Rep. Jim Himes doesn’t exactly hold in a safe congressional seat. He barely wrested the 4th District from Republican Rep. Chris Shays in 2008 and had a tough contest in 2010.
So perhaps Himes is perfect for his new role at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee helping targeted Democratic incumbents. Himes has been tapped to chair the DCCC’s so-called Frontline Program, an initiative that provides special political and fundraising assistance to the most vulnerable House Democrats.
Himes said he was “honored join the DCCC leadership team” and would “work to elect Democrats from diverse districts across the country.”
It’s the second election cycle in a row that DCCC leaders have turned to a Connecticut Democrat to head up the Frontline Program. In 2010, Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5th District, co-chaired the initiative.
House Republicans used the announcement to signal that Himes’ seat isn’t out of their sights yet. Tory Mazzola, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Himes’ new post shows that he’s “a partisan insider working for his Washington leaders, not Connecticut voters.”