As the federal government shutdown drags on, a potentially pivotal group of House Republicans has entered the spotlight: the roughly 20 or so members who have publicly signaled their support for a so-called clean spending bill that would provide the funding necessary to reopen the government without strings attached.
There are various tallies of how many members fall into this camp. Our best estimate, based on recent statements and the lists compiled by several media outlets [here, here and here] is 21.
So what unites the 21 congressmen who are willing to break with GOP leadership?
First, there's a regional connection: Most hail from the Northeast, Virginia or Florida — in other words, some of the more politically competitive (or least Republican) turf in the nation.
In addition, more than half of these congressional Republicans represent districts with above-average percentages of government employees.
The recent electoral history in many of these seats suggests they're the kinds of places where a tough primary challenge is less of a threat than a tough general election fight — which isn't the case for the bulk of the House GOP.
All of the congressmen advanced through their primary elections comfortably in 2012 — in fact, more than half had no primary opposition at all.
Here's a list of the Republicans who would support a "clean" spending bill, and some background on how their congressional districts voted in recent elections:
Rep. Tim Griffin (Arkansas 2)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 55
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 55%
Percentage of Government Workers: 20
Rep. Mike Coffman (Colorado 6)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 49
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Obama 52%
Percentage of Government Workers: 12
Rep. Bill Young (Florida 13)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 58
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: 69
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Obama 50%
Percentage of Government Workers: 11
Rep. Dennis Ross (Florida 15)*
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 53%
Percentage of Government Workers: 14
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (Florida 25)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 76
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 51%
Percentage of Government Workers: 10
Rep. Erik Paulsen (Minnesota 3)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 58
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: 90
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Obama 50%
Percentage of Government Workers: 9
Rep. Frank LoBiondo (New Jersey 2)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 58
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: 87
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Obama 54%
Percentage of Government Workers: 17
Rep. Jon Runyan (New Jersey 3)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 54
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Obama 52%
Percentage of Government Workers: 19
Rep. Peter King (New York 2)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 59
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Obama 52%
Percentage of Government Workers: 17
Rep. Mike Grimm (New York 11)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 53
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Obama 52%
Percentage of Government Workers: 19
Rep. Richard Hanna (New York 22)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 61
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: 71
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 49%
Percentage of Government Workers: 20
Rep. Walter Jones (North Carolina 3)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 63
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: 69
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 58%
Percentage of Government Workers: 22
Rep. Tom Cole (Oklahoma 4)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 68
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: 88
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 67%
Percentage of Government Workers: 22
Rep. Jim Gerlach (Pennsylvania 6)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 57
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 51%
Percentage of Government Workers: 9
Rep. Patrick Meehan (Pennsylvania 7)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 59
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 50%
Percentage of Government Workers: 10
Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (Pennsylvania 8)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 57
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 49%
Percentage of Government Workers: 9
Rep. Charles Dent (Pennsylvania 15)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 57
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 51%
Percentage of Government Workers: 10
Rep. Rob Wittman (Virginia 1)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 56
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 49%
Percentage of Government Workers: 24
Rep. Scott Rigell (Virginia 2)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 54
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Obama 50%
Percentage of Government Workers: 22
Rep. Frank Wolf (Virginia 10)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 59
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 50%
Percentage of Government Workers: 19
Rep. Dave Reichert (Washington 8)
2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 60
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: 51
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Obama 50%
Percentage of Government Workers: 16
*Rep. Dennis Ross supports a one-year continuing resolution that funds the government at sequestration spending levels.
Election data from the CQ Voting and Elections Collection. Government worker data from the 2011 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.
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