DCCC Expands Red to Blue Ranks

Today, the DCCC unveiled the second wave of participants in its Red to Blue program.  The 13 beneficiaries are:

Kay Barnes (MO-06)

Anne Barth (WV-02)

Darcy Burner (WA-08)

Robert Daskas (NV-03)

Steven Driehaus (OH-01)

Jim Himes (CT-04)

Christine Jennings (FL-13)

Larry Kissell (NC-08)

Suzanne Kosmas (FL-24)

Eric Massa (NY-29)

Gary Peters (MI-09)

Mark Schauer (MI-07)

Dan Seals (IL-10)

There are few surprises here, but the committee’s stamp of approval given to replacement candidate Anne Barth, who is running against incumbent GOP Rep. Shelley Moore Capito in WV-02 seems indicative of the DCCC’s desire to bust open the 2008 playing field in a big way.

18 thoughts on “DCCC Expands Red to Blue Ranks”

  1. Both Gary Peters AND Mark Schauer are well-deserving, credible candidates with a great shot against vulnerable incumbents (Joe Knollenberg and Tim Walberg, a freshman owned & operated by the Club for Growth).

    Democrats have a very good chance to flip both seats, giving us a majority of the Michigan delegation.

  3. as to why some races didnt make this first wave…

    candidates like Martin Heinrich in NM-1 and Ann Kirkpatrick in AZ-1…  

  4. Am I being too conspiratorial, or is Debbie Wasserman-Schultz compromising our electoral prospects in FL-18, FL-24 and FL-25?

    Check out our own DavidNYC’s post over at the Orange Satan regarding this matter: http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

    There had better be a third round of DCCC red to blue, and our Florida candidates better be on there, or Debbie better step down.

    Am I being crazy here?

  5. Wave One:

    CA-04, IL-11, LA-06, NJ-03, NJ-07, NJ-25, OH-15, OH-16, WY-AL

    Wave Two:

    CT-04, FL-13, FL-24, IL-10, MI-07, MI-09, MO-06, NV-03, NY-29, NC-08, OH-01, WA-08, WV-02

    Wave #1 = 9 seats

    Wave #2 = 13 seats

    Total = 22 seats – about 25-30 short of where we need to be if you ask me.  (Obviously I understand they’ll add more as time goes on)  

  6. Last cycle, Tessa Hafen was first wave, even though all the coverage from multiple sources suggested she wasn’t considered to be a challenger who could actually win.  She was added — I believe — because she was Reid’s staffer, and he had the juice to get the DCCC to show her some love.

    (As it turns out, Hafen almost won, but that race broke into “serious” territory very very very late, and from what little info I have, mostly because of the national mood rather than aggressive or genius campaigning.)

    Barth is Byrd’s staffer, and I think the same dynamic is at work here.  I don’t think the DCCC expects to even run strong here, but Barth is gonna get good treatment anyway because she’s plugged in.

    So, who isn’t on this list?

    Vic Wulsin, who’s 50-48 performance last cycle certainly earned her a spot on it, and who has now dispatched her primary opponent.

    Betsy Markey, who is running against a somewhat more vulnerable incumbent that got less than 50% of the vote last cycle, and who, as a Ken Salazar staffer, I would have assumed had the juice to get added to this list at the beginning.

    Bob Lord — is this an open seat now or not?  

    That supreme court justice challenging Steve LaTourette.

    Otherwise, it’s a pretty good list.  Lots of vulnerable incumbents missing, but that’s cause we have no challengers in a lot of important districts.

    I wonder if I could throw together a list of recruitment failures.  Tom Latham, Michelle Bachmann, Pete Roskam, Tim Murphy, Jim Gerlach, Phil English, Charlie Dent, Vito Fossella, Peter King, Thelma Drake, Shelley Moore Capito (Manchin spiking Unger was a huge failure, sorry).  I can never keep the Florida or Michigan delegations straight, so there might be some in there.  Still, that’s not too bad.  We’ve left some tier one seats on the table, so far, but our tier two has come together really well.

  7. made the list.  After all, he only lost by 329 votes in 2006.  He just needs a little help to push him over the top in NC-08.  Let’s send a social studies teacher to  Congress!

  8. I don’t have my notes here – does Robert Daskas not face primary opponents? I thought there was more than one Democrat interested in that seat. I’ve been hoping and hoping that Maggie Carlson would file there.  

  9. AZ1(Kirkpatrick), NM1(Probably Heinrich), MN3(Madia or Bonoff), VA11(Connolly or Byrne), AK-AL(Berkowitz), LA6 (if Cazayoux).

    AZ-1 and AK-AL seem pretty close to being decided.  But they are great lists – so much low-hanging fruit!

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