Democrats are growing more bullish on their midterm prospects and plan to target even more Republican-held House districts in November, NBC News reported Thursday.
In their push to take back the House, the minority party will now take aim at 101 seats held by the GOP, according to NBC. That marks the largest number of targets in a decade and goes well beyond districts that Democrat Hillary Clinton won in 2016, the report said.
The development comes even as Republicans have seen a recovery in national polls that ask people which party they would rather support in a congressional election. The Democrats' lead in recent so-called generic ballots has fallen to about 6 percentage points, from about 13 points at the end of last year, according to a FiveThirtyEight estimate.
Democrats saw their prospects rise last year amid opposition to President Donald Trump and GOP health care and tax plans. But Republicans recently have tried to leverage a strong economy, companies' responses to the new tax law and resistance to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to lift their fortunes in the coming election.
Still, information at the congressional district level does not look as promising for Republicans as recent trends in the generic ballot. On Thursday, Cook Political Report changed its ratings for 21 House races — all shifting toward Democrats.
Cook notes that 39 House GOP incumbents were outraised by a Democratic challenger in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Republicans hold a 238 to 193 seat majority in the House, with four current vacancies. That means Democrats need to pick up 25 GOP seats to take over the House. According to NBC News' count, at least 20 Republican incumbents have said they will retire this year.