AP: The retirements dooming Dems’ majority dreams 😴
Swing-district Democrats with strong local incumbent brands & impressive fundraising prowess hung it up this Congress.
It could doom Hakeem Jeffries’ chances of a majority, according to the AP.
Departures In House Create Crucial Republican Targets In The Fight For Majority Control
The Associated Press
Stephen Groves
October 4, 2024
https://apnews.com/article/house-elections-michigan-virginia-california-41af911c357f2c719adbd2008bfa5cdf
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Both Republicans and Democrats have had their fair share of turnover — with former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, the most prominent — but Democrats are also losing prodigious fundraisers who have successfully held off GOP challengers in recent years. With fierce competition raging over just a couple dozen seats, that’s left Democrats relying on fresh faces to hold their ground, while Republicans sense openings in four races in Virginia, Michigan and California.
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Regardless, it will be a tough task to make up the fundraising hauls and political skills of the prominent Democrats in the three states.
Democratic Reps. Katie Porter of California, Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, and Elissa Slotkin and Dan Kildee, both of Michigan, raked in a combined fundraising total of over $50 million in the last election cycle. Slotkin, Spanberger and Porter all entered Congress in 2018 as part of a wave of female lawmakers who flipped seats and delivered House control to Democrats.
They all have set their sights on higher offices: Slotkin is running for Michigan’s Senate seat, Spanberger is running for Virginia governor next year, while Porter fell short in a bid for Senate earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Kildee decided not to run for a sixth term after a bout with cancer last year.