Democrats all across the country have been stepping up to run for Congress, and it’s finally amounted to this: only 10 GOP-held congressional seats lack Democratic challengers.
Yes, you read that correctly. Only 10.
Since my last update, a lot happened in the way of Democratic candidate declarations. A number of filing deadlines have passed, including a key one in Alabama—a state that previously had two seats in need of Democratic candidates. Thankfully, Democratic candidates declared in both of them before the filing deadline.
In Alabama’s 3rd district, former Miss America Mallory Hagan stepped up to run, generating many headlines and likely raising some decent money (you can contribute to her campaign here, if you like). Even though it’s a 65.3-32.3 Trump district with a very well entrenched Republican incumbent (Mike Rogers), she may serve as top-notch spokesperson to this part of Alabama. The district contains Auburn University as well as part of the Black Belt, so it’s not entirely without Democratic voters. The challenge will be identifying and mobilizing liberal voters with greater success than Doug Jones, who lost the seat to Roy Moore by a 47.8-50.8 margin.
Meanwhile, two Democratic candidates of note declared in Alabama’s 1st district. The first is Lizzetta Hill McConnell, who does not yet have a website but has filed all the paperwork to run. She’s the President of the Mobile County NAACP, so she likely has the connections and political experience necessary to run a serious campaign. The second candidate has a familiar name: Robert Kennedy Jr. He previously ran in the primary for the Senate election Doug Jones won. Many people feared his famous name would cause trouble for Jones, but he didn’t in the end. This district, represented by Republican Bradley Byrne, voted for Trump by a 63.5-34.1 margin, and voted for Roy Moore by a 51-47.2 margin—making it slightly more republican than AL-03.
Alabama drops off our list of states in need of Democratic congressional candidates. If a big blue wave forms, both of these districts could be worth watching.
In addition to these two districts, two more gained candidates in the last few weeks:
- Utah’s 1st congressional district — Rick Weiland, a former Democratic candidate for the Utah State House in 2016, chose to challenge incumbent Republican Rob Bishop. This district is Utah’s most conservative, giving Trump 49.7% of the vote in 2016, while Hillary and Independent Evan McMullin each took about 22%.
- Oklahoma’s 3rd congressional district — It takes a brave soul to run in Oklahoma, where gerrymandering and a swift move to the right over the last decade has left the state without a Democratic member of Congress. However, businessman Murray Thibodeaux is diving in, challenging incumbent Republican Frank Lucas. The rural district voted for Trump by a 73.6-20.9 margin.
So where are the 10 remaining districts without Democratic candidates, and what are their stories? They come from 8 states, two of which have upcoming filing deadlines. These districts are listed below, along with filing deadlines and the hashtags used to track district news on Twitter:
- Kansas’s 1st congressional district (#KS01) — This very rural district takes up most of the state of Kansas, including the cities of Manhattan, Emporia, Hutchinson, and Dodge City. It’s represented by Republican Roger Marshall, who defeated the wildly conservative previous incumbent Tim Huelskamp during the 2016 primaries. No Democrat has run in this 69.3-24.3 Trump district last cycle, but a Democrat who ran against Huelskamp in the red wave year of 2014 lost 67.97-32.03. The filing deadline for this district is June 1st, 2018.
- Louisiana’s 1st, 4th, and 5th congressional districts (#LA01 #LA04 and #LA05) — These districts all encompass rural parts of Louisiana. LA-01’s representative is Steve Scalise, the House Majority Whip who previously palled around with white supremacists, then was shot and injured at a practice for the congressional softball game in June 2017. The other two incumbents aren’t especially remarkable. Louisiana’s filing deadline is not for a while—July 20, 2018—but the sooner we land Democratic candidates, the better! I’ll maybe discuss these districts more extensively in a future blog post.
- Mississippi’s 3rd congressional district (#MS03) — Covering an awkward tract of territory from Starkville and Meridian to the Eastern suburbs of Jackson to the state’s Southwest corner, this district is OPEN! The Republican incumbent, Gregg Harper, is not running for reelection. Many Republicans have declared, but no Democrats so far. This filing deadline is soon: March 1st, 2018. A Democrat needs to step up and run! Although Democratic state representative Michael Evans has been mentioned as a possible candidate, we have no evidence that he plans to run, thus far.
