The House battleground map is increasingly filled with alluring possibilities for Democrats as President Trump’s support has cratered. But with their financial resources limited, one question keeps coming up as Democratic strategists puzzle over where to invest during the crucial final four weeks of the campaign. Do they seek to rent — or own? Democrats are trying to figure out where their money goes furthest.
Are they better off seeking to run up their numbers by competing in less expensive races or for open seats in Republican areas? If they do, they might struggle to hold onto many of those seats in a couple of years, when there is less likelihood of a blue wave. Or is it a better bet to spend more and go all-in to try to oust a handful of entrenched Republican incumbents who represent more Democratic areas, a difficult path that, if successful, could put those seats in the Democratic column for a longer time. For all the party’s current bullishness, Democrats presently hold zero seats in districts that Mr. Trump won by double digits in 2024.
Obviously we want the strongest majority possible in 2026, but also with an eye toward 2028, said Representative Suzan Del Bene of Washington, the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Exhibit A of the Democratic conundrum is Pennsylvania’s First District, where Representative Brian Fitzpatrick is the only Republican in the House seeking re-election who was able to win in a district that Mr. Trump lost all three times he ran, in 2016, 2020 and 2024. The party is making its biggest play there in years in the campaign’s final sprint.
Bob Harvie, the Democrat who is challenging Mr. Fitzpatrick, said in an interview that he got a call from the Democratic Party’s campaign arm last week informing him the group was planning to plunge $900,000 into his race. The top Democratic super PAC, the House Majority PAC, has reserved more than $6 million in television time on top of that, according to the ad-tracking service Ad Impact. The decisions on where to spend are being made day by day and district by district, according to interviews with a more than a half dozen Democratic strategists involved in the discussions, most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private strategy.
Winning the majority of House seats remains the most vital task, they said — even if doing so risks seeming to waste money in some must-win seats. But there are different ideas about which races, beyond the core battlegrounds, provide the most return on their investment. The map is larger than the bank account can sustain, said Ian Russell, who previously served as national political director at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
How many seats Democrats ultimately win will have repercussions for the ability of Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York to govern his party if he becomes speaker next year. But the types of seats that Democrats carry will also shape the party’s political strategy into the future. Targeting a throwback: a moderate Republican. Mr. Fitzpatrick, a former F.
B. I. agent, is a throwback to a disappearing brand of moderate Northeastern Republican. He has the support of top labor unions, gun-control groups and environmental organizations who typically support Democrats — and signs promoting them at intersections throughout Bucks County. Mr. Fitzpatrick’s latest ad hails him as the “most independent” lawmaker in the nation and features a carousel of rare-for-a-Republican endorsements, from groups including the LGBT Unity Fund and an arm of the Humane Society.
The parties are the worst thing that our country has right now, Mr. Fitzpatrick said.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing