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Democrats are targeting a slew of California seats in their bid to take control of the House, with one top super PAC pledging to spend tens of millions of dollars in the state.
House Majority PAC, the main Democratic group that spends in House races, announced Tuesday it plans to spend $35 million in California in the 2024 election cycle. Democrats need a net gain of just five seats to win the House next year, and California will be a key part of their path to the majority.
"In 2022, the House GOP’s main outside Super PAC invested nearly $33 million in California alone. To win back the House, Democrats must be prepared to match or exceed that level of investment," read House Majority PAC's press release.
The group's spending is expected to focus on paid communications, including ads and direct mail campaigns; communications targeting Black, Latino and Asian communities; grassroots organizing; and turnout operations.
There are currently five California Republicans who represent seats President Joe Biden would have won in 2020 had the new congressional map been in place, per calculations from Daily Kos Elections.
They include one freshman lawmaker, John Duarte, who won the open 13th District last year by less than half a percentage point. The four other Republicans — David Valadao, Mike Garcia, Young Kim and Michelle Steel — won re-election last year by margins ranging from 3 to 14 points, with Kim winning by the widest margin. All four Republicans have experience running, and winning, high-profile races.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee listed all five Republicans as targets for 2024. The DCCC is also targeting California GOP Reps. Kevin Kiley and Ken Calvert, who both represent districts former President Donald Trump would have won by less than 2 percentage points.
