Mike Johnson's Hispanic valley strategy
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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is convinced his best path to avoiding a midterm rout runs through Texas' Rio Grande Valley and California's Central Valley.
Why it matters: That means pumping real resources into a handful of predominantly Hispanic districts.
Driving the news: National Republican Congressional Committee chair Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) and Chris Winkelman, who leads the House GOP's top super PAC, briefed lawmakers on their emerging strategy at the GOP retreat in Doral, Florida.
- Hudson has previewed his plan for Hispanic seats before, but this was the first time he and Winkelman laid out in detail their plans to pick up seats together.
- They will need both a strategy and the money to execute it.
What they're saying: "We are going to defy the historic trend this time," Johnson told reporters on Tuesday. "It's a very favorable map for us."
- "House Republicans are already delivering for the American people and have more wins coming soon," Hudson told Axios.
- "This cycle, the NRCC will be on offense every single day, delivering our message and holding Democrats accountable for their out-of-touch votes," he said.
- "The Speaker, the leadership team and the entire Republican conference is ready to get to work to hold and grow the majority," Winkelman told Axios.
Zoom out: House Republicans are haunted by their last encounter with voters when they held both the House majority and the White House. In the 2018 midterms, Republicans lost 41 House seats and the speaker's gavel. Trump was then impeached twice by the new Democratic majority.
- The GOP plans to avoid the traditional curse by going on offense in seats that both Trump and Democrats won.
- They also know they need to close the hard-money gap that Democrats exploited last cycle, both in the quiet summer months and down the stretch in the fall.
Zoom in: Republicans are looking at a map where 13 Democrats won in Trump districts and three Republicans held on districts former Vice President Harris won.
- In the Rio Grande Valley, that means targeting two Democrats in seats that have gotten redder: Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas–28) and Vicente Gonzalez (Texas–34).
- In California's Central Valley, Republicans are eying Democratic Rep. Adam Gray (Calif.–13), which Trump narrowly won.
- They are also looking at Democratic Rep. Jim Costa (Calif.–21), who held onto a seat that Harris won, as a prime target.
- And in New Jersey, they plan to go after a freshman Democrat — Rep. Nellie Pou (N.J.–09) — in a district that Trump surprisingly won.
