George Santos isn’t the only one
Reps. David Schweikert (AZ-01), Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06), John Duarte (CA-13), David Valadao (CA-22), Mike Garcia (CA-27), Michelle Steel (CA-45), Tom Kean Jr. (NJ-07), George Santos (NY-03), Anthony D’Esposito (NY-04), Mike Lawler (NY-17), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), and Jen Kiggans (VA-02). Apart from one glaringly obvious name on that list, you’ve probably never heard of the majority of those people – but the one thing they have in common is that they’re all in congressional districts where Democrats can win in 2024 – even if the margin of victory will only be by a few points. As much as we all hope for landslide wins, the real question is would you rather lose an election by a few hundred votes or win by one or two points? The question should answer itself.
The other thing these Republicans all have in common – in addition to being the districts most likely to determine House control – is that they’re all targets of a new ad campaign by the DCCC, and for the same imbecilic remarks about defunding law enforcement.
Despite all the talk attributed to Democrats about “defunding the police,” Republicans are the ones who routinely vote to defund the police – in the most literal sense of the word, something they haven’t toned down on as their leader has openly called for defunding the DOJ and FBI in retaliation for investigating his allies.
For many of these races we don’t yet have Democratic candidates to get behind, but knowing where vulnerable Republicans stand going into the battle is a crucial first step – and we should be making them play defense on what will likely be one of the primary issues for 2024.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making