Most of the attention in this year's midterms has gone to the tossup districts that could decide control of Congress. But those races are a small slice of the map. NPR reports that 80% of congressional races are rated solid Republican or solid Democratic, and candidates running against their district's grain face limited money, dwindling donors and thin staff. Two of them, on opposite ends of the country, describe what that is like.
A Democrat in Wyoming
Lisa Kinney, a former state senator, is the Democratic candidate for Wyoming's only House seat, which has sent only Republicans to Congress since the late 1970s. With no campaign office and just a handful of helpers across the state, she spends long days on the road. "It's really tiring, but we have to see as many people as we can," she said.
NPR followed her through Johnny J's Diner in Casper, where some people brushed her off to keep politics away from their pancakes, others raised objections on immigration enforcement and transgender issues, and one voter, Joe Beck, who identifies with neither party, talked with her for 10 minutes. He told her he had already voted for her, but warned: "This is the reddest state in the nation. There's a tsunami coming at you on the first Tuesday in November." Kinney, who calls herself a realist, says she still keeps in mind that she can win. Her husband, Rodney Lang, said a loss would still leave "the party's stronger."
A Republican in Connecticut
George Austin, 38, a home builder and former football coach from Suffield, is challenging Democratic Rep. Joe Courtney in Connecticut's 2nd District. Courtney has easily won reelection for 20 years, and Connecticut Democrats have won 45 straight U.S. House elections since 2008. Austin says some voters stop listening when they learn he is a Republican. He has put a quarter of a million dollars of his own money into the race and handles many campaign jobs himself. "Lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for," he said, though he added that he doesn't think his race is one.
Why so many seats are safe
Eric Ostermeier of Smart Politics noted that the current Congress has 19 state delegations made up entirely of one party, the highest number since 1953. He pointed to gerrymandering, voters sorting themselves geographically, and the difficulty state candidates have separating themselves from the national party brand. In Connecticut, 46 of 187 legislative seats are uncontested.
Sources: NPR, Connecticut Public