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Democrats continued to announce their intentions for several congressional races on Monday, which ranged from tossup match-ups to crowded primary races to nearly hopeless cases in heavily Republican states.

Angie Craig lost last years open-seat race in Minnesotas 2nd District by less than 2 points. On Monday, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidate announced shed try to unseat last years rival, freshman GOP Rep. Jason Lewis.

Craig, a former health care executive, plans to spend the summer on a listening tour of the district before officially kicking off her campaign in the fall. Shes already been active in the district this year, holding an adopt a district town hall in the 2nd District with 1st District Rep. Tim Walz.

Minnesotas 2nd District had been safe Republican for years, but former Rep. John Klines retirement gave Democrats hope they could pick up the seat in 2016.

But Craig, like Hillary Clinton, fell short. President Donald Trump carried the district by 1 point. Former President Barack Obama carried the district in 2008 and again much more narrowly in 2012.

Democrats are targeting the seat again this year, going after Lewis for voting for the GOP health care plan earlier this year.

Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the seat a Tossup.

--Simone Path

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch has yet to make a final decision about whether he is running for re-election, but the Utah Republican now has another Democratic challenger.

Salt Lake County council member Jenny Wilson announced Monday that she is taking on Hatch, who would be running for his eighth Senate term. But Wilsons bid would be an uphill battle in the deeply Republican Beehive State. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race as Solidly Republican.

The Democrat said she has raised nearly $140,000 while exploring a Senate bid. Hatch, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, raised just over $1 million during the second quarter ending June 30, finishing with more than $4 million in cash on hand, according to Hatch spokesman Matt Whitlock.

While Hatch sent some signals that he is running for re-election, he has not made a final decision, keeping Utah Republicans in suspense.

Wilson said in an April interview that she was aware of how much money would be necessary for a run, citing her previous experience as a congressional staffer and chief of staff for former Utah Democratic Rep. Bill Orton.

As an at-large member of the Salt Lake County Council, Wilson represents one-third of the states population. She is also the daughter of Ted Wilson, a former Salt Lake City mayor.

Wilson is also a member of the Democratic National Committees transition team, which focuses on how the party should approach GOP-leaning states.

-- Bridget Bowman

A former Navy officer and millionaire lottery winner announced he will challenge California Rep. Ed Royce as a Democrat.

Gil Cisneroswas a Republican until 2008, but left the party because he said he felt the GOP had become too ideological. After his service in the Navy, he worked as a shipping and distribution manager at Frito Lay.

Cisneros touted his endorsement from VoteVets, a liberal veterans group, the Los Angeles Times reported.

He and his wife won $266 million in Californias state lottery in 2010 and started the Gilbert and Jacki Cisneros Foundation, which funds scholarships for Latino students.

Royce won re-election in California's 39th Congressional District by 14.5 points in 2016. But the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is targeting Royce's district.

Inside Elections With Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race Leans Republican.

-- Eric Garcia

Rep. William Hurd said more districts should be drawn like his, defending Texas 23rd Congressional District ahead of a federal court decision on alleged racial gerrymandering that could impact the 2018 midterm elections.

My district is competitive, and thats a good thing ... because it forces people to talk to a broader sense of the community, Hurd said Saturday as the closing witness in a trial over whether the district lines should be redrawn.

Federal judges invalidated the 2011 district lines in March, finding that three congressional districts, including the 23rd District, violated the Voting Rights Act. The decision had no effect, however, because the state adopted a new interim map in 2013.

Civil rights groups and individuals argue that the new map is also discriminatory as it includes some of the original boundaries.

Federal judges said in March that the 23rd District lines from 2011 denied Latino voters equal opportunity and had the intent and effect of diluting Latino voter opportunity.

The two other districts found to be unlawful were the 35th District, represented by Democrat Lloyd Doggett, and the 27th District, represented by Republican Blake Farenthold.

Democrats are targeting Hurds seat, as former Democratic Rep. Pete Gallego considers challenging Hurd again. Hurd unseated the one-term Gallego in 2014 and the two faced off again in 2016.

Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the 23rd District as Tossup.

--Kyle Stewart

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At the Races: Democrats Announce for Wide Swath of Congressional Races - Roll Call

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Dems' unity against GOP health bill masks dangerous divide Fresno Bee Democrats are showing uncommon unity in fighting Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. But the discipline masks a deep and fundamental divide within the party that could complicate Democrats' efforts to gain ground in the ... Democrats demand Republicans hold hearings on their health care billCNN International Democrats take their turn at improving Affordable Care ActChicago Tribune Democrats want hearings on healthcare bill during delayWashington Examiner LifeZette -Miami Herald all 1,363 news articles »

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Dems' unity against GOP health bill masks dangerous divide - Fresno Bee

In an interview late last year, after his narrow loss to incumbent Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) last November, former Missouri secretary of state Jason Kander (D) delivered a bit of truth-telling to the Democratic Party. He did it by way of analogy. Theres a trial with the two opposing lawyers making closing arguments to the jury.

