Democrats zero in on Speaker Johnson in effort to flip House control
Johnson plays key political role raising money and driving campaign strategy as speaker. Democrats say the new speaker's policies make him an issue, but his low national profile could make that hard.
Democrats see an opportunity to make Speaker Mike Johnson a central part of their strategy to flip control of the House in 2024. But many GOP lawmakers running for reelection in swing districts have downplayed Johnson's conservative positions and instead stress his even keeled tone that they believe will connect with voters.
Rep. Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, argues Johnson's record is the issue, "what we may have a new face, but the extremism is still there. In fact, he may be even more extreme."
She concedes that voters may not know who Johnson is, butbelieves the more people learn about the speaker, the more he could becomea liability for Republicans across the country.
