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Democrats are stunned by their demonstration and looking for answers. Their leaders had predicted until election day that they would broaden their House majority, but Republican candidates won multiple seats from California to Florida. California Rep. Tony Cárdenas and New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney were quick to announce offers to lead the DCCC after Bustos announced his decision on Monday.
Meanwhile, Democratic leaders held conference calls that allowed members to voice their frustrations.
In a call with House Democrats on Tuesday, candidate Cameron Webb, who lost his run in southern Virginia, said he ran over kitchen table and health care issues, but his opponent spoke only of three words: “Defund the police”.
“This idea that we all need to get across to a far-left message is not true,” Democratic Representative New Hampshire Annie Kuster told CNN. “We would have been crushed.”
“Listen, I respect my coworkers to run in their own districts,” she added. “If Alex wants to run on the far left in her Bronx neighborhood, go for it. But she never led the life I lived in a neighborhood that was dark red. It took me six cycles to transform that neighborhood a darker shade of purple. “
The DCCC leadership race now includes Cárdenas and Maloney, two men in their 50s elected to Congress in 2012, who represent the central San Fernando Valley and the Lower Hudson Valley, respectively.
In a letter to his colleagues, Maloney boasted that he had surpassed his own neighborhood swing as a married gay man with an interracial family. He noted that he had personally raised nearly $ 500,000 for the House Democratic campaign arm this cycle and said his “Deep Dive” after the 2016 election helped put the organization on track for gain 40 seats in 2018.
In an interview, Cárdenas said Bustos had done “a lot of amazing things,” but pointed out that Democrats didn’t do a good enough job in the digital campaign, a point Ocasio-Cortez made, while by acknowledging that the “defund the police” slogan that Lamb opposed had hurt Democrats.
“I think the slogans that your opponents use more often than you use, at the end of the day, are probably not a smart way to communicate,” Cárdenas said.
Cárdenas also highlighted his work as chair of the BOLD PAC of the Hispanic caucus, raising more than $ 31 million in six years, supporting more than 150 non-Hispanic candidates and more than 60 Hispanic candidates, and choosing sides in the primaries.
Cárdenas told CNN that if he were elected president of the DCCC and come forward with “a very unique situation,” the organization could “possibly” step in in the primaries in 2022.
“I will speak to everyone and work with those who share our vision of a stronger Democratic majority,” Cárdenas said. “It will be done and we will have diversity in all ranks; leadership of members, staff, suppliers and consultants. We will use the wide range of incredible democratic talent available, and this is how we will win big.
The youngest of 11 children of Mexican immigrant parents, he portrayed the Democratic House Conference as family, calling Lamb his “brother” and Ocasio-Cortez his “sister.”
“We could disagree,” Cárdenas said. But we are brothers and sisters for the family. ”
Bustos defended the Democratic spending efforts in an appeal with House Democrats on Tuesday, saying they put Republicans on the defense and forced them to spend millions more than they expected . She claimed that DCCC independent spending spent more than $ 10 million on digital advertising, nearly doubling its 2018 campaign, and that Democratic candidates outnumbered Republicans on Facebook by at least 2 to 1 in some of their most difficult races.
“By building a great battlefield, triggering Republican retreats and attacking, we have strained Republicans and forced them to spend over $ 173 million on defense,” Bustos said.
But by November 2020, expectations had changed.
When asked to comment on the DCCC presidential race, NRCC spokesperson Chris Pack asked, “Who is Cheri Bustos?
CNN’s Manu Raju contributed to this report.
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