winnable. how about this? go out here to washington state. there s a district that clinton actually won last year. republican member of congress. he managed to get re-elected. republicans badly wanted him to run for re-election. he s not. huge opportunity there for democrats. see a bunch of them. mentioned dave trott there in michigan. texas, a good seat for republicans to hold on to. 14 points in a wave year, that s the kind of thing that could go. every one of these retirements, it could signal that there s fear on the part of the white house party of a wave coming. it also creates often some very real opportunities for the other party. remember, the number here for democrats is 24. that s the magic number. they need to flip 24 seats and if they can do that, they d win back the house next year. steve, fascinating stuff. all that does is view mind me, it s been way too long since you ve been with us on the broadcast. so we ll take a break. you come over here and join me. steve stick
republicans who say they won t seek re-election is now rising. and this is important. michigan congressman dave trott became the third republican in the last week to announce his retirement. veteran pennsylvania republican congressman charlie dent and congressman dave reikert of washington state announced their decisions last week. this brings the number of open republican house seats to a total of seven so far. and as the democrats reassemble their party after 2016, some see an opening for 2018 when the entire house, of course, is up for election. our national political correspondent steve kornacki is at the big board to talk more about what may be a kind of reverse trump effect on the republican party. hey, steve. hey, brian. yeah, it s true, the names you were just mentioning there like charlie dent, for instance, are names that have a lot of republicans in washington right now trying to defend the house in that midterm. they re on edge. look, people leave the house for
entire house, of course, is up for election. our national political correspondent steve kornacki is at the big board to talk more about what may be a kind of reverse trump effect on the republican party. hey, steve. hey, brian. yeah, it s true, the names you were just mentioning there like charl charlie dent, for instance, are names that have a lot of republicans in washington right now trying to defend the house in that midterm. they re on edge. look, people leave the house for all sorts of reasons, sometimes they try to run for governor, try to run for senates, but what we re looking at here is a very particular type of retirement. these are elected officials you re talking about. members of congress. they ve been in their districts for a while. they re pretty good at getting re-elected. the party wants them there. they re just deciding to leave. these are the kinds of retirements that make political partiy iey iey ies nervous. let s call them pure retirements. sometimes they can s
reverse trump effect on the republican party. hey, steve. hey, brian. yeah, it s true, the names you were just mentioning there like charlie dent, for instance, are names that have a lot of republicans in washington right now trying to defend the house in that midterm. they re on edge. look, people leave the house for all sorts of reasons, sometimes they try to run for governor, try to run for senates, but what we re looking at here is a very particular type of retirement. these are elected officials you re talking about. members of congress. they ve been in their districts for a while. they re pretty good at getting re-elected. the party wants them there. they re just deciding to leave. these are the kinds of retirements that make political parties nervous. let s call them pure retirements. sometimes they can signal these members of congress see a wave coming and want to get out of the way, see their party maybe not going to do well in the midterm election. take a look here, what do
republicans to hold on to. 14 points in a wave year, that s the kind of thing that could go. every one of these retirements, it could signal that there s fear on the part of the white house party of a wave coming. it also creates often some very real opportunities for the other party. remember, the number here for democrats is 24. that s the magic number. they need to flip 24 seats and if they can do that, they d win back the house next year. steve, fascinating stuff. all that does is view mind me, it s been way too long since you ve been with us on the broadcast. so we ll take a break. you come over here and join me. steve sticking with us. more on this kind of reverse trump effect as we continue our conversation when the 11th hour continues right after this.