Jeffries super PAC looks deep into GOP territory for 2026 map

Source: Axios

12 hours ago


A super PAC closely aligned with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is circling districts that voted for their Republican incumbents by as much as 30 percentage points as it charts a course back to the majority

Why it matters: Democrats are cautiously optimistic that they can pull off a repeat of the 2018 "Blue Wave" as Trump's right-wing policy agenda and appointments come into view.

"I think that it's pretty clear that Republicans will overreach and that will create some political opportunity," Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), the chair of the House Democratic caucus, told Axios.

Driving the news: House Majority PAC released a memo outlining a whopping 29 districts they're targeting in the upcoming election cycle.

Only a handful of the districts went for Vice President Harris over President-elect Trump.

On the House level, the districts went Republican by margins ranging from a fifth of a percentage point to more than 14 points.

The PAC also included another 16 seats on its "districts to watch" list in which House Republicans won by 12 to 29 percentage points.

Zoom in: HMP President Mike Smith, underscoring the logic behind such a sprawling list of targets, pointed to that Cook Political Report's ratings for the 2018 cycle.

"At the beginning of the 2018 cycle, there was 1 Republican rated in a likely or lean Democratic seat, with 12 rated as Tossup or Lean R," he said.

"By the end of the cycle, there were 18 Republicans in likely or lean Democratic seats and 57 in Toss Up or Lean R" seats.

Said Aguilar: "I think we can compete in a lot of places once people find out that Donald Trump promised to lower their costs and raise their incomes and none of that will come to fruition."

Read more: https://www.axios.com/2024/12/13/jeffries-2026-elections-republican-seats