| | | | |  | | By Daniella Diaz and Anthony Adragna | With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team
|  There are lots of reasons a candidate might not want to endorse their party’s presidential nominee. | Getty Images/Andrew Harnik | WHERE THE TICKET WON'T CLICK When President Joe Biden announced he wasn’t running for reelection, most Democrats quickly coalesced around Vice President Kamala Harris as their party’s presidential nominee — but a handful of Democratic candidates, incumbents and challengers alike, kept their powder dry. There are lots of reasons a candidate might not want to endorse their party’s presidential nominee, of course. In a deeply polarized country, it can make sense for those contesting tough races to keep their distance from the top of the ticket — just ask the many Republicans who have tried (and mostly failed) to separate themselves from Donald Trump over the past decade. Top Democrats insist that the party’s candidates are free to run as they see fit: “I think right now across the country, our folks are focused on their races,” Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), the DCCC chair, said in an interview Wednesday. But as Harris shows increasing strength in the polls — and increasing popularity among the party base — we wanted to check in with the as-yet-uncommitted Democrats. We contacted members and candidates who have not publicly taken positions on Harris to see where they stood in the days ahead of the Democratic National Convention. We heard back from two Democrats who have now gotten behind the nominee:
- Rudy Salas, who is running against Republican incumbent David Valadao in California’s 22nd congressional district, has endorsed Harris, per a spokesperson; and
- Curtis Hertel, who is running in Michigan’s 7th congressional district, also backs Harris, per a campaign statement.
“Curtis supports Kamala Harris for President. He is focused on the issues that matter most to people here in Mid-Michigan: protecting reproductive freedom, lowering costs, and making sure [GOP nominee] Tom Barrett never has the chance to pass a national abortion ban in Congress," said spokesperson Sam Kwait-Spitzer. That leaves eight Democrats on our list who are declining to embrace Harris:
- Lanon Baccam, who is running against GOP Rep. Zach Nunn in Iowa’s 3rd congressional district;
- Adam Frisch, who is running for an open seat in Colorado’s 3rd congressional district;
- Rep. Jared Golden, who is seeking reelection in Maine’s 2nd congressional district;
- Rep. Josh Harder, who is seeking reelection in California’s 9th congressional district;
- Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who is seeking reelection in Ohio’s 9th congressional district;
- Rep. Mary Peltola, who is seeking reelection in Alaska’s at-large congressional district;
- Janelle Stelson, who is running against GOP Rep. Scott Perry in Pennsylvania’s 10th district; and
- Tony Vargas, who is running against GOP Rep. Don Bacon in Nebraska’s 2nd congressional district.
Only Frisch offered an explanation for his stance in response to our inquiries: "I am not focused on any election besides the race for Colorado's Third Congressional District,” he said in a statement. “Regardless of who wins the White House, I will remain laser-focused on the issues that matter to CD3 like cutting inflation and reducing costs for working families, defending western and southern Colorado's water, and securing the Southern border." Republicans are seeking to make Democrats’ silence on Harris an issue in their races, with the NRCC saying they’re trying to “hoodwink” voters. “Vulnerable House Democrats can’t wait to greenlight Harris’ far-left agenda of defunding the police, open borders and banning American energy production,” spokesperson Will Reinert said in a statement. “Yet until November, these swing-district Democrats will try to hoodwink voters into thinking that their shared dangerous agenda under Harris-Walz isn’t on their mind. It’s laughable.” — Daniella Diaz, with assist from Nicholas Wu
| | | | WELCOME TO THE CNN-POLITICO GRILL AT THE DNC! If you are in Chi-Town next week, join us at the CNN-POLITICO Grill just steps from the United Center for daily events and live programs. Featuring an all-star lineup of the most influential Democrats including Rep. Suzane DelBene (Chair, DCCC), Sen. Gary Peters (Chair, DSCC), Sen. Chuck Schumer, Secretary Pete Buttigieg and many more surprise guests. In fact, word on the street (West Madison Street, to be precise) is that Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi will be in the neighborhood and could drop by! Don’t miss out on the buzziest conversations and newsworthy events hosted by POLITICO’s top reporters and editors. RSVP HERE. | | | | | GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Inside Congress, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Wednesday, August 14, where your IC hosts are ecstatic that it’s finally starting to cool