Hopium Adds 8 More Candidates To Our "Winning The House" Campaign - LFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's simple - if we win these twelve races we flip the House (updated and corrected)

Greetings all. This morning the DCCC announced its first round of twelve “Red to Blue” candidates, those candidates they are backing to flip Republican districts blue and take back the House this November. Hopium had already endorsed four of these twelve candidates - Jo Mendoza (AZ-6), Christina Bohannan (IA-1), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), and Janelle Stelson (PA-10).

Today we are adding the remaining eight new Red to Bluers to our “Winning The House” campaign:

• Jonathan Nez (AZ-2)

• Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-3)

• Sean McCann (MI-4)

• Jamie Ager (NC-11)

• Chaz Molder (TN-5)

• Shannon Taylor (VA-1)

• Elaine Luria (VA-2)

• Rebecca Cooke (WI-3)

With this single link your contribution will now be split twelve ways and help all these courageous candidates win. You can learn more about each of the eight below (I am using the DCCC’s write up today). We will have links to give to each candidate individually ready to go soon.

As of today the DCCC is reviewing opportunities in forty four potential “red to blue” districts, districts they are calling “districts in play.” What traditionally happens each cycle is that as candidates prove themselves worthy, and win their primaries, they will keep adding to their “Red to Blue” program. So this is just the first wave. More will follow.

A previous version of this post was sent earlier today. It had a few mistakes, and this version is both updated and corrected. Sorry everyone!

Last cycle the Hopium community raised $2.3m for 16 “Red to Blue” candidates, and 7 of these candidates won their races in a tough cycle and went on to become Members of Congress. We kicked off our House fundraising this cycle with a campaign to ensure those 7 returned, and the good news is that today in the Cook Report rankings all 7 are “Lean Blue” or better, meaning they are now favored to win their races this November.

Between our two campaigns - the Hopium House 7 for our incumbents, and our “Winning The House” campaign - we’ve raised close to $500,000 for battleground House candidates this cycle. With the addition of these eight new candidates I’m increasing our March 31st goal “Winning The House” goal from $250,000 to $400,000. Are you with me?

For here’s the most important bit of news in all this - if we win these twelve races the House will flip - period. So we need to be all in now, and give these great candidates the early resources that will allow them to staff up, get loud, withstand all that is going to be thrown at them, and win this November.

As I wrote this morning with the Texas primary coming next week the 2026 election is really now here, upon us. People are voting. Money is being spent. And in the House we are now on offense, and have the races in our sights we need to flip the House this fall. Do what you can to support these wonderful candidates today. Share our “Winning The House” campaign through your networks and ask folks to join in. We hope to bring all twelve candidates on to talk to us before the end of March so you can meet them and get to know the team that is going to put the House of Representatives back in the hands of the people, not the oligarchs.

It’s an exciting day. Please chip in whatever you can, and keep working hard all. The momentum is with us, and we need to working as hard as we can - Simon

The 8 New Candidates For Our Winning The House Campaign

AZ-02 – Jonathan Nez
Former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez was born and raised in Northern Arizona and has spent his life putting people before politics. Growing up on his family’s ranch without running water or electricity, Jonathan learned the values of hard work, responsibility, and community. He brought those lessons with him as President of the Navajo Nation, where he worked with his Republican Vice President to get things done for rural Arizona. Jonathan is running for Congress to give rural Arizonans a real seat at the table, cut through the noise, and deliver real results — not play party politics. As the 2024 Democratic nominee, Jonathan significantly overperformed statewide Democratic candidates — at the same time Republican Eli Crane significantly underperformed the top of the ticket.

IA-03 – Sarah Trone Garriott
Sarah Trone Garriott is a mom and a Lutheran minister who has spent her life serving her community — as a hospital chaplain, a pastor, a leader at the Des Moines Area Religious Council Food Pantry Network, and now a State Senator. Sarah successfully flipped a Republican-held seat in the Iowa State Senate in 2020; then she took on the Republican State Senate president in 2022 and won before going on to defend her Trump-won seat again in 2024. Sarah has always stood up for hardworking Iowans and will fight to lower costs, protect health care, and make life more affordable for families like hers. While Zach Nunn works for his party bosses and special interests, Sarah works for Iowa.

