It was post-election 2016: The recounts had just concluded, and the numbers weren’t encouraging for Pennsylvania Democrats. Though they had tried to run their candidates in most legislative districts, they ended up losing two more seats in the state House, increasing the already-large Republican majority.
The director of Pennsylvania’s House Democratic Campaign Committee called a meeting with his team and members of the state House Democratic leadership to talk about tackling the GOP 39-seat advantage.
It was time for a full-court press, said director Nathan Davidson, shaping the party’s 2018 electoral strategy around a sports metaphor. They should hit the ground now, he said, tapping into grassroots energy to run candidates in every single state House race they could.
“This has to be our strategy,” Mr. Davidson recalled saying in the meeting. “Otherwise, how are we going to hold Republicans accountable?”
“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take,” he said.
After a full-court press, Democrats are fielding 56% of state House candidates