How House Democrats Hope to Return to Power

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On Obama’s coattails. That’s the gist of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s first round of activity for the 2012 election cycle announced Monday. Radio ads, calls and e-mails are slated to target 19 districts, 17 of which Obama won in 2008 with an average of around 55 percent of the vote. Those 17 are mostly pendulum districts, lost in the Republican swing of 2010, but well within reach for Democrats in a higher turnout year. They’re also the districts which would account for a solid chunk of the 25-seat net pickup necessary for Democrats to retake the House.

As for the other two districts on the list: Florida’s 25th, which Obama lost by single point, is an obvious choice: Dave Rivera, the newly elected Republican congressman there, is mired in a criminal probe investigating his finances. The only odd one out is Virginia’s 5th, another McCain district. Democrat Tom Perriello eked out a win by a few hundred votes there in 2008, but lost reelection by some 9,000 votes last year.

A full list of the targeted districts after the jump:

Lou Barletta (PA-11)
Charlie Bass (NH-02)
Ann Marie Buerkle (NY-25)
Steve Chabot (OH-01)
Chip Cravaack (MN-08)
Robert Dold (IL-10)
Sean Duffy (WI-07)
Blake Farenhold (TX-27)
Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-08)
Nan Hayworth (NY-19)
Joe Heck (NV-03)
Robert Hurt (VA-05)
Thad McCotter (MI-11)
Patrick Meehan (PA-07)
Dave Reichert (WA-08)
David Rivera (FL-25)
Jon Runyan (NJ-03)
Joe Walsh (IL-08)
Allen West (FL-22)