Looking to flip the U.S. House in 2022, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) unveiled its target list for the next election cycle, including three seats currently held by Florida Democrats.
“These 27 Democrats see the writing on the wall and know they will lose the House majority or lose their election,” the NRCC noted. “Some of the Democrats on this list represent the highest echelons of Democrat leadership whose retirements would be a blow to the morale of the party. Others are on the NRCC’s initial target list and know they face a very tough reelection in 2022. Two Democrats from the NRCC’s initial target list, Ann Kirkpatrick and Filemon Vela, have already announced they’re retiring and created competitive open seats.”
“House Democrats are running for the exits because they know they’re in for a bruising election cycle which will cost them their jobs and their House majority. They’d rather move on than have to spend another election defending their socialist agenda that will strip Americans of their private health insurance, defund the police, open our borders and raise taxes,” said U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., the chairman of the NRCC. “While Democrats are scrambling to replace their members, House Republicans are picking up where we left off last cycle, recruiting a diverse class of talented candidates who are going to help us take back the House majority.”
None of the three Florida Democrats included on the list–U.S. Reps. Charlie Crist, Val Demings and Stephanie Murphy–seem particularly vulnerable but they will be impacted by redistricting and all of them are potential candidates for higher office. Crist is garnering buzz as a possible candidate to challenge Gov. Ron DeSantis next year while Demings and Murphy might take on U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
At the start of the month, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) announced more than 30 incumbents in its “Frontline Program” to protect incumbents and did not include any members of the Florida delegation on it.
“House Democrats have already notched critical wins for the American people – securing stimulus checks, aid to small businesses, more funding for vaccines, and money to quickly and safely reopen our schools,” said U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-NY, the chairman of the DCCC. “As we head into this midterm election, House Democrats are prepared to hold our majority by showing the American people we are delivering for them in this pandemic. Meanwhile, our opponents voted against stimulus checks for working families, and instead of coming up with solutions to help the middle-class, they’re busy defending the violent extremists in their party. I look forward to working with the 32 members of our Frontline class as we defend the House next year.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.
