Several Republican House candidates competing in competitive districts visited Yuma, Arizona, over the weekend to tour the U.S.-Mexico border and meet with community officials tackling the border crisis.
Republicans from various states, vying to flip seats held by Democrats in an attempt to hold and expand the GOP’s slim majority in the lower chamber, were led by Board of Supervisors Vice Chairman Jonathan Lines. The candidates expressed their opposition to President Joe Biden’s border policies and the House members currently representing their districts.
NEWSOM ADDS TO PRESIDENTIAL BID SPECULATION WITH DONATION TO SOUTH CAROLINA MAYORAL CANDIDATE
New York Democrats are hoping to flip as many as six seats Republicans won in 2022 in their bid to regain control of the House while the GOP works to maintain and expand control in the state. Former candidate for lieutenant governor Alison Esposito jumped into the race against Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) last month.
The arrival of more than 100,000 immigrants over the past year in New York City has caused intraparty disputes between local leaders, and both Democrats and Republicans have called on Biden to send more federal assistance.
“Under President Biden and his far-left supporters in Congress, our border is nonexistent,” Esposito, a retired NYPD officer, said. “Each day, more fentanyl and illegal migrants flood our borders, threatening our national security. It is long past due for the president, Secretary Mayorkas, and the so-called border czar Kamala Harris to stop lying to the American people by saying the border is secure and do their job. Enough is enough.”
Earlier this year, Ryan worked alongside Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) in calling on the federal government to declare a state of emergency for New York over the influx of immigrants. Ryan has supported multiple bipartisan actions this year, joining Republicans in calling the current immigrant surge in the state "untenable."
"I’ve been clear since day one: we have a crisis at the border," Ryan said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. "I led a bipartisan call for the President to declare a state of emergency, and am fighting for pragmatic solutions, including allowing asylum seekers to work and bolstering border security to stop the flow of fentanyl into our communities."
The New York Democrat pushed to combat the flow of fentanyl into the nation by advocating pending border legislation to mention fentanyl. The House passed the Stop Chinese Fentanyl Act, written by Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) and co-sponsored by Ryan and several other Democrats, in an effort to hold Chinese officials accountable for the spread of fentanyl in the U.S.
"I served 27 months in combat and know what it means to secure a border, so let’s be clear about what’s happening here: Too many Republicans would rather score political points than get serious about solving the problem," Ryan added.
Ryan, who won the Hudson Valley special election and survived the Republican wave last year, is expected to face another tough race as Republicans eye the seat needed for a stronger GOP majority.
Joe Teirab, a former federal prosecutor and a veteran of the Marine Corps, launched his House bid in October, hoping to unseat Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) in the state’s most competitive congressional district.
“The border crisis doesn’t only impact communities along our southern border, but communities all across the country and Minnesota,” Teirab said. “Angie Craig and Joe Biden have failed the American people by refusing to secure our border and allowing endless flows of illicit fentanyl, methamphetamine, and human trafficking.”
In May, Craig voted against the Secure the Border Act, which passed in the House by 219 to 213 with no Democratic support and two Republicans voting against it.
"I have pushed for orderly, secure, and humane immigration policies, including co-sponsoring the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019, creating a path for permanent residence for individuals within Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA)," Craig states on her campaign site. "I have voted to increase border security funding to ensure an orderly and safe southern border."
Craig first flipped the swing seat in 2018, but this year’s GOP field is filling up as Teirab joins criminal defense lawyer Tayler Rahm and former Lexington Mayor Mike Murphy.
Republican state Rep. Rob Mercuri launched his bid against Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA) in August for what is considered to be the only competitive House seat in the state in the upcoming election.
Mercuri, in his second term in the state House, has been critical of Biden’s leadership and border stance. Speaking in Yuma, Mercuri called out the president and Deluzio, urging Democrats to "wake up and get serious about border security."
“The Biden administration's failure to secure our southern border has created a humanitarian and national security crisis, and Chris Deluzio seems to be ignoring it,” Mercuri said. “As a veteran who fought to protect our country on two tours, what I saw was hard to believe. The open border is allowing drugs and human trafficking and gang and terrorist violence into our country. President Biden and Chris Deluzio need to wake up and get serious about border security.”
In 2022, Deluzio defeated Republican Jeremy Shaffer for the seat in western Pennsylvania in one of the most expensive races in the midterm elections. While Deluzio was slower with fundraising efforts this year initially, the most recent filings show he raised about $459,000 from July 1 through Sept. 30, bringing in significantly more than his two GOP opponents combined. Pittsburgh-area pastor Jim Nelson, a veteran and former law enforcement officer, joins Mercuri in the Republican field.
Last year, immigration did not appear to be a key topic in his campaign. On Thursday, Deluzio joined most of the Democratic Party in voting against the $14 billion in emergency funding for Israel in its war in Gaza that included a supplemental border security funding request.
Retired 17th Circuit Court Judge Joe McGraw is competing in Illinois’s swing district currently held by Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-IL). The former judge has supported building a border wall while also calling for a reformed pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
“I am running for Congress to restore law and order because Joe Biden and Eric Sorensen’s open borders policies have made every single state a border state,” McGraw said. “The scourge of fentanyl and other lethal narcotics is tearing Illinois families apart while everyday citizens are being forced to bear the cost to take care of millions of illegal migrants. It’s wrong and Illinois families deserve someone who is going to fight for them and their safety.”
McGraw's judicial career spanned over 20 years and included acting as a presiding judge over the criminal division and serving as chief judge.
Sorensen has previously said he supports significant immigration reform and wants to help the local communities gain the resources needed to deal with the influx of immigrants.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“We need to make sure that we're solving the crisis at the border,” Sorensen said during an October 2022 debate at Bradley University's Hayden-Clark Alumni Center. “We need to make sure that we know every person that's crossing the border, and we have to secure it. That also means that we're securing the ability for migrant farm workers to achieve the visas that they need.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the campaigns of Craig, Deluzio, and Sorensen for comment.