DCCC adds 4 candidates to Red to Blue list

By Alexandra Jaffe - 08/30/12 10:02 AM ET

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is adding four new candidates to its "Red to Blue" program, an indication that it will invest more money and time to support candidates it sees as probable wins for the party.

The candidates are Elizabeth Esty, running in Connecticut's 5th District, Kyrsten Sinema, who just won the Democratic nomination for Arizona's 9th District, Joe Garcia, running in Florida's 26th District, and Rick Nolan, running in Minnesota's 8th District.

That brings the total number of candidates in the group's "Drive for 25" campaign — the number of seats it needs to to take back the House majority — to 50.

“The newest wave of candidates to earn a spot in the highly competitive Red to Blue program are expanding the map and looking increasingly strong as more races come into play and Republicans face rejection from voters,” said DCCC Chairman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) in a statement.

The candidates chosen are all facing tough battles against vulnerable Republicans. A recent DCCC poll showed Esty up 9 percentage points over challenger Andrew Roraback in a district that broke for Obama in 2008. Nolan is an establishment-backed congressional veteran running his first race in more than 30 years, facing freshman Rep. Chip Cravaack in a district that had, before Cravaack, elected a Democrat every election for more than 50 years.

Garcia, too, has a weakened opponent in incumbent Rep. David Rivera. Rivera is facing a federal investigation into his campaign finances — a fact Garcia has not let go unnoticed.

Sinema's pick is surprising for how quickly it happened — she won her primary on Tuesday night, and little polling has been done of her chances against newly minted Republican candidate Vernon Parker. Both faced bruising primary fights against crowded fields of candidates, so they'll be entering the general election season weakened, and the new district has a large number of independent voters to win over.

The DCCC also added three candidates to its "Emerging Races" list, indicating those are races they hope will become more competitive as the election cycle wears on. Those candidates are Jessica Ehrlich, running in Florida's 13th District, Syed Taj, running in Michigan's 11th District, and Upendra Chivukula, running in New Jersey's 7th District.