The National Republican Congressional Committee has identified the ten House GOP incumbents it thinks are the most vulnerable in 2018.
Three of the members are from California, including former House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, who narrowly won re-election in November.
“Our Patriots are a group of battle-tested members who won hard-fought races in 2016 and are ready to win once again,” NRCC Chairman Steve Stivers stated in identifying them. “Each of those announced is not only an effective member in Congress, but an integral advocate for the communities they serve.
“The NRCC stands squarely behind each of them and will work tirelessly on their behalf to ensure their important voices continue to represent their constituents,” the Ohioan concluded.
Members in the NRCC’s “patriot program,” get additional financial and strategic support for their campaigns from the NRCC.
The other nine members are: Steve Knight and David Valadao, both from California; Brian Mast of Florida; Jason Lewis of Minnesota; New York’s John Faso and Claudia Tenney; Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania; Will Hurd of Texas; and Barbara Comstock of Virginia.
Comstock, Hurd, Knight and Valadao were also in the program last cycle. Issa undoubtedly joined the list after only securing his eight term three weeks after Election Day because the final tally was so close.
Faso, Fitzpatrick, Lewis, Mast and Tenney are freshman. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is targeting all 10. Half of them are in districts the DCCC selected for the “unprecedented accountability project,” it announced earlier this month, which will “harness the grassroots energy occurring across the country [by] investing in state parties to hire full-time, local organizing staffers.
Five Republicans were dropped from the program this cycle after over-performing in November.
Ultimately the NRCC selected 20 lawmakers for the program last cycle and likely will add more names to the 2018 list as the cycle progresses.
The NRCC created the patriot program in 2009 to help incumbents in tough districts “build strong and winning campaigns through goals, benchmarks, and accountability,” according to the NRCC.
