NBC’s Chuck Todd said Wednesday that Democrats could gain “40 to 60 seats” in the House this November if they have a performance like the one they had in Ohio’s special election.
“This is why Democrats are now heavy favorites to take control of the House,” Todd, the host of “Meet The Press,” said on “Today.” “I think the question is, really, the size. Is it 30 seats, 40 seats, 50 seats? They have a night like this, like they did in Ohio, they could win 40 to 60 seats.”
{mosads}His comments come as Republican candidate Troy Balderson holds a slim lead over Democrat Danny O’Connor in Ohio’s 12th District — a district that President Trump won by more than 10 points in the 2016 presidential election.
To back his assessment, Todd noted that Republicans spent more than $3 million on this race and deployed Trump to the state to help energize Balderson’s election effort.
“They can’t do that in 435 districts at the same time in November,” he said, also adding that Democrats had not targeted the race in a similar way Republicans did.
On Tuesday, Trump declared victory for Balderson, who led O’Connor 50.2–49.3 percent with 100 percent of the precincts reporting. But more than 3,300 provisional ballots had yet to be counted, leaving the outcome unknown.
The district has been in Republican control for almost four decades. But O’Connor’s performance has fueled optimism about the Democrats’ prospects in this year’s midterms. Democrats need a net gain of 23 seats to regain the House in November.
“This gives me optimism,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said on CNN’s “New Day” on Wednesday. “Not only about this seat but about other House seats, the U.S. senate, and governor’s races.”