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With nearly 500 candidates already lined up to run in 2018 House primaries, House Democrats are experiencing an election wealth like no other.

Already, there has been a 50 percent increase in those signed up to challenge Republican control of the House, and it could reach 1,000 candidates as Democrats rise to challenge President Trump.

"With a polarizing president who has low approval ratings, many Democrats who might otherwise take a pass now have a strong incentive to run: the possibility of a large turnover midterm election year in 2018," said Mark J. Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.

"I fully expect we will see more Democrats getting into nomination races, believing their chances of winning a general election to be very strong," he said.

Christopher Newport University's Quentin Kidd predicted something rare: a Democratic challenger in all 435 House races.

"Democrats will likely have robust primaries in many and I would be surprised if there aren't Democratic challengers in all of them. Democrats have historically done a poor job of bench development, but right now anti-Trump energy is doing it for them," said Kidd, the school's vice provost and director of the Wason Center for Public Policy.

Kyle Kondik, the managing editor of the national political "Crystal Ball" founded by the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, agreed, but said young and inexperienced candidates might not be exactly who the party wants.

"It may be that Democratic leaders will not always get the candidates they prefer in certain districts , a reality with which Republicans became familiar over the past several cycles," he said.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com

Originally posted here:
Trump Effect: Democrats see challenging every House Republican in 2018 - Washington Examiner