Vulnerable House Democrats Pondering Looming Potential Exits Threatens Nancy Pelosi’s Majority in Midterms

Pelosi
(screenshot/MSNBC)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) hopes of maintaining her slim majority are dwindling as droves of vulnerable far-left Democrats look to exit the House.

A growing list of vulnerable House Democrats who face major redistricting or tough reelections look to exit the House, potentially costing Pelosi her already very slim majority.

Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) is the latest Democrat to explore a House exit. Over the weekend, he announced he would have a “major announcement” in his hometown on Tuesday. Crist is rumored to be announcing another run for governor, thus leaving his House seat open. The Washington Post reported Crist making an attempt at the governorship will be his “sixth statewide bid for office in Florida, his second attempt as a Democrat for governor.”

Another blow to Pelosi’s hopes was the retirement of Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL), who was a former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) chairwoman and one of Pelosi’s top lieutenants. She announced last week she would not be seeking reelection. Bustos narrowly won her seat in 2020. Former President Donald Trump previously won Bustos’ district in both of his elections in 2016 and 2020. Illinois also lost a congressional seat after the Census, though the Democrat’s supermajority controls redistricting for the 2022 election.

Pennsylvania Democrats Reps. Conor Lamb and Chrissy Houlahan are both considering Senate bids in the open seat after Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) retires in 2022. This leaves Pelosi stuck trying to find suitable candidates to run in the shrinking amount of time, thus giving Republicans the upper hand. Many Democrats allegedly believe with Lamb and Houlahan leaving, “they would be unable to field a candidate who could hold onto his district next fall, likely costing them a seat.” In addition, “Republicans control the state legislature, but Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf can veto their maps.”

Earlier this year, Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ) and Rep. Filemon Vela (D-TX) announced their intent to retire, which would open the seats up for a competitive race. This leaves an opportunity for Republicans to retake Kirkpatrick’s seat, which represents Tucson and Cochise County on the U.S.-Mexico border, one of the most historically contested districts.

Democrat Rep. Tim Ryan (OH), failed presidential hopeful, launched his Senate campaign last week to replace retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman (OH). Leaving his seat behind, Ryan became the first Democrat to jump into the Ohio Senate race. Portman announced earlier this year he will not run for reelection.

Frontline Democrat Rep. Stephanie Murphy (FL) has also been “seriously” considering a Senate bid in hopes of unseating Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in 2022. Murphy previously announced, “she’s launching a statewide listening tour and has hired a top Democrat operative to manage the effort.” Breitbart News has previously reported Murphy seeing a flood of corporate cash into her campaign from big multinational companies with deep ties in China on her recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.

Another Florida Democrat, Rep. Val Demings, is considering vacating her seat and campaigning against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). Currently, the Florida Democrat Party is in “shambles” before state redistricting. A source close to the Democrat told Politico “At this point, it’s more likely than not that she does run.”

Vulnerable Democrat Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (TX) has been hammered by the Republican campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). Recently, Breitbart News broke the story of Gonzalez holding more than $100,000 with the Bank of China, a state-owned organ of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). After the initial report by Breitbart News, Gonzalez closed the account. The NRCC released ads hitting the Democrat for his suspicious behavior.

With the mass exodus and other vulnerable Democrats and the midterms quickly approaching, Democrats are quickly losing the time to find viable candidates willing to run. The Democrats are looking to escape the possible loss of a majority or seeking higher office. With this latest blow, the Congressional Republicans have been able to inch closer to take back the House.

The Republican campaign arm created an “Exit List” last month, which was comprised of vulnerable Democrats the Republicans are looking to pick off in the midterms.

All ten of the aforementioned members are on the list.

In a press release Mike Berg, an NRCC spokesman, said, “who can blame them?” for trying to leave the House.

“Democrats’ campaign arm blew their best chance to pad their slim House majority this weekend when they got shut out of the runoff in TX-06, a district targeted by the DCCC last cycle that President Trump carried by 3 points,” the press release added.

The NRCC April battleground survey shows Republicans are projected to regain the House majority in the midterm elections. The survey also found vulnerable Democrats have an uphill battle defending their seats for voting on “Pelosi’s socialist agenda.” In addition,  the survey also finds Pelosi being the most unpopular politician in the country, with 56 percent unfavorable.

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