House Republicans Targeting 47 ‘Vulnerable’ Democrats to Retake House Majority in 2022

(Left) Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) talks to reporters in Washington, on Oct. 1, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images); (Right) House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks at the weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Dec. 3, 2020. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

House Republicans released a plan to retake the House majority in 2022 by targeting 47 districts with vulnerable Democrats.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) noted in a memo that the Republican Party is just five seats away from holding a majority in the House of Representatives, saying that the GOP can be competitive in four-dozen districts.

“We are just a few weeks into the Biden Administration and Americans are already seeing the job-killing initiatives House Democrats support,” stated NRCC Chairman Tom Emmer in a release. “We will relentlessly hold House Democrats accountable for their socialist agenda and ensure voters understand the damaging impact policies like defunding the police, government-run health care, and ending the Keystone XL Pipeline will have on Americans’ everyday lives.”

Emmer noted that in the House, the GOP is “just five seats short of a majority and are prepared to build” on its 2020 success.

The list includes 29 districts that either didn’t support President Joe Biden or supported the House incumbent by 5 points or less. The GOP also identified 10 Democrats who might have redistricting issues next year—as well as eight Democratic lawmakers who won by fewer than 10 points and also underperformed Biden.

The GOP, Emmer added, “will stay laser-focused on recruiting talented and diverse candidates, aggressively highlighting Democrats’ socialist agenda and raising enough resources to win.”

During the last election, Democrats lost a total of 11 seats. No House Republican incumbent was defeated, although they picked up three open GOP seats.

Republicans controlled the House majority for eight years before losing control of the lower chamber during the 2018 midterm elections. Some experts have noted that in modern times, the party that controls the presidency typically loses about 25 seats in the midterm elections.

“Midterm elections are historically checks on the party in power and I believe that’s going to be bad news for House Democrats. It’s not going to be easy but we’re going to finish the job that we started,” Emmer told Fox News.

The chairman, in his comments to Fox News, said Republicans need to build on policies that were implemented by former President Donald Trump.

“Republicans need to celebrate those policies. I think we need to continue to embrace them because our Democrat colleagues have said they’re going to void all of it and I think they’re going to run into a lot of trouble when they do,” Emmer said.

Democrats, meanwhile, are attempting to tie the GOP with freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who has made controversial comments on social media. The House moved to strip Greene of her committee assignments more than a week ago.

“The American people are looking for leaders they can count on to crush the coronavirus, get them relief checks, and put them safely back on the job after President Trump and Washington Republicans’ pure incompetence left millions out of work. But instead, Minority Leader McCarthy won’t stop reminding the country that he is too weak to stand up to the dangerous QAnon conspiracists taking over his party and sparking violence on the streets that left a police officer murdered. That’s a contrast American voters will not forget,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) communications director Cole Leiter said in a statement to news outlets following Republicans’ announcement of their plan.