Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., leaves the House Republican Conference meeting at the Capitol Hill Club on Dec. 8, 2015. | AP Photo Congress House Democrats say Trump could be a real boon for them His fiery rhetoric could push GOP candidates to the right in swing districts, Dem strategists say.

BALTIMORE — Even though House Democrats are largely resigned to Republicans running the chamber in 2017, party leaders see one big thing to be happy about this coming election cycle: Donald Trump.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is pressing the case that Trump’s policies could damage a dozen Republicans whom Democrats hope to unseat this fall. And, in private, Democrats are gloating that Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) have wrenched the debate so far to the right they’re driving voters away from the GOP and into the arms of the Democrats.


“There is a lot more attention on Donald Trump and Ted Cruz with their divisions and where the damage has been done,” said DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján. “As we look forward to how the battlefield lays out in 2016, there are more opportunities day by day.”

And party leaders involved with House campaigns say they’re seeing new opportunities in districts currently represented by Republicans that wouldn’t have been in play without Trump and Cruz dominating the headlines.

From Trump’s widely criticized call for an end to all Muslim travel into the U.S., to his past comments on women and Cruz’s starkly confrontational tone, Democratic leadership is predicting that GOP candidates will tack further and further to the right in an effort to match the GOP candidates’ bombastic rhetoric.

“Donald Trump will be our best turnout mechanism,” said Rep. Steve Israel, chairman of the House Democrats’ messaging arm.

And Republicans’ own polls suggest a Trump or Cruz ticket could spell real trouble. A GOP pollster, Dave Sackett of the Tarrance Group, told Speaker Paul Ryan and his leadership team earlier this month that Cruz would be a major drag on House Republicans if he were to win his party’s nomination. Others polls have suggested Trump could have similar down-ballot effects.

And while Democratic leaders privately admit that they don’t have a chance of regaining control of the House even with Trump or Cruz at the top of the GOP ticket, they hope to reclaim some of their losses from previous elections. Democratic candidates generally fare better in presidential election years because of the increased turnout among younger voters and minorities.

“If House Republicans are ‘frightened’ by the prospect of either Trump or Cruz atop their ticket, they should be downright terrified of the damage already done to their party,” according to a memo from the DCCC. “The fact is that the presidential front-runners have already imperiled several House Republicans’ chances at reelection — well before the first votes are cast in the nominating contest.”

House Democrats would need to win nearly 30 seats to regain the majority — an unlikely scenario, given how many GOP seats are actually in play, even with Cruz or Trump atop the ballot.

But the DCCC on Wednesday laid down an early marker, naming 13 Republicans in swing districts whom the DCCC thinks would be most damaged by the Trump brand — or could be spurred to take more conservative positions in order to curry favor with the anti-establishment voters who are attracted to Trump and Cruz.

They are Bruce Poliquin of Maine, Bob Dold of Illinois, Patrick Meehan of Pennsylvania, Lee Zeldin of New York, Mike Bishop and Tim Walberg of Michigan, Rod Blum of Iowa, Cresent Hardy of Nevada, John Mica of Florida, Steve Knight of California, Barbara Comstock of Virginia, Scott Garrett of New Jersey and Mike Coffman of Colorado.

“For some Republican members who have gone to great lengths to project a moderate veneer to voters, the impact of the GOP presidential nominating contest is particularly fraught,” the DCCC said in the memo. “On the one hand, Trump and Cruz’s rhetoric and policy positions are often in direct conflict with the positions these members would stake out if they were truly the moderates they purport to be.”

The memo argues that Trump’s and Cruz’s focus on social issues like gay marriage and Planned Parenthood could put Republicans in tight districts in the uncomfortable position of defending their presidential nominee — or even matching rhetoric used by a presidential nominee — despite the moderate views held by their voters.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, speaking to reporters Wednesday at the Democratic retreat, said Trump’s adherence to “fear” politics helps Democrats show the stark difference between the two parties.

Rep. Denny Heck of Washington, chairman of the DCCC’s recruitment efforts, said districts like Utah’s 4th District, represented now by Republican Rep. Mia Love, and Garrett’s 5th District in New Jersey could be in play solely because of the Republican presidential primary.

Heck added that DCCC analysts are scouring districts to see whether there are more areas that Trump puts into play. That includes looking at past candidates and what narratives have stuck in previous elections to see how they could respond to the policies championed by Trump and Cruz.

“I was on the phone with a prospective candidate just this morning. … It isn’t just Donald Trump, it’s the nature of how they are engaging in their primary,” said Heck. “And this is a [prospective candidate] that I do not think we would have much of an opportunity to get to yes, but now I’m somewhat optimistic we will. He’s just bothered by it all.”