Yes, the Democrats can win the House midterms
At the end of every election night, a handful of House races end up coming down to the wire, and you’re left thinking “I’ve never heard of these particular Democratic candidates” and “I sure wish I’d helped them.” This time, let’s be proactive and target these races in advance.
These are rarely the races that are hyped in advance, or involve big names. That’s because the biggest names in the House, Democrat and Republican, usually tend to come from “safe” districts that lean heavily one way, meaning the House races there are never close.
So the House majority always comes down to a number of close races in swing districts with comparatively obscure candidates that no one pays enough attention to. The good news is, it’s not difficult to figure out in advance which specific races are going to fit that description. It’s just math.
Who the hell are Craig, Pappas, Kuster, Titus, Lee, Horsford, Kaptur, and Schrier? You’ve probably never heard of any of them. But they’re Democratic candidates in House races that are rated as “toss-ups” by Cook Political Report and other sources, meaning they will all end up being very close races – and thus easily impacted.
Whether these lesser known House Democratic candidates all win by a small margin, or all lose by a small margin, will largely determine whether the Democrats keep the House majority or whether the Republicans take over the committees and everything goes to hell.
This is such an easy cheat code. Right wing dummies around the nation will give all their money to extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, who already have a 100% chance of winning reelection in their far right districts anyway, while failing to support the more obscure House Republicans running in competitive districts.
All we have to do is ignore the shiny objects, and put our donations and volunteer hours and retweets into supporting the Democratic candidates in the more obscure House races in competitive districts that’ll actually decide the majority.
It’s not as fun to spend your time getting behind Democratic House candidates you’ve never heard of, who are running against Republicans you’ve never heard of, but it’s how you keep the majority. And in the end, winning is so much more fun than losing.
So here’s our updated list of 47 House candidates to support, all of whom are running in highly competitive races that could be decided by just a point or two. 47 may sound like a lot, but it’s out of 435 total House races. That’s right, the House majority will be decided by barely 10% of the races. You’ll recognize a few of these names, but most of them are not on the national radar. They are, however, the races that will decide the House majority. Sign up on these Democratic candidates’ websites right now:
Sharice Davids • Elissa Slotkin • Abigail Spanberger • Mike Levin • Greg Stanton • Angie Craig • Chris Pappas • Annie Kuster • Dina Titus • Susie Lee • Steven Horsford • Marcy Kaptur • Hillary Scholten • Josh Harder • Jahana Hayes • Sean Casten • David Trone • Christy Smith • Rudy Salas • Gabe Vasquez • Greg Landsman • Michelle Vallejo • Adam Gray • Eric Sorensen • Frank Mrvan • Jared Golden • Dan Kildee • Emilia Sykes • Jamie McLeod-Skinner • Matt Cartwright • Chris Deluzio • Elaine Luria • Kim Schrier • Yadira Caraveo • Wiley Nickel • Jevin Hodge • Kirsten Engel • Will Rollins • Jay Chen • Cindy Axne • Carl Marlinga • Tom Malinowski • Bridget Fleming • Susan Wild • Nikki Budzinski • Katie Porter • Don Davis
Keep in mind that you can help these candidates in ways big and small. If you have money, donate; a relatively small amount of money can go a long way in a lower profile U.S. House race. If you don’t have money but you have time, volunteer; if you’re not the door to door type, you can even volunteer from home, from another state, on clerical work. If you don’t have the money or time, just share these candidate websites on your social media pages. Even if just a few of your followers see it and decide to contribute, you’ll have made a difference. Now let’s go win the House!
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report