French Hill

House Republicans will have a new leader next Congress since Speaker Paul D. Ryan is retiring, but will there be additional changes in their top ranks?

The answer to that question will depend in large part on whether Republicans can hold onto their majority in the November midterms, and if they do, how the speaker’s race unfolds.

Rep. French Hill is following the lead of other vulnerable Republicans in 2018 in a new ad targeting his Democratic opponent for supposedly aligning with Hillary Clinton and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Hill, who represents Arkansas’ 2nd District, began airing ads on television this week in which a narrator declares that his opponent in the general election, state Rep. Clarke Tucker, is a “Hillary Clinton-supporting Democrat for higher taxes and bigger government.”

State Rep. Clarke Tucker won the Democratic primary in Arkansas’ 2nd District on Tuesday, to face Republican Rep. French Hill in November.

Tucker was one of four Democrats vying for the nomination, and he comfortably averted a June 19 runoff.

Voters again head to the polls Tuesday, this time in Texas, Arkansas, Georgia and Kentucky. 

Texas held its primaries in March, but more than a few of those contests advanced to runoffs since the winners did not surpass 50 percent of the vote. None has received more attention that the Democratic runoff in the 7th District. 

Despite forecasts of a blue tsunami, it’s still not guaranteed that Democrats will win back the House majority. But the playing field of competitive House races is expanding and shifting to almost exclusively Republican territory.

After the latest round of changes, Inside Elections now has 68 Republican seats rated as vulnerable compared to just 10 vulnerable Democratic seats. And there are at least a couple dozen more GOP-held seats that could develop into competitive races in the months ahead.

Winning for Women Inc., a new group formed to boost Republican female candidates, is making its first independent expenditure of the 2018 cycle for a West Virginia woman facing a competitive congressional primary next week.

Winning for Women is spending five figures on a digital spot supporting state Del. Carol Miller, who is running for the GOP nomination in West Virginia’s 3rd District. Current GOP Rep. Evan Jenkins is running for Senate.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is announcing its fifth round of Red to Blue candidates Wednesday. 

The five latest additions, obtained first by Roll Call, include two candidates running in districts that President Donald Trump carried by double digits, both of whom have said they wouldn’t support Nancy Pelosi for Democratic leader if elected. 

No Democrat represents Arkansas at the federal level. National Democrats are excited about state Rep. Clarke Tucker’s prospects of changing that. 

Tucker, an attorney, entered the race against GOP Rep. French Hill in the 2nd District on Monday. He faces an uphill climb. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race Solid Republican.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched its first national TV buy on cable Thursday morning. 

The TV ad, which will run on MSNBC and CNN for one week, is part of a six-figure buy that also includes radio ads running in 11 districts for three weeks.