it — and they're definitely anti-impeachment," Van Drew recently told NBC News. "And then I have the part that is purple, and they are more pro-impeachment. So whatever you do, you're going to aggravate people."
According to the Times, sources expect Van Drew to make an official announcement about his switch to the Republican party sometime in the upcoming week, either immediately before or after the House votes to send two articles of impeachment to the Senate, both of which are expected to go nowhere.