National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Tom Emmer (R-MN) said Saturday that the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry “is going to cost them their” House “majority” in the 2020 congressional elections.
As many swing district House Democrats go back to their districts and explain to their constituents their support for the impeachment inquiry, Emmer said that the inquiry will result in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) losing her House majority.
“This process they’re embarking on is going to cost them their majority next fall,” Emmer said.
The NRCC chairman said that Democrats have an “obsession” with impeachment, adding that “it’s just getting worse for them.”
Republican and conservative organizations hope to take back 31 congressional districts that President Donald Trump won in 2016 and that House Democrats flipped during the 2018 midterm cycle.
Many swing district Democrats such as Reps. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), Max Rose (D-NY), Cindy Axne (D-IA), and Susie Lee (D-NV) have had trouble explaining why they backed impeachment.
Even House Budget Committee chairman John Yarmuth (D-KY) said Wednesday that he does not believe Americans’ support for impeachment will “ever get to 60 percent.” The Kentucky Democrat suggested that continued impeachment hearings may swing public opinion by four or five points.
Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL), the chair of the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), disputed Emmer’s claim, noting that Democrats continue to focus on the needs of their constituents.
“When we are not out in Washington, we are home, in our districts and we are listening to people every day, and we are hyper-focused on local issues,” Bustos said.
Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) said that the “smart response [for swing district Democrats] is to keep doing their job, be in the district, meet with constituents, listen to what they’re saying.”
Meanwhile, Democrat pollster John Anzalone said that many Democrats up for reelection in 2020 should focus on the issues that helped them take the House majority in 2018, which includes health care and education.
“I will take any day being able to talk about health care and education and the environment and wages if they’re talking about impeachment,” he contended.
However, despite Anzalone’s call to focus on health care and education, some prominent Democrats have chastised the Democrat majority for failing to make progress on these core issues for the Democrat party.
Willie Brown, the former San Francisco mayor, asked rhetorically in an op-ed in November, “Remember health care, the issue that won so many elections for Democrats in 2018? You might, but they don’t seem to.”
“Come next year, Trump will have an impeachment victory and quite possibly a solid economy,” Brown added. “The Democrats will have — what?”
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.