Late GOP entries shake up congressional races as California filing deadline looms

[RandySF]

Last-minute entries by Republican candidates threaten to shake up several key California congressional races Friday, the deadline for filing to run in the June primary, raising the prospect that Democrats could get shut out in crucial House seats they likely need to win to take back Congress.

In the Central Valley, Republican and former Turlock Councilman Ted Howze filed to run on Friday against Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock. And former Orange County Republican Party chair Scott Baugh filed to run against Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Costa Mesa.

Democrats, meanwhile, could have as many as nine candidates running in each of those seats. The bounty of choices sounds wonderful, but it might end up splitting the party’s voters, allowing two Republican candidates to move on to the November general election.

That’s already an issue for the party in the open Southern California congressional seats held by Republican Reps. Darrell Issa and Ed Royce, where party officials fret that the crowd of Democrats will spell doom for winning the districts.

“Republicans are gaming the top-two primary math to their advantage,” said Katie Merrill, a strategist with Fight Back California, a Democratic PAC aiming to flip Republican-held seats. “We’re looking at the potential of a shutout in at least four of the seven most vulnerable Republican seats.”

If that happened, she said, “it would make it almost impossible nationally for Democrats to take back the House.”


https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2018/03/09/late-gop-entries-shake-up-congressional-races-as-california-filing-deadline-looms/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#link_time=1520645342

[NoMoreRepugs]

1. Let's hope the Democratic candidates put

PARTY above themselves individually.

[OhioBlue]

2. Those dems need to get together and discuss long term, big picture strategy.

[still_one]

3. There is no doubt about it, the Democrats will self-destruct if they have 9 candidates running. In

California the top two vote getters will face each other in the general election. While theoretically that could mean two Democrats facing off each other, since there are so many more Democrats running than republicans, the odds increase that the Democrats could split the vote enough that no Democrat ends up in the general election because the top two vote getters could end up being republicans in those very republican districts.

They have until June 5 to get their act together, and my guess is no Democrat is going to drop out

[GulfCoast66]

4. Too bad we do not have some group...

Consisting of dedicated, long service and smart people who could help sort out messes like this to help us control Congress like we used to.

We could them something like the Democratic National Committee or perhaps the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Nah, that could never happen. Only republicans would look at the rules, work as a unit and then win.

So Establishment of them.

[LBM20]

5. The problem is that is a shitty primary system, piling them all onto one ballot.

Primaries should be separate by party. What kind of shit is that, piling them all onto one ballot regardless of party? Dumb.

[msongs]

6. you are correct. I think in CA the parties would then have to pay for the elections themselves

as they would no longer be state funded