The situation for House Republicans may be a bit chaotic right now, as the chamber, which they control, has lacked a speaker for several weeks now following the ouster of Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) earlier this month. They just barely won the majority last November and failed to gain as many seats as once expected. That red wave, once so hotly anticipated, never materialized. Thus, the fight for who controls the chamber come 2024 could be an intense one. That being said, it may not be so easy for House Democrats. The Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), a super PAC affiliated with McCarthy, seized the opportunity to highlight a POLITICO newsletter highlighting recruitment concerns.
"The big House recruitment holes" was the focus of Monday morning's edition of the "Weekly Score" addressing on how some of the battleground districts don't even have viable candidates yet, and this includes how "there are a handful of gaps in the Democrats' map" when it comes to their hopes to retake the House.
Among those races mentioned by POLITICO include Iowa's 3rd Congressional District, currently held by Republican Rep. Zach Nunn, with the newsletter pointing to how "there’s no strong Democratic candidate there yet." One Democrat who filed hasn't even reported any fundraising.
Then there's Florida's 13 Congressional District, held by Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who replaced failed gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist. He ran as a Democrat last November against Gov. Ron DeSantis and lost by almost 20 points. So far, only "[t]wo little-known candidates have filed" against her. "No prominent Democrats have yet announced a campaign against Salazar," the newsletter also notes referring to Republican Rep. María Salazar, who represented Florida's 27th Congressional District.
In Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District, held by Republican Rep. Bryan Steil, "all three Democrats who have filed have dismal fundraising hauls," POLITICO notes. "Two have not raised any money yet, and the other has only brought in $5,000 since joining the race in August."
CLF points to how there's still other races where the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is having issues, such as in New York's 1st Congressional District, currently held by Republican Rep. Nick LaLota, who replaced Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin after he left Congress to unsuccessfully run for governor. Although Miss Cotter Smasal is running against Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans in Virginia's 2nd Congressional District, CLF notes she "isn't lighting the world on fire."
Further, Democrats are even runnings some repeat losers for the 2024 election, including Adam Gray for California's 13th Congressional District, after he lost to Rep. John Duarte last November; Rudy Salas in California's 22nd Congressional District, who lost to Rep. David Valadao last November; Michelle Vallejo for Texas' 15th Congressional District, where she lost to Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz; and Jamie McLeod-Skinner in Oregon's 5th Congressional District. McLeod-Skinner is an interesting one, since she handily defeated incumbent Kurt Schrader in last year's Democratic primary, but lost last November to Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer.
"It’s no wonder House Democrats are struggling to find solid recruits," said CLF Communications Director Courtney Parella in a statement. "Look no further than their historically unpopular President and Vice President, their toxic liberal agenda that’s costing families thousands, and their crime and migrant crises overrunning blue cities and states."
The DCCC has a "Frontline" program to help vulnerable incumbents, with the first candidates for 2024 announced in March, with over two dozen candidates. Reps. Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34) and Dina Titus (NV-01) were just added to the list on Friday.
This is despite how, as CLF pointed out, The Texas Tribune in July published a piece claiming "Democrats confident U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez will keep his South Texas seat in 2024 election." The piece even noted that Republicans would be "delusional" to think that former Rep. Mayra Flores, a Republican, could defeat Gonzalez this time around.
Flores won a special election in June of last year to replace retired Rep. Filemon Vela, a Democrat, making history as the first Mexican-born woman elected to Congress. She lost last November to Gonzalez though, when redistricting pitted incumbent against incumbent for the general election.
Titus beat Republican Mark Robertson last year, 51.6 percent to his 46 percent.
@VoteVicente definitely needs to get his act together.
— Delanie Bomar (@DelanieBomar) October 20, 2023
He was outraised 3-to-1 in Q3 by @MayraFlores_TX 👀 pic.twitter.com/FuRBQzTrZN
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