House Republicans are so confident of snagging easy seats en route to regaining the majority this November, their big-spending outside super PAC is now targeting congressional districts President Biden won by as much as 16 points, Axios has learned.
Driving the news: The Consumer Price Index report being issued at 8:30am ET Tuesday is expected to show annual inflation surging to 8.4% in March — the highest rate since December 1981. With Biden’s approval numbers already languishing in the negatives, Republicans are going for the kill.
- They’ve already seized a lead in generic congressional ballot polling.
Why it matters: In targeting seats the president won in 2020 by an average of 8 points, the Congressional Leadership Fund is putting Democrats on notice it plans to play offense in previously safe Democratic districts.
- The group’s offensive play comes after its Democratic counterpart, the House Majority PAC, reserved advertising time in 51 media markets as it prepares to defend districts in many once-safe Democratic regions.
- The GOP group, which is aligned with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, is sitting on a mountain of cash and reported $93.5 million on hand as of the end of March.
- A CLF endorsement is both a signal it plans to spend serious dollars in a race and a sign to other donors that McCarthy’s team likes what it sees in the candidates.
Between the lines: Republicans are pointing to Biden’s 69% disapproval rating on inflation, according to a new CBS poll, as one of his key political vulnerabilities.
- The White House is braced for the latest CPI report, now as eagerly anticipated as were once jobs reports.
Details: All but one of the seven new “trailblazer” endorsements are in districts that Biden won by 7 points or more.
Democrats themselves re-drew some of the targeted districts with an eye to shoring up their party’s incumbents.
The CLF endorsees:
- Mayra Flores, a respiratory care practitioner, in Texas’ 34th District (Biden +16)
- Tanya Wheeless, an attorney, in Arizona’s 4th District (Biden +10)
- Marc Molinaro, a county executive, in New York’s 19th District (Biden +10)
- Colin Schmitt, a state assemblymember, in New York’s 18th District (Biden +8)
- April Becker, an attorney, in Nevada’s 3rd District (Biden +7)
- Cassy Garcia, a former staffer for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), in the state’s 28th District (Biden +7)
- Jim Bognet, a businessperson, in Pennsylvania’s 8th District (Trump +3)
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