Daniel Marans, a HuffPost reporter who covers the Democratic Party, on Thursday discussed his recent story on House Democrats who are asking for help to fend off progressive primary challengers.
Marans reported moderate Democratic House members Jimmy Gomez (Calif.) and Veronica Escobar (Texas) both requested help from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) in fending off more-liberal challengers from within their own party.
Gomez and Escobar were part of a party-sponsored video call with donors in which five “frontline” lawmakers, or those who are in districts at risk of being flipped to Republican candidates, were being highlighted.
The call came soon after the far-left advocacy group Justice Democrats announced they would be challenging House Oversight and Reform Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), 75, with progressive candidate Rana Abdelhamid, 27.
Marans said that Gomez’s seat is highly unlikely to be flipped by a Republican. He notes, however, that the challenger Gomez seeks to fend off, David Kim, was only six points behind him in the last election.
In California, the top two candidates in a primary election to proceed to the general election regardless of party affiliation.
“[It’s] very legitimate for people to point that out and say, the DCCC does not need to be spending its resources, anywhere near Jimmy Gomez,” Marans said. “But I think from their perspective, they’re thinking. ‘These are the people who, again, keep the lights on in our building, and politically we need to keep them happy.'”
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