Rep. Devin Nunes is no longer ‘safe’ in his race for re-election, forecaster says

The race for congressional District 22, held by longtime GOP incumbent Devin Nunes, has been downgraded from “safely Republican” to “likely Republican” by a closely watched political forecasting website run by the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.

Sabato’s Crystal Ball, run by University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, cited the enormous amount of money raised by Democratic challenger Andrew Janz as one factor making the race more competitive.

Campaign filings show Janz has raised nearly $1.4 million in the last year, including $600,000 in the month of February alone.

However, Nunes has raised $2.6 million in the same amount of time, giving him over $4.5 million in cash on hand as of this month. He has also outspent Janz at $1.3 million to $783,000.

District 22 is a historically Republican district, the Crystal Ball noted, although one where Donald Trump did worse in 2016 than Mitt Romney did in 2012. It runs from Tulare County north to Clovis and parts of Fresno.

The website predicts Democrats have a 50-50 chance to win enough seats to take control of the House.

This story was originally published April 27, 2018 at 11:16 AM with the headline "Rep. Devin Nunes is no longer ‘safe’ in his race for re-election, forecaster says."