Today, the DCCC revealed its initial Districts In Play for the 2024 cycle and named WI-01 and WI-03, currently represented by Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden, as offensive target districts that will help Democrats win back the House majority in 2024.
In 2022, Derrick Van Orden won his race by less than 5 points. President Biden narrowly lost WI-01 in 2020 with 49% of the 2-way vote. With Wisconsin being a presidential battleground, there’s an opportunity to flip both these districts, especially when you consider Steil and Van Orden’s out-of-touch and extreme records.
- Steil has made it clear he’s a team player for MAGA Republicans, going all in to use his position on the Administration Committee to defend Donald Trump as he faces investigation
- Steil criticized the process of Trump’s impeachment, which came a week to the day after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, calling it a “horrible precedent”
- Steil is anti-choice and called the overturning of Roe “a great victory for life”
- Van Orden was caught lying and trying to cover up the fact that he joined insurrectionists on U.S. Capitol grounds on January 6th
- Van Orden has said he is “100% pro-life” and he believes life begins at conception. He has compared abortion to genocide
- Van Orden called COVID-19 relief a “disaster” and “wasteful,” but a nonprofit he works with and a business he co-ownedreceived hundreds of thousands of dollars in relief funding
DCCC spokesperson Tommy Garcia:
“Derrick Van Orden and Bryan Steil are extremists who have enabled the out-of-touch priorities that House Republicans are pushing today – from MAGA-led political investigations, to floating cuts to Social Security and Medicare, to passing legislation that would protect wealthy tax cheats at the expense of everyday Wisconsinites. They are building the case against themselves for 2024 and the DCCC will hold them accountable.”
The DCCC’s Districts In Play are competitive Republican-held or open districts across the nation that are critical battlegrounds as the DCCC works to unseat Republicans and win a Democratic House majority this cycle.
Additionally, this cycle will mark the first time ever that the DCCC has launched nominee fund pages, which allows grassroots donors to donate now to contribute to the eventual Democratic nominee in these Districts In Play.
