Anti-socialism push can flip battlegrounds, Republican leader bets as party fights to hold House

EXCLUSIVE: AUBURN, Maine — House Speaker Mike Johnson decisively insisted Republicans will buck long-standing, cyclical election trends and hold their congressional majority in November's midterms.

"I'm absolutely convinced we're going to defy the historic trend and keep and grow the House majority for Republicans," the five-term GOP lawmaker from Louisiana said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital this week as he stopped in a crucial House district the GOP aims to flip.

The party in power in Washington, D.C., traditionally faces political headwinds in the midterms and loses congressional seats. This year, that could be the downfall of the GOP, which has slim majorities in both the House and Senate. Meanwhile, Republicans are also facing a rough political climate thanks to persistent inflation, what polls indicate is an unpopular war in Iran and President Donald Trump's underwater approval ratings.

But Johnson says the high-profile primary battle between the far-left and the Democratic establishment, for a party already suffering from all-time low favorable ratings, is political ammunition for Republicans.

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"The Democrats are in almost an open civil war right now," Johnson emphasized to Fox News Digital. "You see communists actually running for Congress, Marxists are inside the gate."

Johnson, who is crisscrossing the country on a barnstorming tour, argued that the midterms will be a choice election rather than a referendum on Trump's second term and congressional Republicans.

"America is not down for that," Johnson said in reference to left-wing Democrats. "I'm so grateful we have common sense on the ballot. This really is a contrast election between commonsense candidates... and crazy, and that's what the other side represents."

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Last week, as first reported by Fox News Digital, Johnson launched a new website highlighting the contrast between Democrats and Republicans.

The name for the initiative is "Contrast for America," a play on the Newt Gingrich-led "Contract with America" GOP policy platform used during the 1994 midterm election, when Republicans recaptured the House thanks to a massive red wave.

Johnson was interviewed as he teamed up in Maine's 2nd Congressional District with former two-term GOP Gov. Paul LePage, the party's congressional nominee for the open seat Democrats currently hold.

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The mostly rural district, the largest in the eastern U.S., was carried by LePage in his statewide races, and by Trump in his three presidential campaigns. And with four-term moderate Democratic Rep. Jared Golden passing on a re-election run, Republicans see the seat as a top pickup opportunity.

"We're going to flip a blue seat red here," Johnson predicted. "This district matters very much to us, and that's why I'm here."

The speaker touted that LePage is "one of the greatest candidates that's been recruited nationwide. Everyone in the state knows him and respects him. He's a two-term governor with a great life story...He brings a great skill set, a great life story, a great set of experiences to Congress."

LePage will face off in the general election against Democratic nominee Matt Dunlap, the current state auditor and former longtime Maine secretary of state.

The former governor called Dunlap, who enjoys support from progressive leaders and groups, "too, too far to the left."

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Dunlap doesn't think the strategy to paint him as a radical will work because such "associations" don't matter to voters.

"My priorities actually resonate with everyone. It's not necessarily progressive or conservative or moderate," Dunlap recently told Fox News Digital.

Johnson's stops in Maine, at Auburn Concrete and later at a nearby fundraiser, are part of a coast-to-coast swing taking him to crucial House races in 18 states.

Highlighting the "highest quality candidates I think that we've had in a long, long time," Johnson said he was "very, very bullish about our prospects."

Democrats don't see it that way, and they spotlight the continued high prices facing Americans.

"Everything is too damn expensive because of House Republicans, and the American people are eager to vote them out of office over their broken promises," Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Viet Shelton told Fox News Digital.

Shelton argued, "While Democrats are running on a platform to lower costs, Mike Johnson’s decision to double down behind a class of awful, scandal-plagued, weak candidates running lackluster campaigns who cheerlead his price-hiking agendas highlights how bleak their midterm chances are."

But Johnson stands by his prediction, reiterating, "We're going to grow the majority."

"I'm not going to give a specific number, but I am very bullish about the outcome on election night," he said.