Democrats are propping up third-party candidates in at least three House races in an effort to siphon off votes from Republican candidates.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is signaling to its allies in Montana, Ohio, and Alaska to push favorable messaging for independent candidates in an effort to appeal to supporters of former President Donald Trump.
If Democrats and Republicans maintain their seats, Democrats will just have to flip four seats to regain control of the House.
Part of that strategy includes targeting competitive districts that former President Donald Trump carried in the 2020 election and boosting third-party candidates that fall closely in line with the former president. Democrats in these House races will have a difficult time winning these seats unless they can split Republican voters.
The DCCC took to messaging sites to unveil its plan to its outside groups, including its planned messaging and strategies. This is known as red boxing, a loophole in the campaign finance law where campaigns leave directions on their websites to describe the type of advertising they want, including direct phrases and photos.
Here is the breakdown of the DCCC’s plan of attack in these three House races.
Alaska
There is just one congressional seat in Alaska, which is now held by Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK), who was elected during a 2022 special election.
She is being challenged by Republican business owner Nick Begich. Trump, who won the state by 10 percentage points over President Joe Biden, endorsed Begich at a Monday rally.
While the DCCC is focused on highlighting Begich’s anti-abortion stance, it is seeking to capture the votes of “white men under the age of 60 without a college degree” who likely lean Republican by propping up third-party candidate John Wayne Howe.
The DCCC red box signals that it wants to highlight Howe’s disbelief in manmade climate change, the need to expand oil production rapidly, and his opposition to any restrictions on bearing arms.
Already, Vote Alaska Before Party, which is funded by Democrat-affiliated House Majority PAC, released an ad that hits all the bullet points listed by the DCCC red box.
Alaska uses ranked choice voting, so in order for a candidate to win, the person need to capture at least 50% of the vote. By propping up Howe, Democrats think they’ll siphon votes away from Begich. They hope that when it comes to the second round of vote-counting, Peltola will have captured the majority of the vote.
Ohio
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) was elected to Congress in 1983. Last month, her seat moved from a “toss-up” to “lean Democrat.” She now possesses a fundraising advantage and is polling ahead of her challenger, Republican Ohio state Rep. Derek Merrin.
However, Democrats aren’t taking any chances as Trump carried Kaptur’s district in 2020.
The DCCC is directing its allies to build advertisements for libertarian candidate Tom Pruss. They are hoping to target Republicans who may be “open to persuasive information about the difference between Libertarian Tom Pruss and Republican nominee Derek Merrin.”
“Libertarian Tom Pruss is a conservative outsider who is focused on draining the corrupt Washington swamp, securing the border, lowering taxes, cutting government spending to address the deficit, and standing up to the radical left,” the red box says.
Meanwhile, the DCCC is looking to paint Merrin as just another “Washington swamp politician” with a history of voting for raising taxes on working people while supporting tax breaks for corporations.
Montana
Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) is the only Republican incumbent that the DCCC is seeking to siphon support away from and toward third-party candidates.
The DCCC is working hard to separate Zinke from Trump, who carried Zinke’s district by seven points in 2020. Zinke previously worked in the Trump administration as the secretary of the interior. Zinke endorsed Trump last November. Trump has endorsed Zinke for both his 2022 and 2024 election contests.
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The DCCC wants to direct Republicans to libertarian Dennis Hayes, a “conservative outsider” who is “focused on draining the corrupt Washington swamp, building Trump’s border wall, eliminating the government overreach of the Bureau of Land Management, and always standing up to the radical left.”
So far, the Voter Protection Project, which is dedicated to fighting against Republican attacks on voting rights, spent $92,000 in October supporting Hayes with direct mail.
CORRECTION: In a previous version of this story, the Washington Examiner reported former President Donald Trump did not endorse Ryan Zinke for reelection. Trump endorsed Zinke’s reelection bid in March 2024. The Washington Examiner regrets the error.
