There will be no need to speculate on where the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee thinks some major House battleground contests will be waged. The DCCC is planning to spend $35M in 31 different districts in a plan that takes into account both offensive and defensive postures. In all, 19 districts currently in Republican hands are on the list, along with defensive spending in 12 districts, mostly to make sophomores out of the freshmen swept into office during the Democrats victorious 2006 campaign.
TalkingPointMemo.com put a blow-by-blow list, complete with amounts budgeted. Of the 19 Republican seats, 10 have been left open by candidates who either retired or tried for different offices. The districts include Alaska at large ($586K); Arizona-1 ($1.7M); Colorado-4 ($667K); Connecticut-4 ($697K); Florida-24 ($1M); Michigan-7 ($1.5M); Michigan-9 ($1.1M); Minnesota- ($1.4M); Missouri-9 ($941K); North Carolina-8 ($1.6M); New Jersey-7 ($1.8M); New Mexico-1 ($1.3M); New Mexico-2 ($1.2M); Nevada-3 ($916K); New York-13 ($1.3M); Ohio-1 ($928K); Ohio-15 ($1.2M); Ohio-16 ($1.3M); and Virginia-11 ($1.3M).
Defensive efforts are in the works for Arizona-5 ($1.7M); Florida-16 ($1.5M); Indiana-9 ($1.6 M); Kansas-2 ($1.2M); Kentucky-3 ($659K); New Hampshire-1 ($564K); Louisiana-6 ($723K); Oregon-5 ($1.2M); Pennsylvania-4 ($554K); Texas-22 ($1.1M); Texas-23 ($707K); and Wisconsin-8 ($475K).
RBR/TVBR observation: Where Democratic money flows, Republican money is sure to follow. However, DCCC counterpart NRCC is in the throes of an embezzlement scandal, so the effectiveness of its response remains to be seen. However, if your station is in a district on this list, you have achieved official battleground status and with any luck, a piece of the campaign 2008 pie.