The first lawyer comes out and gives about a 10-minute, very passionate closing argument with a real central theme as to why you should [decide in favor of] their client. Now sometimes, this lawyer wanders off and is kind of incoherent. And oftentimes [that lawyer] is offensive. But at the end of it, you know why that lawyer wants every member, all 12 members of that jury, to find for their client.

Then the next lawyer comes up, and the next lawyer, in front of the entire jury, goes juror by juror and individually makes a very customized and very compelling and very scientific case to each juror as to why that juror should find for that lawyers client. And very conspicuously, [that lawyer] skips about three of the jurors. Just kind of figures, Hey, Im in a state where the rule is you need nine out of 12 in a civil trial, so they say, Well, I only need nine. So [the lawyer] skips three of them, and the whole jury sees that. Well, at the end of those arguments, the jury is going to go, Well, I see what theyre saying to me, but I also see that they said something very different to every other juror, and that they skipped those other three, and by the way, those three arent voting for [that lawyer]. [The jury is] going to really question the authenticity of the argument that was made to them, and theyre going to have a hard time remembering exactly why it is that theyre supposed to find for that client.

I first heard about this from Lanae Erickson Hatalsky of Third Way. The vice president for the social policy and politics program at the centrist think tank recounted it during a panel discussion that pondered the question Is Demography Destiny for Democrats? The short answer is no. And Erickson Hatalsky elaborated as she put a finer point on Kanders comments.

[One Democrat knew Trump would win. Now Debbie Dingell struggles to find a place in her own party.]

Theyll go to the first juror and say, Juror number one. I have a thing for you. Youre Latino. I have immigration. Juror number two, youre millennial. Free college. Juror number three, youre not my people. Can you go get a coffee? Erickson Hatalsky said about how Democrats talk to the electorate. That message was received. The youre not my people. We dont need you was a message we clearly sent and, boy, did it carry.

Changing that message is an existential mission for Democrats and progressives. As Kander and Erickson Hatalsky argue, continued reliance on bespoke messaging tailored for specific demographic groups of the progressive coalition doesnt guarantee Democratic wins at the ballot box. But a new analysis from Third Way, A Tale of Two Districts: Demography and Divergent Partisan Politics, shows that doing so is asking for trouble. Through four case studies, the study illustrates how assumptions based on demography can take you down the wrong path and demonstrate the acute need for a more multi-faceted understanding of the American electorate, writes Ryan Pougiales, author of the report.

Take the first case study, for instance. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Rep. John Carter (R-Tex.) could not be more different. The former is an unabashed progressive, the latter a proud tea party conservative. Yet, Third Way shows that the demographics of their respective districts look remarkably similar. They each have metropolitan hubs that are home to university-attending millennials and big business. Languages other than English are spoken in a quarter of homes usually Spanish. And thousands have moved into those districts from outside the state and country. As Pougiales notes, these two districts could be considered Rising American Electorate country given their demographic makeup. Yet, demography isnt destiny, as they continually send political polar opposites to Congress. The same can be said of the other three case studies in the report.

[The real reason working-class whites continue to support Trump.]

Evaluating individual elections, or the broader national political climate, through a narrow demographic filter risks being blindsided, Pougiales writes. A conclusion proved by President Trumps win. But the Third Way analyst raises a red flag that Democrats should take to heart. To be sure, growing voter groups often tagged as the Rising American Electorate are a core component of a winning Democratic coalition, Pougiales pointed out. But they cant be the entire coalition, and they shouldnt be taken for granted as assumed Democratic votes.

In the next episode of my podcast Cape Up, I talk with pollster Cornell Belcher, whose recent focus groups in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Milwaukee for the Civic Engagement Fund proves Pougialess point. What Belcher found was the newest bloc of swing voters. And youll never guess who they are.

Follow Jonathan on Twitter: @Capehartj Subscribe to Cape Up, Jonathan Capeharts weekly podcast

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'Is demography destiny for Democrats?' The short answer is no. - Washington Post

Democrats are stepping up their criticism of the White Houses voter integrity commission, while trying to stave off panic about the commissions requests for data panic that has already led to thousands of voters asking to be removed from the rolls in key states.

Its Republican overreach, said Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez in an interview. This voter commission exposes the Republicans very clearly for what theyre trying to do, which is simply to suppress the vote. You look at the people on this commission and theyve been the long-term leaders of the campaign to do that. Its not hard to figure out.

The pushback, informed by years of state-by-state voting rights battles, has become part of the DNCs Resistance Summer push that was designed to involve the party in base persuasion and organizing earlier than in previous cycles. ThePresidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, created after President Trumps unfounded speculation that millions of votes were cast illegally in 2016, has created both a threat to organize around, and a problem that could undo the partys voter registration efforts.

In several states, the commissions July 1 request for voter data hasled to a surge of voters trying to dodge the request by deregistering. In North Carolina, hundreds of people contactedthe state elections office to inquire about their personal information, some of them asking about how to pull themselves off the rolls. In Colorado, an estimated 3,000 people have either suspended their registrations or asked that their information be made confidential, for a $5 fee.

