WASHINGTON -- The leading Democratic super PAC is getting an early start on the 2014 election cycle.
House Majority PAC announced on Thursday that in the coming months it will begin targeting 10 House Republican incumbents for defeat. The candidates include Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), Gary Miller (R-Calif.), Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), Joe Heck (R-Nev.), David Joyce (R-Ohio), John Kline (R-Minn.) and Steve Southerland (R-Fla.).
"They all represent competitive districts and they all have records and beliefs that are out of touch with the districts they represent," House Majority PAC spokesman Andy Stone said.
The effort to oust these 10 House members will be the main focus of House Majority PAC in 2013. This will include "earned media, paid media, social media and online campaigns," according to Stone.
Many of these targeted candidates won their 2012 election by a thin margin. The most vulnerable, based on their 2012 performance, are Bachmann and Davis, who both won by less than 1 percent. Coffman won by just 2 percent and Grimm and Southerland won by between 5 and 6 percent. Heck and Kline won by between 8 and 9 percent. And only two of the 10 members targeted by House Majority PAC -- Fitzpatrick and Joyce -- won their 2012 races with more than 10 percent of the vote.
Aside from Bachmann and Davis, perhaps the most vulnerable candidate is California's Miller. He represents a district with a Democratic majority, but was able to win reelection thanks to California's new top two primary system where only the top two finishers in a nonpartisan primary advance to the general election. Democratic candidates in 2012 split the primary vote, allowing Miller and another Republican to claim the top two positions and advance to the general without a Democrat on the ballot.
House Majority PAC spent nearly $36 million in 2012 on more than 50 races. According to a report by the Sunlight Foundation the group won 70 percent of the races on which it spent money.
“In 2012, House Majority PAC built a strong record of success and in 2013 we are ready to hit the ground running to hold these Republicans accountable and communicate with swing voters about their extreme records and backwards priorities,” said Alixandria Lapp, executive director of House Majority PAC, said in a statement.
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