The impasse of the moderates highlights the democratic divide, but will it affect 2022?
Case, a longtime moderate, faced no opposition in last year’s primary for the anchored seat in Honolulu. He then beat Republican Ron Curtis by 44 points, while Biden carried the Deep Blue District by 29 points. Clinton won the district by 33 points in 2016. Case, who previously represented Hawaii’s 2nd District, had $ 188,000 in his campaign account on June 30.
Jim Costa, California 16th District
In California, candidates from all parties run in the same primary ballot and the top two voters go to the general election. In 2020, Costa finished first in the multi-party primary, fending off a fiery challenge from the left from Fresno City Councilor Esmeralda Soria, who placed third. He then comfortably won a ninth term in November, beating Republican Kevin Cookingham by 19 points while Biden led the Central Valley District by 20 points. Four years earlier, district voters backed Hillary Clinton by 22 points. Costa, who had close races in previous midterm elections, is on the NRCC’s 2022 target list. He had $ 618,000 in his campaign account on June 30.
As one of the last anti-abortion Democrats in Congress, Cuellar was one of the main targets of progressive groups in the last round, but beat challenger Jessica Cisneros by 3 points. (Cisneros is seeking rematch in 2022 and again enjoys the backing of Justice Democrats.) Cuellar easily won a ninth term at her South Texas seat in November, beating Republican Sandra Whitten by 19 points. But Biden’s 4-point margin of victory in the District was down from Clinton’s 20-point advantage in 2016, as the GOP made gains across much of South Texas. Cuellar, an NRCC target, ended June with $ 1.7 million in the bank.
Golden narrowly ousted GOP Representative Bruce Poliquin in 2018, aided by Maine’s new choice-voting process. He was unopposed in the next cycle’s Democratic primary and won a second term over Republican Dale Crafts, a former state lawmaker, by 6 points, even as Trump won the district by almost 8 points. The presidential result was always an improvement for Democrats from 2016, when voters in the district backed Trump over Clinton by more than 10 points. Golden is part of the DCCC’s Frontline program and is on the NRCC’s target list this cycle. Poliquin has announced that he will run for the siege again. Golden had $ 784,000 in his campaign account on June 30.
Gonzalez, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary last year, won a third term at his South Texas seat by a surprisingly narrow 3-point margin over Republican Monica De La Cruz-Hernandez, after winning both her previous races by 20 and 21 points. Biden won the district by 2 points, a dramatic drop from Clinton’s 17-point advantage four years earlier. Gonzalez is part of the DCCC’s Frontline program this cycle and is also a target of the NRCC. He had $ 1.5 million in his campaign account on June 30.