The candidacy of the vice president Kamala Harris renewed the “energy” of other Democratic candidates, Added to this is the fact that the Latino vote is recognized as key in some districtsto win a majority in the House of Representatives.
“The Latino vote is very important in districts across the country “And we definitely have some districts that have even larger Latino populations than others,” said Suzan DelBene, chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), in an interview. “We have a program that we call ‘How Are People?’ that has been very focused on making sure that we are engaging with communities of color and communicating information to them in ways that they consume that information.”
DelBene spoke with this newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), where she was one of the speakers and, given the confidence of winning on November 5, she announced that Representative Hakeem Jeffries (New York) would be the one to certify the 2023 election, since the 119th Legislature will begin on January 3, 2025.
“We are going to make history by winning another seat in Alabama, the state where I was born,” DelBene, a congresswoman for District 1 in Washington, said in her message. “This race is about our rights, our freedom, our democracy.”
In February 2024, during the legislative meeting of the Democrats in Virginia, where this journalist attended, DelBene recognized challenges in the electoral process that he now sees more clearly. The campaign of Vice President Harris and the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, have injected new energy.
“Well, I think you can probably see it. Here we are in Chicago, the energy and enthusiasm is strong,” he acknowledged. “Right after Vice President Harris announced her candidacy in the D Triple C, we had our largest online fundraising day of the cycle, almost a million dollars. And then 24 hours after she announced, we’ve had strong fundraising among our candidates, among Democrats, across the board, we’ve seen our numbers go up.”
He added that even more people are volunteering to participate in the campaigns, either by knocking on doors or making phone calls.
“So there is great energy, enthusiasm. You see it here, but we are feeling it all over the country, and we are going to work hard,” he said. “We are not taking anything for granted. Working hard to get every voter out to vote, but We are going to take advantage of that majority in the House and we are going to have Kamala Harris as the next president.”
How the Democratic Majority Can Win
The House is currently controlled by Republicans, chaired by Mike Johnson (Louisiana) with 220 Republican representatives against 212 Democrats, following the defeats in 2022.
“We have 30 red to blue candidates across the country. This is part of the campaign. They are all over the country. They are in New York, California, Iowa, Nebraska, and Alabama. We have people running all over the country to win seats or to hold seats that are vacant, seats where their current member of Congress might be retiring or running for a different office,” he explained.
He added that there are competitive districts, but Democrats are raising significant revenue and reaching out to voters, “outperforming their Republican opponents,” he said.
“They are strong voices in our community and they are running strong campaigns. We need four more seats to regain the majority in the House of Representatives. We have 30 seats. We are on the offensive and I think we have a chance with all of them,” DelBene said.
The economy is key in the legislative agenda
Democrats acknowledge that the cost of living in the US is a concern for families and will seek to reduce costs.
“We have heard from people across the country [sobre] affordability and making sure that we are addressing the costs that families face, for example, housing, making sure that we have more affordable housing across the country,” DelBene said.
The perspective that the DCCC president exposes ties in with some of the aspects of the presidential agenda of the Harris-Walz campaign, such as housing, a problem recognized by Vice President Harris with a plan of Construction of three million affordable homes.
DelBene talked about tax breaks, also in line with Harris’ proposal to lower taxes for the middle class and promote tax relief, such as a tax credit of up to $6,000 per baby.
“[Queremos] “A tax policy that doesn’t just give tax breaks to the wealthy and well-connected, but instead we focus on making sure we have a fair tax system that supports and grows the middle class,” DelBene explained. “Things like the child tax credit that helps families, helps our kids get off to a good start, because we know that when our kids get off to a good start, they have incredible opportunities.”
The legislative agenda also seeks to reduce prescription drug costs and defend Social Security and Medicare.
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