The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee signaled today that Staci Appel will receive “early financial communications, operational and strategic support” in her campaign against ten-term Republican incumbent Tom Latham. The former state senator is one of nine new candidates added to the DCCC’s “Jumpstart” program for recruits the committee considers “standouts.”
Appel will be heavily favored in the IA-03 Democratic primary against Gabriel De La Cerda. Any Democrat will have an uphill battle against Latham, who tends to outperform the top of the Republican ticket and can raise money easily as a House Appropriations subcommittee chairman. The National Republican Congressional Committee is watching this race closely and has already added Latham to its incumbent protection program.
Any comments about the IA-03 race are welcome in this thread. The latest figures from the Iowa Secretary of State’s office indicate that the district contains 157,431 active registered Democrats, 164,289 Republicans, and 157,968 no-party voters.
1 Comment
motive?
Is the DCCC promoting Appel because she is a great candidate for the Democratic Party or b/c she has the potential to dump a lot of her own money into the campaign?
The DCCC often seeks out wealthy candidates so they don’t have to put in as much money into a targeted district. It’s an unsettling trend that is similar to what the Republican party does. IMO, a candidate should be favored and RECRUITED based on his/her platform and appeal to voters and NOT the amount of $ in his/her personal bank account. That being said the DCCC only wins about half of the races they lend support to.
De La Cerda is running a grassroots/every (wo)man campaign. Crazier things have happened in Democratic primaries.
boonecompanion Mon 9 Sep 9:44 PM