Democrats Target Five Trump-Won Seats With Veterans

House Democrats' campaign arm added five candidates to its "Red to Blue" program on Thursday, expanding its target list to 37 races as the party tries to retake the House.

President Trump carried every one of the five districts in 2024, according to the Washington Examiner.

The new additions are Leela Gray in Florida's 13th District, Zach Dembo in Kentucky's 6th, Matt Dunlap in Maine's 2nd, Nancy Lacore in South Carolina's 1st and Tom Perriello in Virginia's 5th.

Political Wire, citing MS NOW, reported that three of the recruits are veterans — including a former Navy admiral fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — as the Iran war grinds past the six-month mark and Democrats bet military credentials will travel in hostile territory.

The Districts

Four of the five seats are rated "likely Republican" by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report; one is rated "solid Republican."

In Virginia's 5th, former Rep. Tom Perriello faces Rep. John McGuire, a Navy SEAL, in a sprawling Charlottesville-to-Lynchburg district Trump won by more than 12 points — the steepest climb of the group.

In Kentucky's 6th, Democrats see an opening because Rep. Andy Barr is likely to become the state's next senator and is not running for re-election. Trump won the Lexington-area seat by 15 points in 2024 and Barr carried it by 27. Dembo, a veteran, former policy adviser to Gov. Andy Beshear and a former federal prosecutor at the Justice Department, faces former state Sen. Ralph Alvarado.

In Florida's 13th, Gray takes on Rep. Anna Paulina Luna in a Tampa Bay-area seat that did not change substantially in Florida's redistricting session earlier this year. Trump won it by 13 points in 2024 after winning it by 7 in 2020 — the kind of swing Democrats say makes it live in a good year.

In Maine's 2nd, Dunlap is trying to hold retiring Rep. Jared Golden's seat against former Gov. Paul LePage, who carried the sprawling northern Maine district in all three of his runs for governor. Trump won the seat by about 9 points.

In South Carolina's 1st, Rep. Nancy Mace's seat came open after her failed run for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Lacore, a Navy veteran, faces Charleston County Councilwoman Jenny Honeycutt in a district Trump won by roughly 13 points.