Suzan DelBene leads Democrats' push to win back the House

Anumita Kaur, The Seattle Times on Jul 21, 2026

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Suzan DelBene of Medina spent a late September Friday in Seattle raising money for Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, the Democratic incumbent vying for a third term representing rural — and heavily Republican — Southwest Washington.

About a month later, according to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, DelBene was in Chicago, supporting a slate of Midwestern House Democrats in competitive districts: Reps. Emilia Sykes and Marcy Kaptur, of Ohio, and Kristen McDonald Rivet, of Michigan.

The early fundraisers illustrate DelBene's key role in this year's fierce battle for the U.S. House of Representatives. Since becoming chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2023, she has steered the party's House campaign arm overseeing candidate recruitment, strategy and fundraising as Democrats seek to win back the chamber in November.

Now, months ahead of the consequential midterm elections, DelBene and her committee are advising candidates to focus on affordability, arguing that President Donald Trump's tariffs, military actions and broader economic policies have wreaked havoc on Americans' cost of living.

The No. 1 issue across the country is affordability, and it's absolutely the No. 1 issue across all of our battleground districts, both where we are on defense and on offense," DelBene said in a May interview. "The president has decided that, while families are struggling across the country, he needs a billion dollars for a ballroom."

As of July, the committee considers 72 House districts nationwide to be battlegrounds worthy of investments, including Washington state's Southwest 3rd Congressional District. Democrats need a net gain of three seats to reclaim a House majority.

According to DelBene, Democrats are on track to do just that.

Of those districts, 26 are held by Democratic incumbents the committee considers particularly vulnerable, like Gluesenkamp Perez. "We call them our front-liners," DelBene said. There are 46 districts in play, "where we believe we can flip seats."

“Everything we do is focused on holding seats that are competitive that we have today — and that Republicans are targeting — and flipping competitive red seats to blue," she said.

Part of that work is helping candidates craft their messages, communicate them effectively, then raise money needed to compete. "These House races every two years are tens of millions of dollars," DelBene said.

The scale of that effort is reflected in fundraising totals. Washington state's 3rd District alone is approaching $10 million in candidates' fundraising: Gluesenkamp Perez has raised more than $6 million, according to federal filings. Her Republican opponent, state Sen. John Braun, has nearly $2 million.

The national committee last month reported a total of $182 million raised for the midterm cycle so far, with $73 million cash on hand — funds that will be funneled into the battlefield districts across the nation through means like major advertisement purchases.

Democratic leaders have cast their effort to retake the House as an existential imperative to check Trump amid ongoing debates about the cost of living, immigration and foreign conflicts. Rep. Adam Smith, of Bellevue, went further last week, saying that it is time to pursue Trump's removal — an impeachment would require a majority in the House.

Other members of Washington state's congressional delegation are wading into races nationwide as well. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle, celebrated the wins of leftist candidates in New York's congressional primaries and met with democratic socialist Melat Kiros days after Kiros secured a stunning primary win in Colorado. Three of these wins ousted sitting Democrats, inspiring some calls from the left for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to reassess which candidates they elevate.

DelBene dismissed this. "Our focus has not been on the primaries in bright blue districts, but in these swing districts where they're going to decide the majority," she said.

In Washington state, where Trump won the 3rd District in all three of his presidential bids, that means continuing to elevate Gluesenkamp Perez as an independent voice for her community, according to DelBene, whose own district is safely Democratic. Gluesenkamp Perez has frequently diverged from the Democratic Party, such as earlier this year when she voted in favor of a spending package that included the Department of Homeland Security. Months later, she joined Democratic colleagues in a symbolic rebuke of the president's war in Iran.

"Washington 3, Southwest Washington, is very much a very tough seat, very much a swing district," DelBene said. "She has absolutely been an independent voice for her community, and people respect that. And so that's going to be critical in that district.

There and across the nation, DelBene said Democrats believe swing district voters are looking for candidates who will be critical of the Trump administration rather than serve as loyalists — a message she will reiterate in battleground districts across the country in coming months as campaigns hurtle toward November.