With a House vote on impeaching President Trump looming, Democrats in some of the most vulnerable districts are hoping constituents move on to other issues by fall of next year.
The House Judiciary Committee on Friday approved two impeachment articles, for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The full House is expected to vote to impeach Trump next week. Looking to a January trial, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has said there is “no chance” his chamber will vote to remove Trump from office.
And that timeline works fine for Democratic House members in districts Trump won in 2016.
“We have a quick news cycle. Things move along pretty fast,” South Carolina Democratic Rep. Joe Cunningham told the Washington Examiner. “I think it allows a lot more time to continue working on other things.”
Joe Cunningham, 37, won his coastal South Carolina seat in 2018, the first Democratic House member to hold it in 40 years. In 2016, Trump defeated Democratic rival Hillary Clinton there 53%-40%.
Cunningham has yet to reveal how he will vote on the two articles of impeachment but said he was previously open to supporting a censure of the president if more Republicans had supported such a measure.
Virginia Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria, a fellow freshman swing district member who in 2018 won her seat by two percentage points, announced Wednesday her intention to vote for both articles of impeachment. Luria, 44, told the Washington Examiner she has no plans to hide from her impeachment vote no matter how many months pass.
But, seeking reelection in her Virginia Beach-based district, she plans to highlight areas in which she’s supported the Trump administration.
“It’s truly not a political calculus. I’m not going to shy away six months from now and say I try to pretend I didn’t vote for it,” Luria said. “I think it’s equally important today as it will be six months from now to say that I stood up against the president when he did something wrong.”
Luria, a 20-year Navy veteran and Annapolis graduate, was among a small group of House Democrats invited to a Trump White House event on Tuesday.
“I was at the White House yesterday. I attended a signing ceremony for the executive order where he signed an executive order combating anti-Semitism on college campuses,” Luria said. “So, I’ll stand with the president and next to the president when he does something right. But I’ll stand up to him when he does something wrong. So, I think people see that.”
Michigan Rep. Dan Kildee, a member of the House Democratic leadership who hails from a safer seat, believes it is natural for people to move on to other issues after a searing and divisive vote like impeachment happens, whether it is intentional or not.
“People will focus on the things that are in the front of mind,” Kildee said. “As we go into the next year, we go back to a conversation about the economy and about people’s own anxieties about retirement, pension, security — all the stuff that typically is more of a kitchen table conversation.”
The timing lag is not lost on House Republicans either. North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Meadows told the Washington Examiner a quick trial in the Senate after an impeachment vote could play into a Democratic strategy to diminish any negative effects on their vulnerable members.
“If the impeachment hearings are over and they are not as tumultuous in the Senate, as we’ve seen in the House, and they’re over by February of next year, then people will go to the ballot box more on other issues than impeachment,” Meadows said.
“Now, if it lasts for more than five to six weeks, what’s happening is, you’re bringing everything else to a halt at that point. Other activities, and it’ll have more of a lasting impact. So, the timing does matter,” Meadows said. “I think that’s why they’re trying to get it done before Christmas. So that everybody goes home for Christmas and forgets about their bad vote.”
