The Republicans ' House campaign wing is keen on keeping and expanding the majority in the House, and it is looking to help out "young guns" in key swing districts with a new program.
The National Republican Congressional Committee released Monday its first list of candidates, which it intends to help support and mentor through its Young Guns program. The initial batch of candidates includes 26 people — 24 running for Democratic seats and two running for GOP-held seats.
“Extreme House Democrats’ border, crime, and cost of living crises wrecked Americans’ safety and security," NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson (R-NC) said in a statement Monday.
“Fortunately, these Republican candidates are already well on their way to running winning campaigns that will grow our House majority in November,” he added.
The program gives the candidates mentorship, along with the "necessary tools to run successful, winning campaigns against their Democratic opponents," according to the NRCC.
The 24 Republican candidates getting the support in their bids to flip a blue seat red include Nancy Dahlstrom (Alaska at-large), Kevin Lincoln (California 9th), Scott Baugh (California 47th), Matt Gunderson (California 49th), Gabe Evans (Colorado 8th), George Logan (Connecticut 5th), Joe McGraw (Illinois 17th), Randy Niemeyer (Indiana 1st), Prasanth Reddy (Kansas 3rd), Austin Theriault (Maine 2nd), Tom Barrett (Michigan 7th), Joe Teirab (Minnesota 2nd), Laurie Buckhout (North Carolina 1st), Yvette Herrell (New Mexico 2nd), John Lee (Nevada 4th), Alison Esposito (New York 18th), Derek Merrin (Ohio 9th), Kevin Coughlin (Ohio 13th), Monique DeSpain (Oregon 4th), Ryan Mackenzie (Pennsylvania 7th), Rob Bresnahan (Pennsylvania 8th), Rob Mercuri (Pennsylvania 17th), Mayra Flores (Texas 34th), and Derrick Anderson (Virginia 7th).
The GOP targets include several states where Democrats dominate, but the Republicans are attempting to chip away at, such as California with two Orange County seats, Colorado with two toss-up seats, and Oregon with a Democratic-leaning seat.
In 2022, Republican victories in Democratic-leaning seats in California, New York, and Oregon's 5th Congressional District gave the GOP the majority, and in 2024, the party looks to be setting its sights on similar seats currently held by Democrats.
Other targets show Republicans looking to pick up seats in swing states, where former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, is leading over Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. These targeted Democratic seats are in the swing states of Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, along with Maine's 2nd Congressional District — which is a swing electoral vote.
The two candidates running to hold on to Republican seats include Caroleene Dobson and Jeff Hurd. Dobson is running to represent Alabama's 2nd Congressional District, which was redrawn to include a court-ordered second black majority district and is now Democratic-leaning, while Hurd is running in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District, which was almost flipped in 2022 and will not see incumbent Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) seek another term to the seat.
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The seats targeted with the program range from "likely Democratic" to "lean Republican," according to the Cook Political Report.
The Democratic targets by the GOP are largely in line with seats the Democratic House campaign wing and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have circled for defending with their frontline programs.
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