Scott Powers
Three weeks into the 115th Congress, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has put targets on four Republican members of Congress from Florida: Brian Mast, Mario Diaz-Balart, Carlos Curbelo, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
The DCCC listed those four among 59 targeted nationally in a mid-term memo circulated to various Democratic allies.
The DCCC’s rival, the National Republican Congressional Committee, scoffed.
Mast beat Democrat Randy Perkins in Florida’s 18th Congressional District in November, succeeding Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy for that Treasure Coast seat. Diaz-Balart won his eighth term in Congress when he defeated Democrat Alina Valdez in Florida’s 25th Congressional District. Curbelo ousted Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia in Florida’s 26th Congressional District. And Ros-Lehtinen won a 14th term when she defeated Democrat Scott Fuhrman in Florida’s 27th Congressional District.
The campaigns in the 18th and 26th were among the most expensive races in Florida, with both the DCCC and the NRCC investing millions of dollars in those campaigns.
The DCCC memo says the organization is counting on the longstanding trend continuing, that the party in the White House loses significant numbers of Congressional seats in the midterm elections. The Democratic group also contends it is setting up unprecedented ground games, and predicts an unpopular President Donald Trump will fuel that effort even more.
But Mast, Diaz-Balart, Curbelo and Ros-Lehtinen?
In response statements she put out,, NRCC spokeswoman Maddie Anderson called the Mast target “delusional” and scoffed at the others, saying, “Keep on keeping on, DCCC.”
