Biden ‘gets a bum rap’ for Democrats’ potential poor midterm showing, DCCC chair says
The Democratic Governors Association on Tuesday warned a wave of losses could doom the party in November.
The group’s chairman, Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), told POLITICO he thought Democrats would fare better on the midterms than a poll by public opinion research firm Public Policy Polling showed Tuesday night.
“In terms of a net gain, it looks like it’s going to be smaller than anticipated,” Hickenlooper said following a POLITICO story on the Public Policy poll, which showed most Democrats would lose their seats. “Right now, I think Democrats will turn out for the midterms.”
Hickenlooper said he thought it likely that Democrats’ net loss would be closer to zero, a result he said suggested strong turnout for Democrats in competitive districts — a key finding of a POLITICO survey Tuesday night showing Democrats outperforming Republicans by nine points in midterm races.
The DGA’s warning about midterms could complicate the party’s efforts to turn out voters and make headway in House and Senate races this fall. A POLITICO poll out Tuesday night also found Democrats doing better in some House contests than in the previous poll. However, in these districts, Democrats won the race to replace retiring GOP Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), which is good news for Hickenlooper.
Both Hickenlooper and DGA chairman Rob McKenna (D-Vt.), a former aide to Vice President Joe Biden, said the Public Policy poll should be used with caution.
“They’re not polling Democrats, but they’re polling Republicans,” McKenna said. “And I think you’ll look at the poll that we have here over the next day or so and we’ve got Democrats that are doing fantastically against Republicans in competitive districts.”
The Hickenlooper-McKenna DGA poll surveyed 1,008 people in all 50 states on their opinions of the House and Senate races; it was conducted between