House Democrats’ campaign organizers are adding two districts, including a key New York swing district, to their battleground maps ahead of November as they seek to win the majority next year amid concerns about Biden’s standing as a presidential candidate.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) announced Wednesday that it is targeting New York’s 22nd and Virginia’s 7th congressional districts as part of its “Red to Blue” program, which provides financial and organizational support to candidates. The announcement was first provided to The Hill.
The DCCC is backing Senator John Mannion (Democrat), who is challenging incumbent Representative Brandon Williams (R) in New York’s 22nd Congressional District. In Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, the campaign is backing Evgeny “Eugene” Vindman, a former Army officer who played a key role in President Trump’s first impeachment, who is running against Republican Derrick Anderson to replace Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), who is running for governor.
“John Mannion and Eugene Vindman are exemplary public servants who have dedicated their careers to serving our country and communities, and voters can trust them to always be a vocal advocate for their districts and our democracy,” DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) said in a statement. “I look forward to working with them to take back the House majority and work to make Congress work for the middle class.”
Williams, who will be elected to Congress for the first time in 2022, is one of the Republicans most at risk in this year’s election. He is one of 17 Republicans who serve in districts won by President Biden in 2020, when Biden won his New York district by just 7 percentage points.
Decision Desk HQ projects Mannion to have a slight edge over Williams, 53 percent to 47 percent.
In Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, Democrats are hoping Vindman will hold onto his Democratic seat after Spanberger resigned to run for governor of the Old Dominion state.
Vindman won by double digits in last month’s Democratic primary, beating six other candidates, and was endorsed by many House Democrats during the primary, during which he raised about $5 million.
Vindman and his identical twin brother, veteran Alexander Vindman, rose to national prominence during Trump’s first impeachment trial, which focused on a call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump asked Zelensky to investigate then-candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, a request that came at a time when the Trump administration was delaying hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Ukraine.
The Vindman brothers raised concerns about the call that ultimately led to the House of Representatives impeaching the president. The Senate acquitted Trump.
According to the Cook Political Report, the election in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District is currently “Democrat-dominated.”
The DCCC’s increased focus on the two key races comes as Democrats continue to grapple with the aftermath of Biden’s disastrous performance in last month’s debate, where he at times stumbled over his words and lost his train of thought.
Nine House Democrats, including two of the party’s front-runners, have expressed concern about Biden’s ability to beat Trump in November’s presidential election and have publicly called on Biden to resign.
