Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) announced Friday that he would donate $500 to six Democrats running for House seats across the country with just days to go before the 2018 midterm elections.
The donations span candidates in six different states who are all hoping to unseat incumbent Republican lawmakers in their districts as Democrats hope to make up a 23-seat gap in the House in next month’s elections to retake the lower chamber.
“I’m sending 500 bucks each today to these super close and super important House races,” Schatz said Friday in a tweet which incorrectly identified one Democrat, Dan McCready, as running in Florida when McCready is actually running in North Carolina.
Schatz’s office did not immediately return a request for comment on the donations. Democrats hold a 10-point advantage against Republicans on a generic ballot for control of the House, according to an NPR/PBS News Hour/Marist poll released Friday.{mosads}
The Hawaii senator, 46, has called in the past for Democratic leadership to do more to support younger members of the party, who he says should take up the mantle of leadership from the party’s aging top brass.
“I think it’s time for a new generation of leaders to emerge. There are a number of my colleagues in the Senate who have great progressive credentials and the ability to appeal to millennials,” he said in 2016, shortly after Hillary Clinton’s election defeat to President Trump.
“I feel very strongly if we want to inspire young people to be part of the winning Democratic coalition, you need to present them with some new talent and new leadership,” he added.