The National Republican Congressional Committee on Monday added seven Democrat-held House seats to its target list, bringing the total number of districts it’s targeting to 36.
All of the seats are in states that have redrawn their congressional maps over the past year and were drawn to be more favorable to Republicans.
“Vulnerable House Democrats are stuck defending a wildly unpopular record and a radical socialist agenda,” NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson of North Carolina said in a statement. “The NRCC will take the fight into their districts, hold every one of them accountable, and expand our House majority in November.”
Republican legislators in several states have redrawn their congressional maps since last summer, attempting to give their party an advantage in what’s expected to be a difficult midterm election.
That effort was supercharged this spring after a Supreme Court decision that limited the Voting Rights Act, prompting Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee to join states such as Florida, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina and Texas in enacting new maps to be used this year. Republicans could gain more than a dozen seats collectively under the new lines in those states.
Democrats are likely to pick up seats in California and Utah, following the adoption of new maps there. But the Virginia Supreme Court blocked a redistricting effort in the commonwealth after voters had already approved a new Democrat-favored map via a spring referendum.
The newest additions to the House Republican target list are:
- Alabama’s 2nd District, currently held by Rep. Shomari Figures.
- Florida’s 14th District, currently held by Rep. Kathy Castor.
- Florida’s 22nd District, which is open after Rep. Lois Frankel opted to run for the redrawn and safely Democratic 23rd District.
- Louisiana’s 6th District, currently held by Rep. Cleo Fields, who hasn’t said whether he plans to seek reelection.
- Missouri’s 5th District, currently held by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II.
- Ohio’s 1st District, currently held by Rep. Greg Landsman.
- Tennessee’s 9th District, which is open after Rep. Steve Cohen decided against seeking reelection from what is now a deep-red seat.
Florida, Missouri and Tennessee are all set to hold primary elections next month. Alabama will also hold special primary elections in four districts, including the 2nd, that saw their lines change after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the state to use a Republican-preferred map. Louisiana will hold all-party House primaries in November, with runoffs between the top two candidates in December if no one takes more than 50 percent of the vote.
The race for Ohio’s 1st District pits Landsman against Republican Air Force veteran and former CIA officer Eric Conroy. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race Tilt Democratic.
House Democrats’ campaign arm panned the new additions to Republicans’ target list, saying they were “only in places where they had to gerrymander to make these seats competitive.”
“The truth is the GOP’s hamfisted redistricting efforts have created opportunities for Democrats to pick up seats on our way to win the midterms,” Viet Shelton, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement.
