Amid Democratic doldrums, DCCC identifies 2018 targets

House Democrats have identified 59 Republican-held districts they intend to target in 2018, an early marker that comes despite the party’s struggle to find a cohesive message amid a Republican-controlled government.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued its list Monday morning, as President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting immigration and refugee travel from seven Muslim-majority countries roils Washington. The party is hoping Trump’s early unpopularity will drag down Republicans in the midterms.


Their list includes familiar swing districts, like Colorado’s Sixth, where GOP Rep. Mike Coffman just won reelection, and Texas’ 23rd, where Republican Will Hurd just earned another term as well. But Democrats also signaled plans to target two other Texas Republicans — Pete Sessions and John Culberson — as well as lawmakers in other traditionally Republican turf. It also includes Kansas’ Second district, where GOP Rep. Lynn Jenkins has signaled she will retire after her term ends.

If the intent is to project a party on offense, it’s also in keeping with big promises Democrats made heading into 2016, only to come up short. Trump’s divisive candidacy had Democrats predicting huge gains, and perhaps even threatening to take the House altogether. Though the party did pick up six seats, it only narrowly eroded Republicans’ historic majority.

In its Monday memo, the DCCC suggested it would harness energy that Democrats showed when millions joined the Women’s March earlier this month in protest of the Trump presidency and when thousands more protested Trump’s immigration order at the country’s airports. They say that energy has translated into a 20 percent growth of the DCCC’s email list since the start of the year.

The districts they’re targeting include 23 Republican-held seats where Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in November, as well as another 10 seats that Clinton only narrowly lost.

Still, the strategy is largely focused on Trump’s low standing among Americans since the election. Democrats have struggled so far to unite behind an affirmative strategy to reverse their slide.