House Republicans Inspired by Red Wave in VA, Target New House Seats for 2022: 'No Democrat Is Safe'

In the wake of Republican Glenn Youngkin's stunning victory in Virginia and a much closer-than-expected gubernatorial race in New Jersey, a traditional Democratic stronghold, House Republicans sense opportunity and are setting an aggressive agenda for 2022.
 
On Wednesday, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which oversees House GOP campaigns, announced it will add 13 Democratic-held seats to its target list for 2022, bringing the total to 70.

"In a cycle like this, no Democrat is safe," said NRCC Chairman Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN).

Adding fuel to the fire, Tuesday's results only reinforced for many the declining public approval of President Joe Biden and a Democratically controlled Congress that's seen as unproductive.

House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy argued Wednesday that the public doesn't want what progressive Democrats are pushing.

"Today is a wake-up call for Washington Democrats to abandon the partisanship, extremist agenda of Washington-based programs that cost trillions of dollars," he said.

Speaking on CBN's Faith Nation, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins predicted that Democratic defeats Tuesday mean House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will have a difficult time keeping her caucus corralled. "Self-preservation is one of the top issues for elected officials," he said, "and where she is leading them is not going to lead to the success of their political careers."

But Biden and his allies are pushing back on any idea that the elections were a repudiation of his presidency and they're framing the election results as a mandate for action on their spending programs.

"People want us to get things done," said Biden. "And that's why I'm continuing to push very hard."

"What I heard when I was out campaigning was, 'you guys have the White House, Senate and the House, you need to get things done,'" said Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA).

But moderate Democrats are taking the opposite view.

Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who has forced fellow Democrats to scale back their massive spending bill to $1.75 trillion, said Virginia voters proved that they have the same concerns he does about government spending and inflation, and about moving the spending plan along too fast. He said voters are especially worried about the possibility that the Build Back Better bill will include major tax hikes.

"We're talking about revamping the whole entire tax code. That's mammoth. We've had no hearings, no open hearings," he said, calling the taxpayers "scared to death."

Still, Manchin wants House Democrats to quickly pass the separate bipartisan infrastructure bill which the Senate passed this summer.

Meanwhile, House Republicans are focusing on the 70 Democratic-held seats they believe they can overtake in 2022.

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