House Democrats have suffered their share of recruitment setbacks this cycle, but they're ending this week on two high notes. In Green Bay, Wisconsin's 8th CD, they landed their top choice, Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson, to run for a highly competitive open GOP seat. And Democratic sources confirm former state Sen. Gail Schwartz will announce her bid for Colorado's Western Slope 3rd CD against GOP Rep. Scott Tipton today. These announcements are among the first signs that Democrats are having more success convincing top prospects to run now that Republicans appear likely to nominate a polarizing presidential candidate, either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. But this change of fortune may be coming too late in many places. For example, filing closed in Virginia this week without Democrats fielding a credible candidate in VA-02, a district they held from 2008 to 2010. Nelson's announcement moves WI-08 from Lean Republican to Toss Up, while Schwartz's moves CO-03 from Solid Republican to Lean Republican. Both are the exact type of seat Democrats would need to pick up to have any chance of
Subscribe Today
Our subscribers have first access to individual race pages for each House, Senate and Governors race, which will include race ratings (each race is rated on a seven-point scale) and a narrative analysis pertaining to that race.