House Democrats Add 8 Candidates in 6 States to Top-Tier Midterm Target List

The group in charge of electing House Democrats added eight candidates to a priority list on May 4, signaling that the party is putting its money and staff support behind them in races that could help decide which party controls the U.S. House next year.

The list, dubbed the Red to Blue list, is run by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the official campaign arm of House Democrats. Candidates who make the list get fundraising help, training, and staff resources from the national organization. The committee said candidates earn a place by hitting goals for fundraising and local organizing.

The eight new additions cover six states. They are Marlene Galán-Woods in Arizona’s First District, California state Rep. Jasmeet Bains in California’s 22nd District, Jessica Killin in Colorado’s Fifth District, Maine state Sen. Joe Baldacci in Maine’s Second District, Bob Harvie in Pennsylvania’s First District, Bob Brooks in Pennsylvania’s Seventh District, Bobby Pulido in Texas’s 15th District, and Johnny Garcia in Texas’s 35th District.

The additions bring the total roster to 20. The first 12 candidates were named in February.

Republicans hold a 218–214 majority in the U.S. House. Democrats need to flip a net of three Republican-held seats in November to take control of the chamber.

Two of the eight districts on the May 4 list are open seats because incumbents are not seeking reelection. Rep. David Schweikert, a Republican who has represented Arizona’s First District since 2013, announced in September that he would leave the House to run for governor of Arizona. Rep. Jared Golden, a moderate Maine Democrat who has held the Second District since 2019, announced in November that he would not seek a fifth term.

The contentious Democratic primary in the Maine district also includes state Auditor Matt Dunlap, social worker Paige Loud, and former U.S. Senate candidate Jordan Wood. Former Republican Gov. Paul LePage is running on the Republican side.

The May 4 announcement drew criticism from at least one Democratic primary candidate running in the district.

Wood, responding to the DCCC’s backing of his opponent, said in an X post: “It doesn’t surprise me. It energizes me. Maine picks our nominees. Not D.C. Our state has made that very clear.”

Two other districts on the May 4 list were redrawn last year as part of the mid-decade overhaul of Texas’s congressional map. Pulido is running against Rep. Mónica De La Cruz (R-Texas) in the redrawn 15th District. Garcia is running for the redrawn 35th District seat.

David Hogg, a Democratic activist and president and cofounder of Leaders We Deserve—a progressive group that seeks to primary incumbent Democrats—said the party is backing the “weaker candidate.”

“Establishment Democrats want a big tent party until it starts to include real progressive fighters who don’t answer to corporations and billionaires,” he wrote.

“The Democratic establishment is wasting resources in primaries to prop up weak candidates.”

Mike Marinella, national press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in an email to The Epoch Times that the announcement reflected disorder among Democrats.

“House Democrats and the DCCC are scrambling, and they’re left cleaning up the mess they created,” Marinella said. “Their disastrous primaries have turned into a far-left free-for-all, and national Democrats stepping in will only deepen the chaos and alienate their far-left base.”

The Democratic committee’s February announcement of its first 12 candidates drew a joint statement from 17 Democrats running in the same primary races. The candidates accused the committee of putting its “thumb on the scale” before primary voters had cast ballots.

Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), who chairs the DCCC, said in a statement on May 4 that the new candidates would help the party retake the majority.

“As the American people reject House Republicans’ disastrous, cost-spiking agenda, House Democrats have the momentum to take back the majority,” DelBene said. “These latest additions to our Red to Blue program represent the strength of our people-first message and the broad appeal of our top-tier candidates.”