On Thursday, the DCCC unveiled the first round of its “Red to Blue” program for the 2020 election cycle, highlighting candidates whom the committee thinks has the strongest chance of picking up GOP-held districts or defending competitive open seats. The full list of candidates making the DCCC’s initial roster are below:
- AZ-06: Hiral Tipirneni
- CA-25: Christy Smith
- IA-02: Rita Hart
- IL-13: Betsy Dirksen Londrigan
- IN-05: Christina Hale
- MN-01: Dan Feehan
- MO-02: Jill Schupp
- NY-02: Jackie Gordon
- PA-10: Eugene DePasquale
- TX-21: Wendy Davis
- TX-23: Gina Ortiz Jones
- WA-03: Carolyn Long
Most of these candidates don’t face any serious opposition in their primaries. The one big exception is in California’s 25th District where progressive commentator Cenk Uygur, who has long been a vocal opponent of national party leaders, is competing with Assemblywoman Christy Smith in March.
The DCCC’s decision to back Babylon Town Councilor Jackie Gordon in New York’s 2nd District is also notable. Gordon launched a bid against GOP Rep. Peter King in the spring, but there was some talk of other Democrats getting in after King decided to retire in November. No other notable contenders have entered the Democratic primary, though, and it looks like the DCCC doesn’t expect that to change.
The DCCC’s counterparts at the NRCC have a similar program called Young Guns, but there are some key differences between them. When the DCCC adds a candidate to Red to Blue, it is declaring that this contender is the national party’s choice in a key race. By contrast, the NRCC often will add multiple candidates running in the same race, as well as people running in safely red open seats.
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