Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL 8th District) joined Cheddar News to discuss the Democrats' chances in the upcoming midterms.

<div class="block">Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill. 8th District) joined Cheddar News to discuss the Democrats' chances in the upcoming midterms.</div><div class="block">“I think that we have to take these midterms very seriously and in my case, I've been knocking on a lot of doors meeting a lot of constituents as well as their dogs,” he told anchor Hena Doba.</div>

Cheddar's News Wrap

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi on Democrats' Chances in the Midterm Elections

ahead of midterms. News rap is featuring candidates running for office and various races across the country. We're proud to say joining us now is Representative Rosa Krishnamurti who is up for reelection in Illinois, the eighth congressional district congressman. Welcome to the show. Such a pleasure to have you on. It's no secret, as I was mentioning that democrats face an uphill battle in the house. So what's the mood in the party in the run up to the oh, so important midterm next week? I think it's cautious but realistic and I think there's a real sense that the races are tightening. Um I think we always knew that they would be tight in the midterm and now, you know, we're getting to the final six days 12 if you don't sleep and there's not a lot of sleeping going on and a lot of campaigns and I think people are just trying to make sure we get out the vote and make sure we have a good election day. I was gonna say, I don't think you and your team are probably getting much sleep. Your suburban Chicago district was redrawn to be slightly more Republican. Are you concerned about redistricting and how it might affect your race? And of course the midterms as a whole. Oh sure. I think that we have to take these midterms very seriously and in my case, I've been knocking on a lot of doors meeting a lot of constituents as well as their dogs, henna. There are a lot of dogs in my congressional district and um, I've been trying to talk about the issues that really matter to them. Everything from. Um you know, I've been, I had an opportunity to usher hundreds of thousands of dollars to our local police departments to help to fight crime and increase public safety, but also to talking about my views on inflation and fighting high gas prices as well as protecting women's reproductive rights and lowering gun violence. I think all of those issues are in the mix when I talk to voters and we have to make sure that we make our best closing argument to them about why they should give us a contract extension in Congress. As you well know, congressman, the governor race in Illinois is gaining national attention. Are you concerned at all that Republican challenger, Darren bailey could out governor JB Pritzker? No, I'm not concerned. I think Governor Pritzker is gonna win. He's gonna win uh with double digits, but the margin does matter and I do think that uh we need to make sure everyone votes. But you know, in Illinois, I think people, I think this is true of a lot of voters all over the nation. They don't want extremism. They don't want people who take viewpoints like Darren bailey and others which are so outside the mainstream that um you know, voters can't trust them to make the right decisions for their families and that's why I think Governor Pritzker who has really achieved a very solid record of success in his four years in Illinois, is going to get re elected handily. President biden is scheduled to give a speech tonight on protecting democracy. What are you expecting to hear from the president? Days before the midterms? Well, I think that after the attack on paul Pelosi and by the way, I think everybody, probably all your viewers are praying for his speedy recovery as well. After that attack. I think the scourge of political violence reared its ugly head and as you know, when there's political viol, it really shakes the foundations of our democracy. And so I expect the president is going to touch on that issue. How do we as democrats and republicans disagree? But in a way that doesn't result in the kind of nasty rhetoric or violent rhetoric that would lead to the natural result, which is violence. We can't ever have that in our democracy. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, who is up for reelection in Illinois, Eighth congressional District. We hope you come back congressman. Thank you so much for your time