Democrats have taken a delicate approach to the self-purgations. Perez said he was coordinating with state parties to urge voters not to take themselves off the rolls; Jason Kander, the former Missouri secretary of state who now runs Let America Vote, has been running a small social media campaign to urge against it.

But Democrats have also worried that giving the voter drop-off too much attention could spur even more of it. Their response is focusing more on the originator of the data request, commission vice-chair Kris Kobach, who has been Kansass Republican secretary of state since 2011. In an interview last week with Breitbart, Kobach speculated that voters taking themselves off the rolls were doing so either because they were caught out, or because they wanted to pull a stunt.

It could be,actually, people who are not qualified to vote, perhaps someone who is a felon and is disqualified that way, said Kobach. Or someone who is not a U.S. citizen saying, Im withdrawing my voter registration because I am not able to vote. It could be a political stunt people who are trying to discredit the commission and withdrawing temporarily because they are politically active but planning to get back on the voter rolls before the election next November.

Perez, who scoffed at the theory that all of the un-enrolling voters had been voting illegally, said that Kobach was making himself infamous, and easy for the party to define.

Our main message is simple this commission is trying to make it harder for you to vote, Perez said. The remedy for what Kobach is trying to do is get out there and register your friends to vote to throw out Trump and his commission.

The commissions first public meeting is scheduled July 19, with access limited to reporters, but a live stream to be published on the White House website.

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Democrats step up campaign against White House elections commission - Washington Post

Not allowing the administration to take over the government is the wrong thing to do, said Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of the Republican leadership. It is unacceptable. Its outrageous. Something has to change.

Here is what is happening: Democrats are requiring that Republicans check all the procedural boxes on most nominees, even those they intend to eventually support. That requires the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, to request a formal cloture vote to move forward.

President Trump has filled far fewer top jobs in cabinet or cabinet-level agencies than President Barack Obama had at this point in his presidency, according to a New York Times analysis.

An intervening day is then required to allow the cloture request to ripen. Next is a vote to impose cloture followed by 30 hours of post-cloture debate before a final vote. Democrats have refused to shorten the debate time to yield back, in the parlance of the Senate though in most cases there is little to debate.

In the end, many Democrats end up voting for the nominee, as each of them did last week on a federal appeals court judge from Idaho.

The level of obstruction exhibited by Senate Democrats on these nominees is just breathtaking, Mr. McConnell said Monday as he castigated Democrats again for forcing needless procedural votes on nominees they actually support.

Republicans engaged in similar procedural combat after Democrats made the 2013 change, tying up the Senate to slow President Barack Obamas push to fill judicial vacancies.

We became pretty good at it ourselves, acknowledged Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican. But he and other Republicans say Democrats are employing the tactic to a much greater extent to clog up the Senate and handcuff the Trump administration.

Democrats have required cloture votes on 31 of 52 nominees approved so far. To be sure, the Trump administration was slow to begin making nominations for the top jobs. But there are currently almost 50 people ready and awaiting Senate action, including national security officials who face votes this week. More than 200 Obama administration nominees had been confirmed at this point in 2009, according to the White House.

Democrats are not denying that they are slowing the process to protest how Senate Republicans have handled the health care bill. Its also payback for the way Republicans forced through some early nominees without the proper paperwork.

As weve made clear to our Republican colleagues, if they continue to insist on ramming through a secret health care bill without any public input or debate, they shouldnt expect business as usual in the Senate, said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader.

In objecting to a request last week to speed up approval of high-level Pentagon nominees, Mr. Schumer said, Maybe once things change a little bit on health care, with the consent of my colleagues on this side of the aisle, we can move a lot of things quickly.

Democrats blame some of the holdup on self-inflicted wounds by the White House because the administration was slow to put forward names and withdrew others. They also say that Mr. McConnell has the option to keep the Senate in session more days to advance nominees.

Before the Senate became a setting for nearly nonstop partisan warfare, senators routinely approved most lower-level nominees by voice vote, rarely insisting on the full slate of procedural steps when the outcome was a given. But those days appear to be gone.

Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, who has sought to streamline the nomination process, said he feared that the blockade would encourage the White House to give up on confirmations and instead leave top posts filled with officials serving in an acting capacity without having undergone review by the Senate.

We have never had a situation where several hundred key officials who run the government have not been examined by, and held accountable to, the United States Senate, he said. It makes the president more powerful and the Congress less powerful, and it gives the people less say into who the president is appointing, and what they are doing and how they conduct themselves.

He said that while it might seem like smart politics for Democrats to stall the nominees of a president they strongly oppose, they were actually shooting themselves in the foot by giving the White House incentive to bypass the Senate.

The clash is the latest development in a nomination process that has become politically poisonous in recent years, scarred by regular filibusters, two nuclear explosions altering the rules and a refusal even to consider a Supreme Court nominee. This latest chapter holds the potential for more long-term damage to both the Senate and the government across the board.

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Democrats Perfect Art of Delay While Republicans Fume Over Trump Nominees - New York Times