Republicans Target 3 More House Seats for November

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) speaks to reporters in Washington. (file, Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The Republican Party’s main House committee is targeting three additional seats currently held by Democrats.

On June 3, the National Republican Congressional Committee added Texas’s 28th Congressional District, New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District, and North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District to its hit list, now numbering 40.

“Democrats are retreating and Republicans are charging forward to press our advantage,” NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson said in a release. “The NRCC will force Democrats to answer for their failures to make Americans’ lives better.”

The NRCC exists primarily to raise money and donate to the campaigns of Republican candidates for House seats.

In the 118th Congress, Republicans are still the majority party in the House despite some departures.

All 435 House seats and a third of the Senate seats will be up for election in November.

The latest financial disclosures published by the Federal Election Commission said the NRCC had about $60 million in cash at the end of April.

Cuellar in the Crosshairs

Texas’s 28th Congressional District is represented by Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar, who will defend his seat against retired Navy Cmdr. Jay Furman in November.

On May 28, Mr. Furman defeated Lazaro Garcia Jr. in a runoff election to represent the Republican Party.

The Texas district is south of San Antonio and includes a portion of the city, all of Laredo, and a strip of the southern border. Mr. Cuellar is mounting his 10th reelection bid for the seat, which he has held since 2005.

In May, Mr. Cuellar and his wife Imelda Cuellar were indicted by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas for allegedly accepting $600,000 in bribes from two foreign entities. The pair are charged with bribery, unlawful foreign influence, and money laundering.

Most recently, two men linked to Mr. Cuellar pleaded guilty to conspiring with the congressman to launder money.

Open Seats

Incumbents are not in the race for the other two new districts of interest to the NRCC.

In March, Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) announced that she will not seek reelection. Ms. Kuster was first elected to Congress in 2012.

New Hampshire will not hold its partisan State Primary Election until September 10. Multiple candidates are running to represent the Democratic and Republican parties.

New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District covers the rural, western portion of the Granite State and encompasses Concord and Nashua.

In December, Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.) announced she would not seek reelection in North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District, citing “egregiously gerrymandered maps [that] do not make this race competitive.”

The state’s General Assembly redrew North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District in October.

In the newly redrawn district, Addison McDowell won the Republican Party’s primary on March 5. The Democratic Party did not hold a primary and does not currently have a candidate with Ms. Manning bowing out of the race.

The redrawn district now covers the entirety of rural Davie County, Davidson County, and Rowan County, as well as a portion of rural Cabarrus County.

The 6th Congressional District also includes portions of Forsyth County and Guilford County. Those counties are home to Winston-Salem and Greensboro.

The redrawn House district maps could help the Republican Party win more seats in Congress. The NRCC is working to win North Carolina’s 1st, 13th, and 14th Congressional Districts as well.

Other Races

All told the NRCC is looking at taking 40 seats currently held by Democrats. Eight of the seats are considered open due to a pending vacancy or a decision not to run for reelection.

The Republicans are targeting one seat in Alaska, three in California, one in Connecticut, one in Florida, one in Illinois, one in Indiana, one in Kansas, one in Maine, three in Michigan, one in Minnesota, four in North Carolina, two in New Hampshire, one in New Mexico, three in Nevada, one in New York, three in Ohio, two in Oregon, three in Pennsylvania, one in Rhode Island, two in Texas, one in Virginia, and two in Washington.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.