The Hill reports that the House Republican-led government shutdown is helping Democrats recruit candidates.

Well, Democrats would say that. But some swing districts that Republicans now hold certainly are more at risk.

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Is one of them the 2nd District of Arkansas, where Rep. Tim Griffin joined 80 of the most extreme House members in threatening a shutdown if they didn’t get their way on killing the Affordable Care Act and then followed through on that pledge?

Republicans think Saline, Lonoke and Faulkner have gone so far right that the 2nd District is no longer winnable for a Democrat, no matter what happens in Pulaski County.

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Nonetheless, the Hill says:

Democrats expect a candidate to announce a challenge to Rep. Tim Griffin (R-Ark.) soon.

Bill Halter? Former North Little Rock Mayor Pat Hays, who’s surfaced as a party spokesman lately? Former state Rep. Linda Tyler, who could produce some votes in her home Faulkner County and play right into the GOP’s big gender gap? You might be surprised, by the way, at the name recognition a strong mayor accrues over a couple of decades of popular leadership in a city heavily covered by the state’s largest news organizations.

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