This makes me laugh.
Rep. John Culberson
On paper, Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) appears to be a shoo-in for reelection. He‘s served nine terms in what’s been a GOP stronghold for decades, hasn’t had a serious challenger in years and sits on one of the most powerful committees in Congress.
But Culberson‘s suburban-Houston district went for Hillary Clinton by 1 percentage point in 2016. And when GOP leaders found out last year that he was being outraised by Democrats and barely had a campaign staff, they were exasperated.
Get your act together, they warned Culberson in so many words, according to sources familiar with the dressing-down.
Culberson’s slow start to his reelection campaign is what GOP leaders fear most heading into the thick of the midterm elections: incumbents who haven’t seen a real race in years snoozing as a Democratic wave builds. Speaker Paul Ryan and the National Republican Congressional Committee are less concerned about their battle-tested swing-district members — who face tough races every election cycle — and more worried about complacent Republicans not prepared for a fight.
“This is a very tough environment for Republicans. If you’re getting outraised or if you haven’t started your campaign yet, you need to be scared and start today,” said Corry Bliss, executive director of the Ryan-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund. “Saying ‘I’ve never lost before, therefore I can never lose this time’ is not a campaign plan.”
[…]
At least one Republican, Culberson, appears to have heeded the warnings from leadership, aides say. He has hired new staff and outraised his Democratic opponents in the last quarter of 2017, though in the first six weeks of this year, his top two competitors collected more money than him, according to campaign filings.
“I’m always ready,” Culberson in a brief interview this week, “and even more so this year.”
Culberson has in fact raised more money overall than Lizzie Fletcher and Laura Moser, though the two of them combined have dwarfed his total. Any two of the top four Dems in CD07 combined to raise more than Culberson, in fact. He may have a hard time keeping up once the runoff has been settled. I actually don’t think the particulars will matter that much – clearly, Culberson and whoever comes out on top in May will have all the financial resources they need to mount a full-fledged campaign. There are plenty of other factors in play as well, and the big one that no one can control is the national atmosphere. I just like the idea that someone in Washington had to kick Culberson in the rear to get him to take his own campaign seriously.
Culberson’s constituent e-mails I receive here in CD07 have been craftily well written to give the appearance of Culberson getting legislation help directly for Harvey flood victims when, in fact, it is $ for already planned infrastructure efforts or flood mitigation research.