Leaked GOP memo begs donors to help these 3 reps whose races could determine House majority

18 October 2024

House Republicans are attempting to hold onto their razor-thin majority by getting a handful of members in swing districts reelected this November. But in a leaked internal memo, House GOP leaders are keenly aware of their financial disadvantage compared to their Democratic opponents.

CNN reported Friday on the memo it obtained from the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), which was intended to motivate Republican donors to dig deep and contribute to the races of several incumbent Republicans in hard-fought races. CLF President Dan Conston estimated that Republicans would be able to stay in power by minimizing their losses to a small handful.

“If we can keep incumbent losses between 4-7 seats, there are enough winnable seats on offense that allow us to retain the Majority, if not grow it,” Conston wrote. He added, however, that “Republicans are being heavily outspent in key races.”

Among the several members the memo identified as key for the GOP to reelect are Reps. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska), Juan Ciscomani (R-Arizona) and David Schweikert (R-Arizona). Bacon's race is considered competitive as his district includes Democratic-leaning Omaha, and earlier this year he suggested that his endorsement of former President Donald Trump would be contingent on whether he was convicted in the New York falsified documents case (Trump was eventually found guilty on all 34 felony counts).

"The number one issue in our district — number one, number two and number three — is the border," Bacon told CNN reporter Manu Raju in March (Bacon's district is more than 570 miles from the Canadian border and over 1,000 miles from the Mexican border). When Raju pressed him on whether he would want a Republican presidential nominee who was convicted of crimes, Bacon conceded "no, we would not," but that "we still have national security threats in our country."

The two Arizona Republicans named in the CLF memo could also find themselves losing to their Democratic opponents in the battleground state, but not just due to high Democratic turnout. As New York magazine reported earlier this week, so-called "McCain Republicans" in the Grand Canyon State could prove to be a decisive bloc, given the longtime Arizona senator's reputation as a longtime thorn in the side of Trump and the MAGA movement.

"I’ve met many, many, many Republicans who said, ‘My party has left me, I don’t like the turn that my own party has made, and I’m looking for a Democrat like you,'" Democrat Amish Shah, who is running against Schweikert, told New York.

While Republicans took back the majority in the House of Representatives, they did so largely with the help of Republicans winning newly redrawn districts in New York's Long Island. CNN reports that those Republicans — like Reps. Anthony D'Esposito (R-New York) and Mike Lawler (R-New York) — are fighting for their political lives this November, with Democrats funneling large sums to those districts to shore up Democratic candidates like Mondaire Jones and Laura Gillen.

Lawler in particular is facing a tougher fight than normal after the emergence of a recent blackface scandal. The New York Times obtained a photo of Lawler wearing dark makeup while dressed as Michael Jackson for Halloween in 2006, when he was a 20 year-old college student.

Click here to read CNN's report in full.

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