- North Carolina’s 3rd congressional district (#NC03) — Walter Jones is the Republican incumbent for this Jacksonville, New Bern and Outer Banks area seat, but he may not be for long! Jones has spoken out against Trump and (back in the day) George W. Bush, so he’s often attracted primary challengers. This time, he has two, and the Trump fervor may make him vulnerable. Whoever becomes the Republican nominee in November may very well be wounded from a brutal primary. Thus, a Democratic candidate is especially needed here. The district voted for Trump by a 60.5-36.9 margin, so whoever runs will have their work cut out for them. But could this district be flipped? It’s certainly possible—the district is less conservative than Alabama. The filing deadline is soon: noon on February 28, 2018, so somebody needs to run!
- Oklahoma’s 1st congressional district (#OK01) — This Tulsa-area district actually trended more Democratic in 2016 than in past election cycles. However, the district remains quite conservative. It voted for Mitt Romney in 2012 by a 65.8-34.2 margin, then voted for Trump in 2016 by a 61.4-32.7 margin. Bridenstine ran upposed in 2012, 2014, and 2016, so he really could use a challenger this time around, especially given his reputation as a Climate Change denier. He was being considered for the role of NASA Administrator under Trump, but that hasn’t panned out for him so far. We therefore may see a special election here soon enough. The filing deadline for the general election is April 13, 2018.
- Tennessee’s 6th congressional district (#TN06) — This district, stretching from the Nashville suburbs to Jamestown, Crossville, and Tullahoma, creates an interesting opportunity. The seat is open, as incumbent Republican Diane Black has chosen to run for governor. Late last year, a State Senate special election took place in this district, and the Democratic candidate almost won. That candidate is now running in the general election for that State Senate seat, so we need a Democratic candidate here too. The filing deadline is April 5th, 2018.
- Utah’s 3rd congressional district (#UT03) — This district, which covers much of suburban and rural Utah (including Provo and Moab), had a special election last year. In that race, Democratic candidate Kathie Allen lost to Republican John Curtis, but Curtis only won 58% of the vote. Democrats may be burned out in this district, but we still need a candidate! The filing deadline is March 15, 2018, but the Utah Democratic party can also nominate a candidate at its convention in May.
- Wyoming’s at-large congressional district (#WYAL) — Former Vice President Dick Cheney’s daughter, Liz Cheney, represents this district, and she’s just as much of a warhawk and Republican nutjob as her father. She was criticized when she first ran for a Senate seat in 2014 as entitled and for not actually living in Wyoming, so she isn’t beloved by the local voters. While Trump won the state by a steep 70.1-22.5 margin, Liz Cheney won by a 62-30 margin. With the right candidate and everything going right, a Democratic candidate could win here—in fact, Democrats almost did win this seat in 2006. Mary Neal, an orthropedic surgeon in Jackson, was reportedly considering a run, but no candidate has officially declared thus far. The filing deadline is June 1, 2018.
So, what are we supposed to do about these absent challengers? Sit back and let terrible Republican incumbents and candidates go unchallenged?
I say no. Every district is worth challenging. As Alabama’s Senate election showed us last year, upset victories happen. If nothing else, having a serious challenger puts psychological and financial pressure on Republican incumbents. Furthermore, if we can recruit Democratic candidates in all 435 congressional districts, we can then ensure that all voters have a real choice and make a real argument for Democratic ideas and values.
Thus, if you happen to live in these areas or know a Democrat who does, consider recruiting someone to run! That someone can be yourself.
But what if you don’t live in these districts? Well, I have good news for you: thanks to the magical powers of Twitter, you can easily help find and recruit candidates through a couple of simple ways.
First, use the hashtags listed above to spread the word and tweet about the need for Democratic candidates. Oftentimes, it helps to use the hashtag for a major city in the district, too (e.g., #Tulsa for OK-01). If you find any liberal-leaning Twitter users in these areas, tweet at them encouraging them to recruit a candidate or to run themselves!
Sometimes, tweeting at major political figures in the states can help give encouragement to recruit candidates. For example, I had the following positive interaction with the Chair of the North Carolina Democratic party. He said they’re actively trying to land a candidate in NC-03, and indicated some prospects:
If you are so bold, you also can find people in the district on Twitter and ask them to run. You can do this through Twitter’s advance search tool. Search popular liberal hashtags (such as #Resist or #TaxScamBill) in a particular location, and you may find a long list of potential candidates worth recruiting. Keep such tweets polite and harmless, such as my example below:
These efforts are best done through collective action—the more people recruiting and encouraging people to run, the better.
If we all step up and make an effort to recruit, we can maybe make this the first election cycle in modern political history in which a political party contests every single congressional district! Such a feat would certainly turn up the heat on congressional Republicans, send a bold message to Trump and the GOP, and help us win back the House.
The North Carolina and Mississippi filing deadlines are in less than 2 weeks. Let’s help make Democratic candidacies happen!