The list, dubbed the "Red to Blue" list, is run by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the official campaign arm of House Democrats. Candidates who make the list get fundraising help, training, and staff resources from the national organization. The committee said candidates earn a place by hitting goals for fundraising and local organizing.
The eight new additions cover six states. They are Marlene Galán-Woods in Arizona's 1st District; Jasmeet Bains in California's 22nd District; Jessica Killin in Colorado's 5th District; Maine state Sen. Joe Baldacci in Maine's 2nd District; Bob Harvie in Pennsylvania's 1st District; Bob Brooks in Pennsylvania's 7th District; Bobby Pulido in Texas's 15th District, and Johnny Garcia in Texas's 35th District.
Republicans hold a 218-to-214 majority in the U.S. House. Democrats need to flip a net of three Republican-held seats in November to take control of the chamber.
Two of the eight districts on Monday's list are open seats due to incumbents not seeking reelection. Rep. David Schweikert, a Republican who has represented Arizona's 1st District since 2013, announced in September that he would leave the House to run for governor of Arizona. Rep. Jared Golden, a moderate Maine Democrat who has held the 2nd District since 2019, announced in November that he would not seek a fifth term.
Monday's announcement drew criticism from at least one Democratic primary candidate running in the district.
Two other districts on Monday's list were redrawn last year as part of the mid-decade overhaul of Texas's congressional map. Bobby Pulido is running against Rep. Monica De La Cruz, a Republican, in the redrawn 15th District. Johnny Garcia is running for the redrawn 35th District seat.
David Hogg, a Democratic activist and president and co-founder of Leaders We Deserve—a progressive group that seeks to primary incumbent Democrats—said the party is backing the “weaker candidate.”
"Establishment Democrats want a big tent party until it starts to include real progressive fighters who don't answer to corporations and billionaires,” he wrote.
“The Democratic establishment is wasting resources in primaries to prop up weak candidates.”
Mike Marinella, national press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in an email to The Epoch Times that the announcement reflected disorder among Democrats.
"House Democrats and the DCCC are scrambling, and they're left cleaning up the mess they created," Marinella said. "Their disastrous primaries have turned into a far-left free-for-all, and national Democrats stepping in will only deepen the chaos and alienate their far-left base."
Suzan DelBene, a Washington state congresswoman who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement Monday that the new candidates would help the party retake the majority.
"As the American people reject House Republicans' disastrous, cost-spiking agenda, House Democrats have the momentum to take back the majority," DelBene said. "These latest additions to our Red to Blue program represent the strength of our people-first message and the broad appeal of our top-tier candidates."