Democrats finding support for Biden in small-city America
AdMcGaw’s transformation is driving Democrats' hopes as they charge into what the party considers its new frontier: small-city America. As Democrats continue to lose votes in small towns, they've seen clear gains in regional hubs that dot stretches of rural America. Biden carried roughly 60 counties President Donald Trump won in 2016, many were places anchored by a midsize or small city that is trending Democratic. While there remains robust support for Trump, voters stress that action carries more weight than ideological purity. Lageson’s 73-year-old husband, Larry, a devoted Trump supporter, called Biden a pawn of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Biden's win hides a dire warning for Democrats in rural U.S.
DES MOINES, Iowa – Democrats once dominated Koochiching County in the blue-collar Iron Range of northern Minnesota. But in this month's presidential election, President Donald Trump won it with 60% of the vote. Though Democrats’ rural woes aren’t new, they now heap pressure on Biden to begin reversing the trend. In clinging to their majority, House Democrats lost rural seats, notably the one held for 30 years by Rep. Collin Peterson in western Minnesota. For now, Democrats' future in rural America rests largely on how Biden is viewed there, Heitkamp said.
How Democrats came up short in bid to expand House majority
"It's the Trump factor," Nearmyer said about how Democrats lost House seats. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)MONROE, Iowa – This swath of southeast Iowa isn't supposed to be a nailbiter for Democrats. Instead, it appears Democrats made a serious miscalculation in assuming their antipathy toward Trump would fuel victories across the country. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which supports the party's House candidates, is beginning a “deep dive” examination into what happened. Voters for months watched Republican ads featuring unrest with narrators ominously attacking Democrats as anti-police, often with little response.
Dems clinch House control, but majority likely to shrink
By retaining the House, Democrats will control the chamber for four consecutive years for only the second time since 1995, when Republicans ended 40 years of Democratic dominance. As the bad news sunk in, Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., who led House Democrats' campaign committee, announced Monday she wouldn't seek another term leading that organization. Republicans have been heartened by the House results, which many believe position them for a strong run for the majority in the 2022 elections. Illustrating that, the Blue Dog Coalition of the most conservative House Democrats, whose membership has dwindled in recent years, lost at least six of its roughly two dozen members. On the Republican side, the conservative House Freedom Caucus was hoping to grow from its roughly 30 members.
Key departures signal agriculture shakeup for Capitol Hill
MINNEAPOLIS – The reelection defeat of U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson in Minnesota and some key retirements mean a shakeup is coming for the industry on Capitol Hill, with power likely to shift from the Midwest to the South and the coasts. Both the House and Senate agriculture committees will get new chairs, and there will be a new top Republican on the House panel. Fischbach plans to seek a seat on the Agriculture Committee, but she'll have to draw heavily on her legislative skills to have much of an influence as a freshman in the minority party. Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan is the only one of the top four agriculture committee leaders returning in 2021. Neither Roberts nor Rep. Michael Conaway of Texas, the ranking Republican in the House committee, sought reelection.
Dems head toward House control, but GOP picks off seats
“They were all wrong," House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters about Democrats' assumptions of adding to their House numbers. She declared that Democrats had won the House majority, which seemed highly likely but hadn’t been officially determined by The Associated Press. Democrats lost a majority Hispanic district in West Texas they expected to win after the GOP incumbent retired. In a district between Austin and San Antonio, freshman GOP Rep. Chip Roy withstood a challenge from Democrat Wendy Davis. Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and the three other members of the so-called squad of young progressive women of color were easily reelected.
House Latest: Republican Lauren Boebert wins Colorado House
She soundly defeated Tipton, a co-chair of President Donald Trump’s Colorado reelection campaign, in the Republican primary in June. Republican state Sen. Stephanie Bice earned a reputation as a political moderate in her two terms in the Oklahoma Senate. ___11:20 p.m.Republican Maria Elvira Salazar has defeated Democrat Donna Shalala for a House seat in Florida. Republican Ronny Jackson has won a House seat in West Texas, where he moved after leaving the White House in 2018. The solidly Republican district is currently held by Mac Thornberry, one of six GOP congressmen in Texas retiring this year.
Stopgap bill to prevent shutdown held up over farm funding
The measure needs to be passed by the end of the budget year on Sept. 30 to prevent a shutdown of nonessential government functions. As previously announced, the bill does not contain COVID-19 relief, leaving that issue in all likelihood for a post-election lame duck session — or for the next administration. The House is slated to pass the stopgap funding bill — called a continuing resolution, or CR in Washington-speak — next week. Earlier this week, Pelosi said the House would stay in session until a COVID-19 deal was reached. Instead, lawmakers appear likely to leave Washington next week and be on 24 hours' notice to return if there is a coronavirus relief deal to vote on.
