Democrats Lack Strong Challengers for Some Vulnerable G.O.P. House Seats
Those dems who are responsible for recruiting candidates to run best get on the ball. Time is short IMHO.
Democrats Lack Strong Challengers for Some Vulnerable G.O.P. House Seats
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/upshot/a-big-wave-of-cash-but-with-dry-spots-for-democratic-house-challengers.html?mabReward=ART_ACTM5&recid=0vSi6LgocOk7AbfBln25ymnFLlp&recp=0&module=WelcomeBackModal&contentCollection=Politics®ion=FixedCenter&action=click&src=recg&pgtype=article
Oct 24, 2017
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Democrats have debated extensively about whether they ought to focus on winning back working-class Trump voters or on expanding their gains in diverse, well-educated Sun Belt suburbs. This can be a false choice: They can do both to some extent, especially in congressional elections where individual candidates can run campaigns well suited to their districts. But Democrats, who need a net gain of 24 seats to retake the House, won’t have the option to target districts they held as recently as a decade ago if they can’t find viable challengers.
There is not yet a strong Democratic challenger in David Valadao’s district (the 21st) in California’s Central Valley, the nation’s least-educated Republican-held congressional district (going by the percentage of those with a college degree). It broke for Hillary Clinton by 16 percentage points last November. There isn’t a strong challenger in John Katko’s upstate New York district (the 24th), where Barack Obama won easily in 2012 and where Mrs. Clinton won in 2016. These races remain rated as “likely Republican” by the Cook Political Report.
Democrats have notably failed to recruit a strong challenger against the Republican freshman Brian Fitzpatrick, who represents the blue-collar suburbs northeast of Philadelphia. Frank LoBiondo, a moderate 71-year-old, 12-term congressman from an Obama district in southern New Jersey, is the sort of candidate whom the Democrats might reasonably hope to pressure into retirement with a strong challenge. But he won’t be feeling much pressure so long as his top opponent has a mere $9,486 in the bank.
Over all, there are 11 districts (out of the 50 districts that ought to be most competitive, by our estimates) where the Democrats don’t have a candidate who raised $100,000. On average, those 11 districts are much less educated than the battlegrounds as a whole; just 31 percent of whites over age 25 have a degree. In comparison, whites with a degree represent 41 percent of the population in the other 39 districts that ought to be most competitive.
Democratic Fund-Raising Lagging in Working-Class Districts
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Democratic share of fund-raising...............................
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