All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for election every two years and both Democrats and Republicans have a chair of their campaign staff that lead the charge for their party. Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) leads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and Congressman Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) heads up the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).
DCCC Chair Bustos represents Illinois’ 17th District, which is located in the northwest part of the state and includes the Illinois side of the Quad Cities and portions of Peoria and Rockford. First elected in 2012, she is a member of the business-friendly New Democrat Coalition and is a key player on the congressional women’s softball team that plays each year against women in the Capitol Hill press corps.
NRCC Chair Emmer represents Minnesota’s 6th District, which is located to the north and west of Minneapolis and includes the city of St. Cloud. First elected in 2014, he is a member of both the conservative Republican Study Committee and the more moderate Republican Main Street Partnership. A college hockey player, he is the star of the congressional hockey team that plays annually against a team of lobbyists.
Since this is the first Club Director published in 2020, we reached out to both Chairs to get their read on the upcoming House elections.
Democrats picked up 40 House seats in the 2018 election to take the majority. Generally, how does the landscape look as we approach the 2020 election?
BUSTOS: After picking up 40 seats in 2018 we started this cycle by going on offense, pushing further into areas that had been held by Republicans for decades. That means making aggressive on-the-ground investments in field, communications and digital operations that have put us on track to protect and expand this House majority. By the numbers that means we put nearly 60 organizers on the ground across the country, moved a full team to Texas that is running point on our work there in six key battleground districts, and we’ve now outraised House Republicans’ campaign arm for the last 10 months of 2019. On top of that, we’ve recruited strong candidates with deep ties to their communities and records of service who are challenging out of touch Republicans in Washington. I am confident that we are in a strong position to not only protect this majority, but expand it because Democrats are fighting for the priorities of the American people and Republicans are marching in lockstep with their party in Washington, even when it’s bad for everyday people.
EMMER: The atmosphere continues to worsen for House Democrats. Between their obsession with trying to remove President Trump from office and their radical socialist agenda, voters are turning away from the socialist Democrat Party in droves. Just look at the recent developments where Democrat Jeff Van Drew is switching parties to become a Republican due to Democrats’ hatred of the President of the United States. This impeachment obsession will cost Democrats their majority.
Many of the seats Democrats picked up in 2018 are suburban districts that have been areas where Republicans traditionally performed well. What are you seeing in those districts that gives you confidence Democrats can hold them in 2020/Republicans can win them back?
BUSTOS: President Trump and Washington Republicans can be summed up through one word: Reckless. In sharp contrast to that, Democrats are working to find common sense ways to address the top priorities of their communities: bringing down the cost of health care, investing in infrastructure to fix our roads and bridges and working to attract good jobs that will stick around for decades to come. The reality is, Republicans are going to have to answer for the president every day and his historic unpopularity will be a shadow they can’t escape. But even if you take Trump out of the equation, I’m confident in suburban districts because the folks there agree with our vision for this country: If you work hard you should be able to get ahead, and so should your kids.
EMMER: This year House Republicans are 3-0 in special elections with GOP candidates handily outperforming their 2018 results. We are seeing those same results on the local level. In local elections in New Jersey last month, Republicans picked up seats for the first time in 28 years. On Long Island, Republicans flipped the largest town in America, Hempstead, from blue to red. Pundits seem to forget that in 2016 with President Trump on the ballot Republicans held a commanding majority in the House. The socialist policies Democrats are defending will not sell in the suburbs and we will take back the majority.
What do you believe is the most effective message for Democrats/Republicans running for the House this year?
BUSTOS: I represent a district that voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and I know how to connect to voters who may not agree with me on every issue. Regardless of where you’re from, however, my advice is the same to anyone who asks how they should work to serve their communities: Run like you’re running for mayor. When you’re the mayor of a town it isn’t just about issues on the left and issues on the right, it’s about working on the issues that matter to your local community. That’s the approach I take and I see that approach in how freshmen Democrats are communicating.
EMMER: Freedom vs. socialism: That’s the choice voters have in the upcoming election and we will ensure every voter knows the disastrous impact Democrats’ socialist policies will have on people’s lives. From abolishing private health insurance to proposing a literal $93 trillion socialist takeover of the economy, Democrats have completely lost their way and it will cost them their majority.
There have been a number of Republicans who have announced they will not seek re-election in 2020. Which of those seats do you believe are the best opportunities for Democrats to flip? Are you concerned about the number of retirements and how do they play into your plans for 2020?
BUSTOS: Texas has been the core of our offensive battlefield from day one and the retirements of Will Hurd, Pete Olson and Kenny Marchant under significant pressure from folks at the grassroots, along with the DCCC, shows just how much things have changed for Republicans not just in Texas, but in suburban communities across the country. We’re hard at work on offense in all of the open seats in our battlefield, from Texas, to the St. Louis suburbs, to Long Island, and we are in a strong position to not only protect this majority, but expand it as well.
EMMER: The average margin of victory for the seats of these retiring members is 14 points. Put differently, these seats are Republican and will remain Republican after 2020.
How will the impeachment of President Trump play in swing districts?
BUSTOS: Democrats made it clear in 2018 that we would work with the president where we could, and when he was hurting our communities or the country we’d hold him accountable for that as well. That explains how, in the same week the House introduced articles of impeachment, we reached a landmark agreement on a trade agreement with bipartisan support between the US, Mexico, and Canada. Democrats are working hard to fight for the priorities of the American people and we’ve shown what it means to have Congress stand up for everyday people, not Washington special interests.
EMMER: Impeachment will cost Democrats their majority. Instead of delivering on the issues voters care about most, the socialist Democrats have spent their time obsessing over impeachment and working to overturn the 2016 election. Democrats know they can’t beat President Trump in 2020 so they are trying to impeach him. Voters know this is nothing more than a politically motivated sham.
Joe Trauger is NCA’s vice president of government relations. He can be reached at 202-822-9822 or [email protected].