There’s a newfound enthusiasm among vulnerable Democrats for Vice President Kamala Harris’ and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s campaign. But several at-risk Democrats aren’t booking their flights to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention just yet.
With the Senate at stake of falling into Republican control and the GOP targeting dozens of at-risk House Democrats, some members are prioritizing their own campaigns over the convention.
Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said they won’t be going. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) — who will appear with Harris and Walz in Nevada on Saturday — is also skipping the DNC.
Over in the House, Reps. Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.), Jared Golden (D-Maine), Josh Harder (D-Calif.) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) have all said they won’t be at the convention. Gluesenkamp Perez’s office told us she is “spending time in the district and focused on her re-election.”
Rep. Val Hoyle (D-Ore.), a Frontliner, also plans to stay in her district during convention week due to ongoing wildfires.
“We don’t anticipate she will attend,” Karmen Fore, Hoyle’s chief of staff, told us in an email. “[Hoyle] will be in Oregon. Wildfires are getting worse out here and working this is her priority right now.”
Other vulnerable Democrats — Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Susie Lee (D-Nev.), Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) and Susan Wild (D-Pa.) — told us their schedules aren’t yet finalized for convention week.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) is planning to attend part of the convention, but she’s also doing a statewide Wisconsin swing through that week. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) is also attending part of the convention, we’re told. Other House Democratic Frontliners like Reps. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) and Don Davis (D-N.C.) are slated to be in Chicago.
To be sure, lawmakers occasionally skip conventions. The four-day-long bonanza is really more for donors, delegates and the presidential race than it is for rank-and-file members.
And lots of Democrats will still flock to Chicago to speak at the convention, fundraise and, of course, socialize. The press will be there too, in force.
But the absence of vulnerable Democrats is interesting given that most Frontliners have vocally united behind the Harris-Walz ticket.
“[Harris] will do well, she’s off to a great start,” Casey, who is facing a tough race, told us last week.
Harris’ packed rally last week in Atlanta, captured the attention of many rank-and-file Democrats who were unenthusiastic about President Joe Biden. The swing-state show of force was light years ahead of any public display of support for Biden this cycle.
“That was the hottest, hypest crowd I can remember,” Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), who attended the rally, told us. “The excitement in Georgia is off the charts. And not just rally attendance and intensity, but thousands and thousands of volunteer signups in the last six days alone.”
The Harris campaign followed that up with another raucous rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday to introduce Walz as her running mate. The pair drew huge crowds Wednesday in Eau Claire, Wis., and Detroit too.
Walzmentum: Multiple purple district Democrats we spoke to this week say Walz is a pragmatist who could help turn red pockets of the Midwest blue.
“Walz is a very middle-of-the-road kind of candidate,” Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) told us.
Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), another Frontliner, said Walz is a “champion” for family farmers and rural America.
But of course, for incumbents in truly ruby-red territory, there’s an understandable desire to distance themselves from the top of the Democratic ticket.
When we asked Tester about Harris’ impact on his race, we heard a different tune.
Tester says the top-of-the-ticket change will have zero effect on his battle with Republican Tim Sheehy, “because we run our own race.”
We followed up by asking if Tester really thought the Democratic tidal wave of enthusiasm would have no impact.
“I develop my own enthusiasm,” Tester said with a grin.
Sneak Peek: The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter is moving the presidential contest in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada from lean Republican to tossup.
Read Amy Walter’s column here — live at 5:30 a.m.
— Mica Soellner and Max Cohen
