Republicans, bullish about their chances of winning a House majority in November, are taking aim at seats in the one region of the country where they currently hold none: New England.
The party needs five more seats to capture the House. And it’s looking toward a batch of candidates in Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island to help put them over the top. Any wins by Republican hopefuls would end the six-state Democratic shutout in place since 2018, when GOP Rep. Bruce Poliquin lost to Democratic challenger Jared Golden in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, which covers the state’s sprawling northern tier, giving Democrats all 21 New England seats.
The Republicans’ New England push comes as Democrats face a tough election cycle trying to defend their four-year majority. President Joe Biden had a run of legislative and foreign policy successes in early August, including the Senate passage of a healthcare, tax, and climate spending bill, and the killing of al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri. But his approval ratings remain low, due to stubbornly high gas prices, the worst overall inflation in 40 years, and a range of other problems.
New England was once a Republican stronghold, with Rockefeller Republicans a significant political force. But they’ve been a dying breed for the past several decades, and former President Donald Trump’s controversy-filled White House term didn’t exactly help the party’s image there.
Maine remains Republicans’ only congressional toehold in New England, in the form of the Senate seat held by Republican Susan Collins since 1997. But House Republicans see the region as a key part of their strategy to build out a new House majority. Poliquin is running for his old seat against now-Rep. Golden — a district Trump won in 2020, even amid his loss nationally to Biden.
Next door in New Hampshire, Republicans are preparing for a serious challenge against Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) after the Sept. 13 GOP primary in the 1st Congressional District, covering the Granite State’s short seacoast and points inland. Pappas is expected to face a tough challenge from the winner of the GOP primary, where the field includes former newscaster Gail Huff Brown, wife of ex-Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), and a pair of former Trump White House aides, Karoline Leavitt and Matt Mowers. The district is a perennial battleground — over the past 10 congressional elections, Democrats have won it six times and Republicans four.
House Republican leaders are playing up their pickup chances, particularly, in southern New England. In Rhode Island, party officials are high on the chances of former Cranston Mayor Allan Fung. He’s running to replace retiring Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI) in the 2nd Congressional District, covering the Ocean State’s western half, including part of Providence. Fung would be the first Republican elected to Congress from Rhode Island in 28 years.
Earlier in August, Fung campaigned throughout the district with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who is in line to become House speaker if Republicans win the majority in November. The pair decried worsening inflation under Democratic rule in Washington, lax U.S.-Mexico border security, and talked up other popular GOP themes.
McCarthy made a similar pitch to the west in Connecticut, once a competitive political playground but a strong Democratic territory for over a decade and a half. McCarthy held a fundraiser with state Rep. Mike France, running in the eastern Connecticut 2nd Congressional District, and former state Sen. George Logan, running in the northern Fairfield County and northwestern Connecticut 5th Congressional District.
France is trying to unseat Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT), first elected to the House in the 2006 Democratic wave. Logan is running against Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT), who came to Congress in the Democrats’ banner 2018 election cycle.
House Democrats largely scoff at the Republican efforts to win House seats in New England. Except for the Maine district, where Poliquin is seeking a comeback bid, each went comfortably for Biden in 2020. A spokeswoman for Fung’s Democratic opponent, Seth Magaziner, was happy to nationalize the race, saying: “The fact McCarthy is campaigning for Allan Fung in RI confirms what we already knew — Fung and the extremist Republicans would be a disaster for Rhode Island seniors, Rhode Island workers, and Rhode Island women.”
Republicans’ hopes rest on the fact that political waves often bring victories in seats where the GOP wouldn’t normally be competitive, and party leaders are looking for a red wave big enough to break along New England’s long shorelines.
