The last time a Democrat was in the White House and mid-terms elections were on the calendar, the Republican Party pulled off an historic victory. That was 1994. It’s looking to do the same thing next year, in 2010. And a big part of its strategy is bringing new blood into the mix via its Young Guns program.
The program started with 13 candidates who were either going after open seats or attacking Democratic incumbents. The Republicans have added 32 new candidates to the list.
There is a three-tiered hierarchy through which the candidates pass – they start out “On the Radar,” move up to “Contender” and finally achieve “Young Gun” status. The rankings are largely based on their success at funding their own campaigns.
Nine of the original 13 have moved up to Contender.
* Martha Roby (AL-02)
* Cory Gardner (CO-04)
* Dennis Ross (FL-12)
* Vaughn Ward (ID-01)
* Andy Harris (MD-01)
* Frank Guinta (NH-01)
* Steve Pearce (NM-02)
* Steve Chabot (OH-01)
* Steve Stivers (OH-15)
Four of the original 13 remain On the Radar. They include:
Van Tran (CA-47
Adam Kinzinger (IL-11)
Charles Djou (HI-01)
Jon Barela (NM-1)
From The Hill.com, here are the 32 new additions to the On the Radar list:
* Jesse Kelly (Ariz.-08)
* Tim Griffin (Ark.-02)
* Justin Bernier (Conn.-05)
* Ryan Frazier (Colo.-07)
* Allen West (Fla.-22)
* Beth Coulson (Ill.-10)
* Dick Green (Ill.-10)
* Bob Dold (Ill.-10)
* Ethan Hastert (Ill.-14)
* Todd Young (Ind.-09)
* Alan Nunnelee (Miss.-01)
* Tim Walberg (Mich.-07)
* Ed Martin (Mo.-03)
* Vickie Hartzler (Mo.-04)
* Bill Stouffer (Mo.-04)
* Lou Huddleston (N.C.-08)
* Randy Altschuler (N.Y.-01)
* Michael Allegretti (N.Y.-13)
* Nan Hayworth (N.Y.-19)
* Tom Reed (N.Y.-29)
* Bob Gibbs (Ohio-18)
* Jim Renacci (Ohio-16)
* Rob Cornilles (Ore.-01)
* Steven Welch (Pa.-06)
* Pat Meehan (Pa.-07)
* Dan Kapanke (Wis.-03)
* Scott DesJarlais (Tenn.-04)
* Stephen Fincher (Tenn.-08)
* Scott Rigell (Va.-02)
* Keith Fimian (Va.-11)
* Sean Duffy (Wis.-07)
* Reid Ribble (Wis.-08)
RBR-TVBR observation: Some of these districts might not achieve battleground status – so much depends on what happens between now and next November. But if your station is in any one of these districts, you know that the national Republican Party is paying attention to your neck of the woods and thinks there is at least a chance of taking a seat away from their opponents.
They’ll spend money to make that happen, if there is a viable chance, and the Democrats will spend money to defend, on top of what the individual candidates bring to the battle themselves. And that will be good for business.
