POLITICO: Dems’ uphill climb gets steeper
House Democrats have a big problem, according to POLITICO.
The political “ambitions” of their frontline members are making their already uphill climb back to the majority even steeper. Multiple Democrats in top Republican pickup opportunities are vacating their seats, paving the way for the NRCC to grow the House majority.
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One thing in the way of Democrats’ hopes of retaking the House? Ambition.
POLITICO
Brittany Gibson
3/15/23
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/15/democrats-house-senate-2024-slotkin-porter-00086603
As Democrats begin their mission of re-taking the House of Representatives from a razor-thin, single-digit deficit, one thing may be making that harder: the ambition of members of their own party for higher office.
So far, five members have already announced plans to run for Senate in just the first few months of the 2024 cycle including Democratic Reps. Katie Porter (Calif.) and Elissa Slotkin (Mich.), both of whom are leaving “frontline” — or highly competitive — districts.
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These open seats were a welcome sight to Republicans. “The path to growing the Republican majority runs through seats like Elissa Slotkin’s. The NRCC is all hands on deck to add this seat to the Republican column in 2024,” said Jack Pandol, communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
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Porter raised $26 million in 2022 and spent $18.5 million on advertising compared to about $1 million spent by her opponent, Scott Baugh, who raised just $3 million, according to the FEC and AdImpact, a service that tracks political advertising.
Slotkin was also an elite fundraiser, bringing in almost $10 million compared to Republican opponent Tom Barrett’s $2.7 million. There was a parallel disparity in each candidate’ advertising spending: $8.6 million from Slotkin’s committee against $888,000 for Barrett, according to AdImpact.