Republicans are bracing for a slew of retirements as the holidays approach. And both parties are scrambling to plug last-minute recruitment holes.
This behind-the-scenes maneuvering reaches a fever pitch as state filing deadlines approach. The days before those deadlines are often action-packed.
The fields are set in Texas, Arkansas and Illinois, where filing deadlines have already passed. Both Texas and Illinois had filing day surprises, with former Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) exiting the Senate race and Rep. Chuy Garcia’s (D-Ill.) controversial retirement move.
Here’s where to look next.
December: North Carolina (12/19) and Mississippi (12/26).
The Tar Heel state once again has a new congressional map. Republican Laurie Buckhout announced Wednesday she’ll seek a rematch with Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.) in the 1st District.
Democrats launched a recruitment campaign to land someone to run against Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) in the 3rd District. They may have been successful. Former state Rep. Raymond Smith entered the Democratic primary. Smith is a Gulf War combat veteran.
January: Kentucky (1/9), Alabama (1/23) and West Virginia (1/31).
February: New Mexico (2/3), Ohio (2/4), Indiana (2/6), Louisiana (2/13), Maryland (2/24) and Idaho (2/27).
Maryland will likely need to move its primaries if it does decide to redistrict. And it becomes harder to do so once the filing deadline passes.
Meanwhile, Democrats still have some recruiting to do in Ohio, where they plan to target GOP Reps. Mike Turner, Mike Carey and Max Miller.
