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President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden &
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
Photo: Pete Souza
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Everyone assumes that Republicans will easily hold the House in November. The dominant storyline among the chattering classes centers instead on the possibility that Republicans could seize control of the Senate from Democrats. But the rapidly escalating immigration face-off between President Barack Obama and House Republicans raises the possibility that Democrats could win back the House — even if Republicans do take the Senate
How is that possible? It's simple: There are more competitive House races than Senate races in areas with significant Latino populations.
Last year, David Damore, a polling analyst for the firm Latino Decisions, found that there are 44 congressional districts with Republican incumbents that could be ousted if their Latino constituents flex their electoral muscle. "This includes districts where the Latino voting-age population exceeds the 2012 margin of victory or swing districts won in 2012 by President Obamaand the House Republican candidate that also have notable Latino populations," he wrote.
Now of course, not all of the 44 districts where Latinos can theoretically play a decisive role are considered competitive today. Damore recently lamented that Democrats failed to recruit strong challengers across the board. Professional congressional handicappers Stu Rothenberg, Charlie Cook, and Larry Sabato suggest that around 19 of these districts remain in play, including 16 Republicans running for re-election and three other seats where the Republican incumbent won't be on the ballot.
That may not seem like a lot for a body with 435 representatives. But Democrats only need to flip 17 seats to take over the House. While most observers see that as a bridge too far for Democrats this year, the political terrain in these Latino-strong districts may look different in the fall. Just as we head into the midterms' final two-month sprint, Obama will likely have followed through on this week's pledge to use executive orders to help keep immigrant families together in America.
Obama can't fix the entire immigration system by fiat. He can't unilaterally bestow citizenship on the undocumented. He can't even ensure his executive orders will stay on the books once he vacates the Oval Office in 2017. There will still be a need for Congress to act. And immigration advocates may well turn all their fire on obstructionist House Republicans once Obama has shown he has done all he can without them.
Read the full story: www.theweek.com
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