House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer Monday laid out the choice for voters--from a Democratic perspective--as independent analysts continued to predict Republicans gains this fall.
Voters, said the Maryland Democrat in a National Press Club speech, “are going to have to choose what kind of government they want – one characterized by endless gridlock or one that achieves progress. A government on their side – or one that tells them, ‘you’re on your own.’”
He insisted voters have “a cleaar choice. Maintain a Republican House Majority that has made obstruction and partisanship its policy. Or elect a Democratic Majority that will end the gridlock by focusing on the issues that matter and by working in a bipartisan way to make progress. And we need to make progress.”
Republicans now hold 233 House of Representatives seats. Democrats have 199, and there are three vacancies. The Republican goal is 245, and that could be within reach.
“The fight for the House continues to creep into Democratic territory,” wrote Nathan Gonazles, deputy editor of the independent Rothenberg Political Report. The report predicts Republicans stand to gain two to 10 seats.
“Republicans are likely to gain seats in the House this November, we just don’t know how many quite yet,” he wrote.
In his speech, Hoyer contended who controls the House “matters a great deal.
“Voters should be deeply concerned about continuing the Republican House Majority for two reasons. First, Republicans have ignored the will of the people by refusing to address the issues Americans care about.
“And, second, they have overseen the least-productive and most-closed Congress in modern history. In doing both, they have directly contradicted the pledges they made.”