GOP fears Trump backlash in suburbs [View all]

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https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/459436-gop-fears-trump-backlash-in-suburbs

GOP fears Trump backlash in suburbs
By Julia Manchester and Scott Wong - 08/31/19 05:48 AM EDT


Republicans are growing increasingly worried they will lose the suburbs for a second election in a row — this time with President Trump at the top of the ticket in 2020.

The GOP forfeited the House in 2018 largely after losing suburban women voters, a key voting bloc that turns out at the polls but with whom Trump has proven particularly unpopular since becoming president.

The suburbs could also pose a threat to Trump’s reelection chances, as well as a number of vulnerable Senate Republicans facing uphill reelection battles in states like Colorado, Maine, North Carolina and Arizona. The GOP currently holds a narrow 53-47 majority in the upper chamber.

Republican lawmakers and strategists say they face an even bigger challenge winning back suburban House districts, especially given Trump’s controversial actions in recent days.

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“Republicans are staring down another election cycle defending their incredibly unpopular agenda in Washington that raised health care costs and taxes for millions of Americans,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Cole Leiter said in a statement to The Hill.

“Add an historically unpopular President at the top of their ticket and you can understand why more and more Republicans in Washington are considering throwing in the towel rather than run a difficult race for their final 15 months in office,” he continued.