Congressman Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, sat down at the CNN/Politico grill and touted GOP vice-presidential nominee J. D. Vance as a real asset in the competitive House races in Vance’s home state of Ohio.
“He sets Ohio on fire,” Hudson said. “He’s going to help in the House races we’re targeting in Ohio, it’s going to provide a real lift.”
The Cook Political Report classifies two House seats in the state as “Democratic toss up”: Ohio’s ninth district, where incumbent Democrat Marcy Kaptur is facing Republican state representative Derek Merrin, and Ohio’s 13th district, where incumbent Democrat Emelia Sykes is being challenged by GOP state senator Kevin Coughlin. The Cook Political Report lists one House seat as “Democratic leaning,” Ohio’s first district, where incumbent Democrat Greg Landsman is facing West Point graduate and former prosecutor Orlando Sanza.
Hudson called Trump’s selection of Vance “a fantastic choice,” and said that Trump had several “fantastic” options, among whom he was pulling for his House colleague Elise Stefanik.
“This is a guy who embodies the American dream,” Hudson said. “Grew up in poverty, joined the Marines, served our country in Iraq, got a great education, wrote a bestseller. It’s a rags-to-riches story that will resonate with a lot of Americans. . . . He had addiction in his family, his grandmother raised him — a lot of people can relate to his story.”
Hudson jokingly added that the selection of Vance will help Trump with the demographic of “guys who like beards.”
Turning to the overall House races, Hudson pointed out that in 2022, just 40 House races came down to a margin of 5 percent or less. “The map is small because of redistricting,” he noted. “Because there’s so few [competitive races], there’s going to be a lot of money spent in each one.” But he added, “The polling looks really good.”
Looking beyond Ohio, Hudson pointed to California’s ninth congressional district, where Democratic incumbent Josh Harder is up against Kevin Lincoln, a former Marine and the Republican mayor of the heavily Democratic city of Stockton. (Cook Political Report classifies this race as “likely Democrat.” Note that Lincoln beat an incumbent who identified as a Democrat, 56 percent to 44 percent; in California, municipal elections are nonpartisan, meaning party affiliation isn’t listed on the ballot.)
“I wouldn’t have even looked at this district if we didn’t have Kevin,” Hudson said.
Hudson was, as you might expect, bullish about the GOP’s odds in the House races this year.
“We’re going to keep the House, it’s just a question of how many seats we pick up,” Hudson said, although he refused to predict how many.
“Every reporter wants me to give a number, and then if we win one less, [then] everybody thinks I’m a failure,” Hudson chuckled.