DCCC chief says GOP hype hit wall in Pa. special election

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DCCC: GOP hype hit wall

WASHINGTON — The head of the committee to elect Democrats to the House suggested Thursday that the midterms won’t be the blowout some have predicted after a win in a special election in Pennsylvania.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, cited Mark Critz’s election to succeed the late Rep. John Murtha on Tuesday. Democrats have won seven consecutive special House races this cycle.

“The hype … hit the brick wall of reality,” Van Hollen said.

The Republican National Committee is looking at about 130 House seats as potentially competitive, almost entirely all with Democratic incumbents. Top Republicans, including House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, have said as many as 100 seats are in play. The GOP needs to capture 40 seats to win control of the House.

Critz, a former Murtha aide, won a seat many Republicans had predicted they would win.

“It’s very clear Republicans did a test run of their strategy,” Van Hollen said. “It crashed and it failed.”

Van Hollen, however, acknowledged a tough environment for Democrats but added “Republicans in Congress are much worse” in polls.

“Yeah.”

That was Van Hollen’s blunt answer when asked if the DCCC was completely writing off Hawaii’s special election where Democratic infighting has all but guaranteed Republican Charles Djou will win Saturday’s contest.

House Democrats earlier this month quietly abandoned efforts in President Barack Obama’s native state, after spending $300,000 to help former Rep. Ed Case’s bid.

Rep. Neil Abercrombie left Congress to run for governor, setting up a messy fight between state Senate president Colleen Hanabusa and former Rep. Ed Case. Hanabusa is favored by the state’s two senators, Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka, as well as labor. The DCCC blamed local Democrats for infighting.

The Democratic campaign committee spent much of its money on ads critical of Djou, before deciding it was for naught as Case and Hanabusa split the Democratic vote.

Republicans, however, point out a key piece of trivia: Hawaii has never voted an incumbent member of Congress out of office.

Van Hollen insisted Democrats would win in November.

Quick hits:

— Vets for Freedom Political Action Committee endorsed former Rep. Rob Simmons’ Republican Senate primary campaign in Connecticut. Pete Hegseth, executive director of the group, said Simmons — a retired colonel and intelligence officer — deserves to defeat Democratic attorney general Richard Blumenthaul, who earlier in the week admitted he misspoke when he said he served “in Vietnam.”

— Simmons, who is competing against former wrestling executive Linda McMahon, is among the few candidates touting an endorsement from the Bush political dynasty. Simmons’ campaign announced an endorsement from Jonathan Bush, the son of former Sen. Prescott Bush, the brother of President George H.W. Bush and the uncle of President George W. Bush.