A top Democratic leader on Thursday boldly predicted his party would capture the House in the midterm elections.
Rep. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, declined to hedge or qualify the forecast when asked during a news conference to peg Democrats’ chances of flipping the minimum 23 Republican-held seats required to seize the House majority for the first time in a decade.
“I do believe Democrats will win back the House of Representatives,” Lujan said. “I never said it would be easy; we’re going to have to fight for every inch, and that’s been our intention from Day 1.”
“There’s clear energy and momentum on our side,” he added. “History’s on our side.”
Confidence is growing in the Democratic ranks as post-Labor Day public opinion polls show the party surging to a wider lead on the generic ballot gauging which side of the aisle voters prefer in charge on Capitol Hill. The Democrats’ lead in the RealClearPolitics.com polling average, 8.3 percentage points, is beyond the 6-7 point threshold that Republicans could absorb and still hang on.
[Related: Trump not expected to suffer election losses as bad as Obama, Clinton]
Suburban voters across the country are set to determine the balance of power in the House. This cohort typically votes Republican for Congress. But led by dissatisfaction among women who never warmed to President Trump’s culture-war conservatism and rough rhetorical edges, this cohort is poised to defect to the Democrats.
Lujan said that the DCCC has identified 111 House seats “on the battlefield,” and named 73 to the committee’s “Red to Blue” program that makes the Democratic nominees in those races eligible for extra fundraising, infrastructure, and voter turnout assistances.
Notably, Lujan never voluntarily mentioned Trump. About 15 minutes into the news conference, a reporter asked the congressman to discuss the president’s obvious impact on the midterm elections in favor of the Democrats, and why he didn’t mention the White House more prominently while listing the reasons he’s so optimistic about November.
“Our candidates don’t have to talk about him because he’s going to talk about himself for us. President Trump’s going to bring more attention to himself than anybody else will,” Lujan said. “He’ll remind the American people of every investigation that he’s involved with, every disgusting tweet that is out there.”
House Republicans remain bullish on their prospects, at least publicly.
During a Sept. 7 briefing with reporters, Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said he was confident about holding the majority. Trump, he added, is not the drag on GOP candidates many observers believe him to be.
“I feel pretty good about our chances to hold the House majority,” Stivers said. “This is peace and prosperity versus, I guess, poverty and insecurity.”
Lujan said House Democrats are running an issue-centric campaign, with plans to use majority control to push legislation lowering prescription drug prices and funding a “robust infrastructure package that will invest in America;” while pushing economic policies that boost wages.
Intentionally or not, the proposals Lujan ticked off fit neatly with Trump’s agenda.
