More than two dozen House Republicans broke with their party on Wednesday to oppose defunding a program that lets those who entered the U.S. illegally as children to stay in the country, a sign of tension within the party on immigration.
A total of 26 GOP lawmakers bucked leadership and voted with Democrats against an amendment to defund Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
{mosads}Many hail from swing districts or districts with large Hispanic populations, and they include many of the House Republicans who have been advocating for the party to tackle immigration reform in a comprehensive way.
Many GOP strategists are worried the amendment could hurt the party in next year’s elections, and the party split, which included several likely Democratic targets for 2016, shows several members agree.
Freshman Reps. Ryan Costello (R-Pa.), Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), Crescent Hardy (R-Nev.), John Katko (R-N.Y.), Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.) and Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) all voted with Democrats on the amendment, as did perennial Democratic targets including Reps. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), Robert Dold (R-Ill.), Chris Gibson (R-N.Y.) and David Valadao (R-Calif.).
The rest of the list features more centrist Republicans from slightly safer districts that have either large Hispanic populations, like Reps. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), or are in more suburban Northeastern and Midwestern territory, like Reps. Pete King (R-N.Y.), Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) and Fred Upton (R-Mich.).
The lone exception who might be taking on more political risk with her vote is Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.), who warded off a challenge from a conservative border hawk in 2014.
The 26 Republicans who voted against the amendment were:
Mark Amodei (Nev.)
Mike Coffman (Colo.)
Ryan Costello (Pa.)
Carlos Curbelo (Fla.)
Jeff Denham (Calif.)
Charlie Dent (Pa.)
Mario Díaz-Balart (Fla.)
Robert Dold (Ill.)
Renee Ellmers (N.C.)
Chris Gibson (N.Y.)
Richard Hanna (N.Y.)
Cresent Hardy (Nev.)
Joe Heck (Nev.)
John Katko (N.Y.)
Pete King (N.Y.)
Adam Kinzinger (Ill.)
Frank LoBiondo (N.J.)
Tom MacArthur (N.J.)
Martha McSally (Ariz.)
Pat Meehan (Pa.)
Devin Nunes (Calif.)
Dave Reichert (Wash.)
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.)
Chris Smith (N.J.)
Fred Upton (Mich.)
David Valadao (Calif.)
— This story was updated at 12:37.