MI-04 – Sean McCann
Born and raised in Michigan where he is now raising his family, Sean McCann has dedicated his career to giving back to his community: as a nonprofit leader, State Representative, and now a State Senator after flipping a Republican-held seat. For Sean, public service is about problem solving and helping Michigan families achieve the American dream. Sean worked across the aisle to pass bipartisan Medicaid expansion and delivered the largest tax cut in Michigan history. Bill Huizenga has gotten rich in Congress while siding with his billionaire backers over Michigan families but Sean has never forgotten who he works for. In a district that voted for Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Sean is the exact kind of leader to cut through the chaos and get results for Southwest Michigan.

NC-11 – Jamie Ager
A proud son of Western North Carolina and fourth-generation farmer, Jamie Ager grew up on his family farm, Hickory Nut Gap. Together, he and his wife built his family farm into a successful, sustainable small business. Jamie has never hesitated to help his neighbors. After Hurricane Helene, Jamie opened up his home and his farm to make sure those in need had a safe place to stay and food to eat — and when the time came, Jamie helped his neighbors repair their homes with his very own hands while Chuck Edwards abandoned North Carolinians. Jamie knows the value of hard work and community, and he’s ready to bring those principles to Congress.

TN-05 – Chaz Molder
Chaz Molder is a native son of Middle Tennessee. Chaz was elected as the mayor of his hometown of Columbia, a city that voted for Donald Trump by double digits,in 2018 defeating an incumbent Republican to become the youngest mayor in his city’s 200+ year history. Since then, Chaz has delivered for his community, revitalizing downtown Columbia, investing in public safety, and prioritizing community engagement all while passing a balanced budget without increasing property taxes. Chaz knows what it takes to win in tough places — he’s done it twice before while Andy Ogles has never faced a strong challenger in his career. Now, Chaz is ready to win again and bring Middle Tennessee values to Congress.

VA-01 – Shannon Taylor
As Henrico’s top prosecutor, Shannon Taylor has made it her mission to protect and defend Virginia families. With a 90% conviction rate in homicide cases, Shannon has a record of holding accountable anyone who tries to harm her community. A native of Charlottesville and graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Richmond Law School, she began her career as a prosecutor in Richmond before serving as a Special Assistant in the U.S. Attorney’s office. In 2011, she flipped the Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office from Republican to Democrat, becoming the first woman elected to the role and the first Democrat in nearly 40 years. She has since been reelected three times, proving she knows how to win tough races. Now Shannon is continuing her mission to defend Virginians, this time taking on nearly 20-year incumbent Rob Wittman who has exploded his personal net worth while in office and left hardworking Virginians behind.

VA-02 – Elaine Luria
Elaine Luria knows what service looks like. At only 17 years old, Elaine wanted to be a part of something bigger than herself so she joined the Navy, where she served for 20 years as a Surface Warfare Officer and nuclear engineer. Before retiring as a Commander, Elaine deployed six times to the Middle East and Western Pacific serving on destroyers, carriers, and ultimately as the Commanding Officer of a combat-ready unit of 400 sailors. Elaine continued her service in Congress representing Coastal Virginia for four years, where she passed legislation to provide three cost-of-living increases for our veterans, lower health care and prescription drug costs, and led the most significant expansion of veterans’ health care in our lifetime — the PACT Act. Now, Elaine is answering the call to serve once again because Jen Kiggans has repeatedly broken her promises to Virginians and put her party bosses over the veterans and hardworking families she swore she would protect.

WI-03 – Rebecca Cooke
Rebecca Cooke is a 6th generation Wisconsinite who worked and grew up on a dairy farm in Eau Claire, raised with the values of service and hard work. As a small business owner and nonprofit leader — and now as a waitress — Rebecca has spent her life building community and serving others. She understands the experiences of working families because she’s lived them, and she believes we need more working-class voices in Congress. Rebecca is running to better serve communities across Wisconsin, put people first, and provide more opportunities for success, and she will be a relentless fighter for the Western Wisconsin way of life. While Derrick Van Orden thinks he’s better than the people he represents, no one fights harder for Wisconsin families and farmers than Rebecca. Following her overperformance in this Trump district last cycle, Rebecca is the candidate to flip this seat and bring Wisconsin values to Congress.

We can do this people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!