Last weekend, in an unprecedented move, Iran launched a missile attack against Israel. While many members of Congress from both chambers and both sides of the aisle were quick to denounce the attack, not all Democrats were willing to speak up for our ally in the Middle East. It's especially telling for the House members who stayed silent, given that all members are up for reelection. Support for Israel has also become a thorny issue for the Democratic Party.
Among those members not publicly addressing the attack include vulnerable Democratic incumbents. Though she has posted plenty from her official X account since last weekend, Rep. Yadira Caraveo (CO-08) has not posted about Iran's attack. She also has not posted any kind of statement to her official website. Cook Political Report considers the race to be a "Toss-Up." More on this bad look for Caraveo is that she did not vote on any of the House's Iran-related legislation on Wednesday.
Another "Toss-Up" race is Rep. Matt Cartwright's in Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District. He too hasn't posted about the attack from Iran against Israel.
Still another "Toss-Up" race involves Rep. Jared Golden (ME-02). He's posted from both of his X accounts in recent days, but nothing about Iran's attack. The same goes for how of the many press releases his office has sent out in recent days.
Rep. Mary Peltola's (AL-AK) has more of a slight advantage, in that her race is "Lean Democrat." She has been particularly active from both of her X accounts, yet has not taken the time to address the attack from Iran. She has not released a press release either.
Reps. Sharice Davids (KS-03), Josh Harder (CA-09), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Andrea Salinas (OR-06) have even more of a slight advantage in that their races are considered "Likely Democrat" among Cook Political Report's competitive races. Yet it's still a bad look that they have not yet posted or released any kind of statements. In Salinas' case, she even shared unrelated posts on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday morning form her official account.
Davids also voted against two pieces of legislation on Wednesday, including the Iran Counterterrorism Act and the Iran Sanctions Relief Review Act. Both passed with bipartisan support and even had a Democratic cosponsor, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (FL-23). Hoyle not only voted against those two, but also against the other pieces of Iran-related legislation considered that day, including a bill "To provide for the rescission of certain waivers and licenses relating to Iran, and for other purposes" and the Standing Against Houthi Aggression Act. Both also passed with bipartisan support.
There's also been an alarming amount of Democratic candidates running for competitive House seats who have been silent. "Toss-Up" races include Michigan's 8th Congressional District, which will be an open seat with Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee retiring, yet Kristen McDonald Rivet has failed to comment from her X account. Michigan's 7th Congressional District is another open seat, with Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin running for Senate. Curtis Hertel, who is running for that seat, has not posted about the attack from his X account, though.
Arizona's 1st Congressional District, currently held by Republican Rep. David Schweikert is another "Toss-Up," yet several of the Democratic candidates running for the seat have been silent from their X accounts, including Andrei Cherny, Marlene Galán-Woods, Andrew Horne, Kurt Kroemer, and Amish Shah, though Shah has not posted since April 10.
Galán-Woods, however, did issue a Sunday post in support of Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Sen. Mark Kelly (-AZ), and abortion. Horne not only reposted an unrelated pro-abortion post on Sunday, but made an unrelated post on Saturday evening as well, after news of the attack had come in.
Another "Toss-Up" seat is California's 13th Congressional District, held by Republican Rep. John Duarte. Democratic candidate Adam Gray has not posted about the incident, and has not posted since April 10.
Still another "Toss-Up" seat held by a Republican is California's 22nd Congressional District, held by Rep. David Valadao. He's once again facing Democrat Rudy Salas in what will likely be another close race. Yet Salas has not posted about Iran's attack on Israel, though he did share an unrelated post on Sunday afternoon about local media coverage of his campaign.
There's also California's 27th Congressional District, which is another "Toss-Up" seat held by a Republican, in this case Rep. Mike Garcia. Democrat George Whitesides has not posted about Iran's attack, though.
Other Democrats in slightly competitive races who have failed to speak out from their X accounts include Nancy Goroff, once again running for New York's 1st Congressional District; John Mannion running for New York's 22nd Congressional District; Monica Tranel running for Montana's 1st Congressional District; Tony Vargas running for Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District; Rebecca Cooke running in Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District; and Lanon Baccam, running for Iowa's 3rd Congressional District.
There were Democratic candidates who did post about unrelated matters from their X accounts over the weekendd. In Tranel's case, she made unrelated posts about her campaign on Saturday night and on Sunday afternoon. Vargas also made an unrelated post on Sunday afternoon sharing a voter guide. Cooke made several unrelated posts on Sunday afternoon about her campaign as part of a thread. And Baccam shared unrelated posts on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon for Lao New Year, and also posted about a campaign event on Sunday.
NRCC Rapid Response Director Macy Gardner provided a statement for Townhall in response to such silence from Democrats, "Rather than stand up in support of our closest Middle Eastern ally, Israel, and their defense against unwarranted attacks, weak Democrats bend the knee to the radical leftist mob. It's time we call them what they are – terrorist sympathizing cowards," she said.
Following Iran's attack, President Joe Biden urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to not take retaliatory action. Israel has decided to ignore Biden's insistence that they not respond, revealing that they would respond "Clearly and Decisively" against Iran. Sure enough, Israel responded on Thursday night.
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