{"id":2647206,"date":"2026-08-20T05:59:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T09:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-democratic-campaign-committee-backs-candidates-in-competitive-seats\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T06:01:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T10:01:12","slug":"the-democratic-campaign-committee-backs-candidates-in-competitive-seats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-democratic-campaign-committee-backs-candidates-in-competitive-seats\/","title":{"rendered":"The Democratic campaign committee backs candidates in competitive seats"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-democratic-campaign-committee-backs-candidates-in-competitive-seats%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2647206&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee expanded its \u201cRed to Blue\u201d program by adding five new candidates competing in challenging districts. These districts, which voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump in 2024, present tough races for Democrats. The candidates include Leela Gray in Florida\u2019s 13th District, Zach Dembo in Kentucky\u2019s 6th District, Matt Dunlap in Maine\u2019s 2nd District, Nancy Lacore in South Carolina\u2019s 1st District, and Tom Perriello in Virginia\u2019s 5th District. The committee is targeting four districts labeled as \u201clikely Republican\u201d and one as \u201csolid Republican,\u201d with several races featuring notable contenders such as Perriello facing a Republican incumbent in a Trump-favored district, and Dembo and Gray vying for seats with potential Democratic opportunities due to candidate retirements or political shifts. The races involve districts with strong partisan leanings, but Democrats see openings in some areas, especially where Republican incumbents are retiring or facing strong challengers.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democrats\/\">Democratic<\/a> Congressional <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/campaign\/\">Campaign<\/a> Committee added five candidates to its \u201cRed to Blue\u201d program Thursday, expanding its ambitious roster of candidates in unfavorable political terrain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a> won every district in the 2024 election included in this batch.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4693700\/house-democratic-campaign-adds-five-new-candidates-to-red-to-blue-program\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>House Democratic campaign arm adds five new candidates to its \u2018Red to Blue\u2019 program<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4693663\/kevin-mccarthy-gop-prospects-midterm-elections\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Kevin McCarthy worries over GOP prospects in midterm elections<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4693319\/abdul-el-sayed-outperforms-mike-rogers-michigan-senate-poll\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Abdul el Sayed outperforms Mike Rogers in latest Michigan Senate poll<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The DCCC is backing Leela Gray in Florida\u2019s 13th District, Zach Dembo in Kentucky\u2019s 6th District, Matt Dunlap in Maine\u2019s 2nd District, Nancy Lacore in South Carolina\u2019s 1st District, and Tom Perriello in Virginia\u2019s 5th District. <\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The committee added four seats labeled \u201clikely Republican\u201d by the nonpartisan <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cookpolitical.com\/ratings\/house-race-ratings\"><em>Cook Political Report<\/em><\/a>, and one labeled \u201csolid Republican.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the most uphill races will be against Rep. John McGuire (R-VA). Perriello, a former House member, will face the Navy SEAL in a seat that voted for Trump by over 12 points in a sprawling district encompassing Charlottesville and Lynchburg.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democrats see an opening in the Lexington-area district with Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) likely to become Kentucky\u2019s next senator. Trump won this seat by 15 points in 2024, and Barr carried by 27 points, but with Barr not running, Democrats see a slim opening for Dembo. The Kentucky Democrat is a veteran, served as Gov. Andy Beshear\u2019s policy adviser, and was a federal prosecutor for the Justice Department.\u00a0Dembo will face former state Sen. Ralph Alvarado.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gray will face Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) in a Tampa Bay-area seat. The district did not change substantially during Florida\u2019s redistricting session earlier this year, and Trump carried it by 13 points in 2024. He won the seat by 7 points in 2020, meaning the seat could be competitive in a favorable environment for Democrats.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/4691879\/meet-the-10-members-with-ongoing-ethics-investigations\/\">MEET THE 10 MEMBERS WITH ONGOING ETHICS INVESTIGATIONS <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dunlap is fighting to keep retiring Rep. Jared Golden\u2019s (D-ME) seat in Democrats\u2019 hands, but the seat is more favorable to Republicans. Dunlap will face former Gov. Paul LePage in November for a seat Trump won by about 9 points, despite Golden narrowly holding on to the northern Maine district. LePage won the sprawling Maine district during his three runs for governor.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rep. Nancy Mace\u2019s (R-SC) seat was added to the mix after she made a failed run to be the Republican gubernatorial nominee, as Democrats see an opening for Lacore, a Navy veteran. This district voted for Trump by around 13 points in 2024. Lacore will face Charleston County Councilwoman Jenny Honeycutt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DCCC adds 5 candidates to \u2018Red to Blue\u2019 program in tough districts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3691,"featured_media":2647207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-collage-ttli1lhme-1787172045757-e1787177972599.jpg?1787163597&amp;w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[33926,41049,34541,32983],"class_list":["post-2647206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-campaign-finance","tag-democratic-campaign","tag-election-strategy","tag-political-candidates"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-collage-ttli1lhme-1787172045757-e1787177972599.jpg?1787163597&amp;w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3691"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2647206"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2647210,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647206\/revisions\/2647210"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2647207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2647206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2647206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2647206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}