down in D.C. DURBIN’S BREAK WITH BIDEN Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat, is making a rare break with the Biden administration over Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s decision to override guilty plea agreements for three people accused of plotting the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “I am troubled by your decision to revoke the guilty pleas that, in the reasoned judgment of the prosecutors of the case, were the best path forward to finality and justice,” Durbin, the Senate Judiciary Committee Chair, wrote in a letter Wednesday. Austin’s move has split families of those killed in the attacks, with some wanting closure as the decades-long legal process shows no sign of ending. Durbin urged the Defense chief to “assess whether proceeding with the failed and broken commissions can realistically provide the families with a better outcome than pleas” and asked for an update “in the coming weeks.” The Defense Department spokesperson said Austin will respond in “due course” and declined additional comment. — Anthony Adragna BERNIE ON KAMALA Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), arguably the most influential progressive in the country, still doesn’t sound over the moon about Harris’ presidential bid but is continuing to promise to work his tail off to ensure she makes it into the White House. “She’ll be the Democratic candidate,” Sanders said on comedian Theo Von’s podcast. “I’ve known Kamala for a number of years — not best friends, but I’ve known her. … Above and beyond her views on the issues — which I support most of them, not all — [but] got to give credit to somebody, a Black woman, to move up the ladder.” “I think she’ll be a good candidate,” he added. “I’m working very hard to see that Kamala is elected our next president.” Asked if he understands why many Americans are enthused about Trump, Sanders exclaimed, “I do!” “Because he’s very disarming. He gets up there and he says whatever the hell he wants,” Sanders continued, before condemning Trump’s proclivity for lies, views on limiting reproductive freedoms and denial of climate change as disqualifying. Those comments came a day after Sanders denounced Trump’s questioning of the size of Harris’ rally crowds, saying it underscored the importance of winning in November. “Clearly, and dangerously, what Trump is doing is laying the groundwork for rejecting the election results if he loses,” Sanders said in a statement. “If you can convince your supporters that thousands of people who attended a televised rally do not exist, it will not be hard to convince them that the election returns in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and elsewhere are ‘fake’ and ‘fraudulent.’” — Anthony Adragna
| | Why go to a meeting when you could have a hot dog like Nancy Pelosi? Eric Schmitt’s visit to a Missouri business looks like a real…. home run. Shelley Moore Capito hung out with Halle Berry in West Virginia. Bernie Sanders revealed his first concert: Pete Seeger.
| | | | DON’T MISS OUR AI & TECH SUMMIT: Join POLITICO’s AI & Tech Summit for exclusive interviews and conversations with senior tech leaders, lawmakers, officials and stakeholders about where the rising energy around global competition — and the sense of potential around AI and restoring American tech knowhow — is driving tech policy and investment. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | QUICK LINKS House Democrats dig in amid ongoing fight in Congress over compensation for US radiation victims, from Susan Montoya Bryan in The Associated Press Utah Supreme Court dismisses Colby Jenkins’s lawsuit over CD2 GOP Primary, from KSL’s Michael Houck Sen. Schumer Calling For More Funding for National Weather Service, NOAA, from WRFA radio Biden harbors lingering frustration at Pelosi, Obama, Schumer, from Jonathan Lemire, Ursula, Daniella and Ryan Lizza ‘Not very accessible at all’: How Capitol Hill still poses obstacles to lawmakers, advocates with disabilities, from Erin Durkin and Savannah Behrmann at National Journal TRANSITIONS Jen Daulby has been named CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation. She most recently was a principal at Ogilvy Government Relations and served as chief of staff to Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) and as minority staff director on the Committee on House Administration. TOMORROW IN CONGRESS The House and Senate are out. THURSDAY AROUND THE HILL Zzz.
| | TUESDAY’S ANSWER: Grace Segers was the first to correctly guess that Rep. Mikie Sherril (D-N.J.) is the only woman among the seven members of Congress who graduated from the Naval Academy. TODAY’S QUESTION, from Grace: Who played JD Vance's mom in the movie adaptation of his book? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@politico.com. GET INSIDE CONGRESS emailed to your phone each evening. | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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