Veteran House incumbents cling to seats as districts evolve
But there’s a smaller category of lawmakers like Peterson and GOP Rep. Steve Chabot of Ohio who also merit attention: long-term incumbents of both parties fighting to preserve their careers. Over 90% of House incumbents are usually reelected, thanks to name recognition and campaign fundraising advantages. “There are people who traditionally voted Republican who don't identify with the current Republican Party," Schroder, 43, a businesswoman and local public health official, said in an interview. Democratic and Republican campaign committees and other organizations allied with party leadership are aiming the bulk of their spending at each others' softest seats and defending vulnerable incumbents. The Congressional Leadership Fund, aligned with House GOP leadership, planned to spend $3.3 million more, which Republicans said could grow.
Voters will judge Omar's mix of progressivism and celebrity
Minneapolis voters line up to vote a day ahead of Minnesota's Tuesday primary election on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, at the Minneapolis Election and Voters Services offices. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)MINNEAPOLIS Rep. Ilhan Omar is about to learn whether voters in her Minneapolis-area congressional district support the mix of confrontational, anti-Trump progressivism and celebrity that she brings to the job. Antone Melton-Meaux, a Black lawyer and mediator, raised millions of anti-Omar dollars to fill mailboxes and flood airwaves. Omar rejected Melton-Meauxs attacks, saying they were funded by interests that wanted to get her out of Congress because shes effective. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
2 Democrats voted 'no' on impeachment inquiry resolution
(CNN) - Two Democrats broke from their party and voted against the resolution the House passed Thursday formalizing the procedures of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. Reps. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey and Collin Peterson of Minnesota both voted "nay" on the historic resolution. They also voted against going forward with resolution during the preliminary procedural vote. Peterson called the House vote on the resolution "unnecessary" and said he "will not make a decision on impeachment until all the facts have been presented." The resolution outlines the procedural details on how the House will move forward with its inquiry.
Why 12 House Democrats don't support impeaching Trump
CNN does not because, in her statement on the subject, Johnson made her support for impeachment conditional. (Trump +10)* Rep. Collin Peterson (Minnesota): In a statement, Peterson said: "If anyone thinks a partisan impeachment process would constrain President Trump, they are fooling themselves. Without significant bipartisan support, impeachment proceedings will be a lengthy and divisive action with no resolution." It's also why I have opposed a partisan impeachment process that would only deepen those divisions, not solve them." (Trump +7)* Rep. Ron Kind (Wisconsin): Kind said earlier this week that the whistleblower allegations are "very concerning" but didn't mention impeachment in his statement.
AP: Democrats in Trump country cautious about impeachment
She opposes an impeachment inquiry at this time, Horn spokeswoman Chacey Schoeppel said Thursday, but she will listen to the facts and "go through them methodically." But they illustrate the insecurities of those Democrats who managed to get elected from Trump country. Horn's margin of victory in 2018 was just 1.4 percentage points in a district that Trump won by nearly 14 points. Trump won Peterson's district by 30 points. Trump won Lamb's district in 2016, but it has since been redrawn.
chicagotribune.comHere are the House Democrats who haven't called for impeachment
Getty Images(CNN) - While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, there are some House Democrats who aren't fully on board yet. As the list of House Democrats who support the opening of an impeachment inquiry has climbed in recent days, these are the 40 House Democrats who have not made public statements in support of starting an impeachment inquiry or have only posited conditional support for it. Rep. Terri Sewell of AlabamaRep. Tom O'Halleran of ArizonaRep. Mike Thompson of CaliforniaRep. Josh Harder of CaliforniaRep. Ed Perlmutter of ColoradoRep. Rosa DeLauro of ConnecticutRep. Al Lawson of FloridaRep. Stephanie Murphy of FloridaRep. Frederica Wilson of FloridaRep. Donna Shalala of FloridaRep. Lucy McBath of GeorgiaRep. Ed Case of HawaiiRep. Tulsi Gabbard of HawaiiRep. Dan Lipinski of IllinoisRep. Cheri Bustos of IllinoisRep. Pete Visclosky of IndianaRep. Sharice Davids of KansasRep. Jared Golden of MaineRep. Stephen Lynch of MassachusettsRep. Collin Peterson of MinnesotaRep. Susie Lee of NevadaRep. Steven Horsford of NevadaRep. Jeff Van Drew of New JerseyRep. Andy Kim of New JerseyRep. Xochitl Torres Small of New MexicoRep. Max Rose of New YorkRep. Sean Patrick Maloney of New YorkRep. Anthony Brindisi of New YorkRep. Kendra Horn of OklahomaRep. Kurt Schrader of OregonRep. Susan Wild of PennsylvaniaRep. Conor Lamb of PennsylvaniaRep. Joe Cunningham of South CarolinaRep. Vicente Gonzalez of TexasRep. Henry Cuellar of TexasRep. Sylvia Garcia of TexasRep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of TexasRep. Colin Allred of TexasRep. Ben McAdams of UtahRep. Ron Kind of WisconsinThe-CNN-Wire & 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.