Republicans Back Away From Candidates They Believe Are No Longer In Winnable Districts

With less than four weeks to go until the midterm elections take place in November, Republican insiders say the party is walking away from GOP candidates in Congressional districts they believe are lost causes.

Millions of dollars from the party’s coffers have been pulled away from candidates who have fallen behind in races that were once considered competitive, the New York Times reported on Thursday. Anonymous sources speaking to the Times say that the move is part of a strategy that concedes Democrats will likely flip up to 20 seats in the House of Representatives, but which hopes to stave off a loss of 23 seats overall, which would give Democrats control of that chamber of Congress.

Around 60 to 70 seats are in serious contention, as the Democrats seek to capitalize on a “blue wave” election year that could see them win dozens, if not more, seats away from previously held Republican districts.

“This is the kind of year where Republicans are going to have to give up on some races and they’re going to have to make some hard choices,” former Rep. Thomas Davis, a Republican from Virginia and a former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, explained.

New CNN/SSRS poll — generic ballot:
Democrat: 54%
Republican: 41%https://t.co/qwfcl1k8w8 pic.twitter.com/lwDzAMoS36

— David Wright (@DavidWright_7) October 9, 2018

Some Republicans are hopeful that, in the wake of the confirmation proceedings of now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, their base will turn out in droves in reaction to what some said was unfair treatment of the nominee, as reported by the Inquisitr. But the way in which the confirmation hearings played out could also have the opposite effect, encouraging Democratic voters to come out to the polls as well.

Indeed, Republicans are facing an uphill battle in defending many of their seats. In a recent CNN poll, which asked respondents which party they’d like to see win a Congressional race in their home districts, 54 percent of Americans said they favored a Democratic candidate while 41 percent said they’d like a Republican to win. Among women, that difference is even more pronounced: 63 percent favor a Democrat while only 33 percent would like a Republican to win their district.

That poll was conducted during and after the confirmation vote for Kavanaugh. The nominee faced scruples from the public after revelations he allegedly sexually assaulted as many as three women came about. Testimony from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University in California who said Kavanaugh assaulted her when they were both teenagers, also seemed more believable to more Americans than did Kavanaugh’s testimony in defense of himself, according to polling from NPR.