WASHINGTON _ Democratic congressional campaigns have already made health care an early focus of their 2020 messaging, and House Democrats bolstered that effort Wednesday with a symbolic vote that sought to once again put Republicans on record on the issue.
Eight Republicans sided with Democrats on the non-binding resolution, which passed the House 240 to 186. It condemns the Trump administration's support for invalidating the 2010 health care law in its entirety. The Department of Justice, in a new filing last week, backed a Texas judge's decision to strike down the law.
Three Republicans _ New York Reps. Tom Reed and John Katko and Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Kirkpatrick _ had voted in January to authorize the House general counsel to intervene in the lawsuit to defend the health care law. All three also voted for the resolution on Wednesday.
One Democrat _ 15-term Minnesota Rep. Collin C. Peterson _ bucked his party and voted against the resolution. He's one of the last Democrats remaining in the House who opposed the 2010 health care law and is likely the last Democrat who can hold his heavily agricultural 7th District.
Democrats otherwise were united in supporting the resolution, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched positive Facebook ads touting their vulnerable members' votes to "protect families with pre-existing conditions."
Democrats made the Texas lawsuit a key element in last year's health care message. The party attacked GOP House and Senate candidates who had either signed onto the lawsuit, as some attorneys general running for Senate had, or who refused to condemn it.
During the 2018 cycle, Democrats attacked all congressional Republicans for efforts to repeal the 2010 health care law, even members who voted against those attempts on the floor. More than half of the 20 Republicans who opposed the 2017 GOP health care bill are no longer in Congress, with Democrats having defeated four of them.
Democrats credit that health care message with helping them gain 40 seats in the House in November. Texas Rep. Colin Allred, one of those freshman Democrats who defeated a longtime GOP incumbent last fall, introduced this week's non-binding resolution.
After last year's losses, some Republicans have been worried about being on defense on health care again heading into 2020. Talk of a renewed effort to craft a GOP replacement plan worried some operatives who wanted to keep the focus on Democrats' own debate over "Medicare for All." But President Donald Trump's suggestion on Monday that the party would wait until after the 2020 elections to vote on a replacement plan alleviated some of those concerns.
Still, the renewed popularity of the 2010 health care law _ especially provisions about protecting people with pre-existing conditions _ was enough for eight Republicans to support Wednesday's resolution. One Republican _ Ohio freshman Rep. Anthony Gonzalez _ voted present. Gonzalez said in a statement that his vote was in protest of the symbolic vote.
Below are the Republicans who voted for the resolution:
Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick had voted against GOP effort to repeal much of the Affordable Care Act in 2017, and is a top target for Democrats in 2020. He is one of three remaining Republican lawmakers running for reelection in a district that backed Hillary Clinton in 2016 (Clinton would have won the 1st District by 2 points if the new Pennsylvania congressional lines had been in place that year).
Fitzpatrick, who often touts his role in the Problem Solvers Caucus, was reelected to a second term in 2018 by 3 points. Inside Elections rates his 2020 reelection race Tilts Republican.
New York Rep. John Katko
Katko is another one of the three Republicans left serving in a district Clinton won in 2016. (The third GOP lawmaker in a Clinton district, Texas Rep. Will Hurd, voted against the resolution on Wednesday.) Clinton carried the 24th District, anchored in Syracuse, by 5 points. Katko defeated activist and visiting professor Dana Balter by 5 points in 2018. Inside Elections rates his race Lean Republican.
New York Rep. Tom Reed
Reed, a leader of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, has broken with his party on a handful of votes relating to the government shutdown at the start of the year. He told Roll Call after the Wednesday vote that he was concerned about his party's position on health care heading into 2020.
"Hopefully, maybe, this puts a marker down with our leadership and with the Republican Party in the House and Senate, as well as across the country, that we owe it to the American people to show in black and white how we're going to fix health care," Reed said.
The DCCC is not targeting Reed, who won reelection by 8 points in 2018.
Trump carried Reed's district, which stretches along the border with Pennsylvania, by 15 points in 2018. Reed's 2018 opponent, cybersecurity expert Tracy Mitrano, is running again. Inside Elections rates the race Solid Republican.
Virginia Rep. Denver Riggleman
The Virginia freshman belongs to the Freedom Caucus and represents a district that Trump carried by 11 points in 2016. He carried the 5th District by nearly 7 points last fall, defeating Democrat Leslie Cockburn in a race that got some national attention. Democrats are not targeting him in 2020. Inside Elections rates his race Solid Republican.
Michigan Rep. Fred Upton
Upton is the former chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee and he was a key player in the party's efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act in the last Congress. Upton, whose suburban district Trump won by 8 points in 2016, is once again a Democratic target. Upton won reelection by less than 5 points in 2016. Inside Elections rates the race Likely Republican.
New Jersey Rep. Christopher H. Smith
Smith is the only remaining Republican representing New Jersey, after Democrats flipped four seats in the Garden State from red to blue in 2018. Smith voted against the GOP health care plan in 2017. He also broke with his party on the tax overhaul, along with other lawmakers from high-tax states. Smith is not a DCCC target and is running for reelection in a district Trump carried by 15 points in 2016. Inside Elections rates his race Solid Republican.
Minnesota Rep. Pete Stauber
The freshman flipped a longtime Democratic district in northeast Minnesota that Trump had carried by 16 points in 2016. It's a largely white, working-class district, where Trump's populist appeal resonated. The former Duluth police officer ran a campaign ad last year about his son, who has Down syndrome, and he talked about the importance of insurance companies covering pre-existing conditions. Democrats are not targeting this seat in 2020. Inside Elections rates the race Likely Republican.
New York Rep. Elise Stefanik
Stefanik has bucked her party and Trump on a number of occasions, including recently voting to block Trump's declaration of a national emergency on the southern border. In the last Congress, she supported the party's effort to repeal much of the 2010 health care law. But Stefanik opposed the GOP tax overhaul. Stefanik is not listed as a DCCC target this cycle, and she won reelection to a third term by 14 points in 2018. Inside Elections rates her reelection Solid Republican.
