The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is naming Michigan Rep. Dan Kildee to be chairman of its Frontline program to help protect vulnerable Democratic incumbents, according to a release provided first to CQ Roll Call.  

“Dan Kildee has been helping his fellow Democrats since before he even got to Congress and we’re thrilled to have him leading our Frontline program,” DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján will say in a news release Tuesday. “You don’t add by subtracting, that’s why having Dan Kildee join our team and work to protect our Democratic incumbents is such an important piece of our strategy to make gains this cycle.”  

Currently in a historic minority, Democrats need 30 seats to take control of the House. That puts the DCCC mostly on the offensive in 2016, as Democrats look to reclaim seats the party lost in the 2014 GOP wave.  

That fact will likely leave fewer members in the Frontline program , which in the past included Democrats who represent areas Republican presidential nominees won in presidential years.  

Few of those type of members remain. Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona, Collin C. Peterson of Minnesota, Brad Ashford of Nebraska and Gwen Graham and Patrick Murphy of Florida are the only Democrats currently representing districts Mitt Romney carried in 2012 — making them prime Republican targets.  

This is the second role in Democratic leadership for the two-term Kildee. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi last month named Kildee to the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee  — a new committee that will help develop a message for the entire Democratic caucus.  

Related:

The One-Term Caucus? Top House Targets in 2016


What Happened to the 10 Most Vulnerable House Members?


The 114th: CQ Roll Call’s Guide to the New Congress


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