Political target:
National Democrats add U.S. Rep. David Schweikert’s northeast Valley district to their list of House races they hope to win in next year’s elections. Schweikert, a four-term Republican, joins 78 other targeted districts the Democrats will try to turn blue.
National Democrats added this week U.S. Rep. David Schweikert’s northeast Valley district to their list of House races they hope to win in next year’s elections.
In a memo, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added 10 seats to 69 others they view as within reach of turning blue. One of them was Schweikert’s.
“House Republicans’ midterm prospects grow dimmer with each passing day thanks to the endless supply of chaos, scandal and broken promises to voters from Republican-controlled Washington. Today, the DCCC is expanding our offensive battlefield, bringing our targeted districts for recruitment and potential investment to 79 Republican-held seats,” the memo said.
President Donald Trump’s early stumbles have raised Democrats’ hopes for 2018, perhaps even to include regaining a majority in the House.
For now, however, a Democratic victory in Schweikert’s district seems like a long shot.
Schweikert, a four-term Republican, has angered Democrats in his district with his strong support for the GOP health-care bill, which he helped shape from his seat on the House Ways
and Means Committee. But anger alone may not be enough. For one, the only Democratic candidate who has filed in the 6th District is lawyer Garrick McFadden, a relative unknown in political circles.
Perhaps more importantly, Schweikert’s district has been safely Republican since it was formed in 2012.
Trump won there by 10 percentage points. Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP nominee, carried it by nearly 21 percentage points. Schweikert has won by 28, 30 and 24 percentage points.
Voter registration trends since last year’s election also don’t suggest a political earthquake is forthcoming.
Since November, Democrats in Schweikert’s district have added nearly 900 registered voters. In the same span, Republicans have picked up 2,100. Another 2,000 have since registered as independents or with other parties.
In other words, Schweikert’s district has gotten less Democratic since November.
And Schweikert begins with at least a $150,000 cash head start, based on his latest quarterly campaign finance report.