House GOP campaign arm rolls out latest round of candidates in ‘Young Guns’ program

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Wednesday announced the latest round of GOP candidates taking part in the National Republican Congressional Committee’s “Young Guns” program. 

The second round of candidates in the program include Tom Barrett in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, Scott Baugh in California’s 47th Congressional District, Juan Ciscomani in Arizona’s 6th Congressional District, John James in Michigan’s 10th Congressional District, Jen Kiggans in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, Tyler Kistner in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District, Lisa Scheller in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District and Alek Skarlatos in Oregon’s 4th Congressional District. 

“The newest candidates to the list show how we plan to take back the House by holding their Democrat opponents accountable for the disastrous policies we have seen from the One Party Democrat Rule of Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi,” McCarthy said in a statement on Wednesday.

In order to qualify for the Young Guns program, candidates must meet certain fundraising, messaging and communications criteria.

Republicans are on the offensive going into November’s midterm elections. A number of polls show the GOP leading the generic ballot ahead of the midterms. Republicans are aiming to flip at least five seats to take back the majority.

But House Democrats are putting up a fight to defend their narrow majority. Last week, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced that it is adding 12 challengers to its “Red to Blue” program, many of which are in districts that became more favorable to Democrats after the decennial redistricting process.