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Campaign Finance

Cash washes over the vulnerable House Democratic newcomers

Our Staff
Apr 17 2019

The most politically vulnerable first-term House Democrats may have run against the campaign finance status quo in 2018, but they are proving themselves adept at exploiting the system for 2020.

Of the 43 freshmen already identified as targets by the House Republican campaign operation, only eight raised less than $300,000 in the first three months of this year, Politico reports. And none of them raised less than Republicans who have already launched challenger campaigns.

Democrats have a 19-seat majority, and the solid early fundraising by their vulnerable freshmen is one indication the party will have the resources necessary to defend its control.

The biggest funding haul among the newcomers was $874,000 by Josh Harder, who narrowly ousted GOP incumbent Jeff Denham last year in a central California district that is a presidential battleground. Five others, all of whom also ousted sitting Republican House members in purple or red-tinged districts, raised more than $500,000: Antonio Delgado and Max Rose of New York; Joe Cunningham of South Carolina; Katie Hill of California; and Lizzie Pannill Fletcher of Texas.

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We can and must embrace our diversity as the operating system of our nation, write the leaders of the Bridge Alliance.

Diverse people must be in every room where decisions are made

Molineaux and Nevins are co-founders of the Bridge Alliance, a coalition of 100 democracy strengthening organizations. (Disclosure: The Bridge Alliance Education Fund is a funder of The Fulcrum.)

As we look to history, it has always been the mystics and scientists, innovators and outliers who saw the future most clearly and acted to push — or call — society forward, to awaken from our slumber of the way things are and envision a better future. The stories of their personal transformation inspire us to be better individually and collectively. With this inspiration, we can and must transform our nation into a more perfect union.

As co-founders of the Bridge Alliance, we are inspired and challenged by the problems facing our country. Our 100 member organizations work daily to protect the ideals of our American Dream so we can create healthy self-governance that has never fully existed before. Our members work to harness the tension of our differences as we enact our inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, balancing individual and community needs.

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The issue is the pending withdrawal in October by the U.S. from the Universal Postal Union, a group of 192 nations that has governed international postal service and rates for 145 years.

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