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After a winter of discontent, national Democrats are rallying their faithful, announcing they are targeting 35 Republican members of the U.S House for defeat in 2026.

One of the seats now carrying a bull’s-eye on its back is that of U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, a Town and Country Republican who has represented Missouri’s Second District since 2013.

The move against the representatives is being orchestrated on a national level.

Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said “House Republicans are running scared, and they should be. In short ... it’s going to cost them the majority,� she said.

The GOP now holds a 220-213 edge in the House.

Locally, the drive is being promoted by Spencer Toder, who ran unsuccessfully in 2022 in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate.

Toder has been at the forefront of the move against Wagner, including the organizing of a recent town hall meeting — a move orchestrated in other targeted districts nationwide.

While billed congenially as “town hall� meetings, the gatherings actually are staged by , which supply invitations to the media, and then summaries and photos after the event.

The groups behind the local move against Wagner are two decidedly Democrat groups: BeHeard Missouri, of which ; and Indivisible ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½.

One such gathering was held last week in Arnold and drew more than 400 people, organizers said.

The fact that Wagner declined an invitation to the event added punch to the charge that she has been unresponsive and unavailable to constituents in recent years.

Toder said her absence “is an abdication of responsibility.�

“If she isn’t willing to protect the people of our district, we will continue to make our voices heard until we replace her with someone who will,� Toder said.

To be sure, the meeting had its fair share of performative politics — including a cut-out figure of Wagner to which some speakers directed their comments.

But theatrics aside, marking Wagner as vulnerable could be construed as wishful thinking — especially when looking at the numbers from her seven ballot wins.

Five of her seven victories, beginning in 2012, have been by double-digit margins.

To start her career, Wagner notched three wins by hefty double-digit margins, garnering 60% of the general election votes in 2012, 64% in 2014 and 58% in 2016.

So, if national Democrat map strategists are identifying vulnerability on Wagner’s part, that view may be focused specifically on two close races she was engaged in more recently.

In 2018, Wagner beat Democrat Cort VanOstran, a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ lawyer, 51% to 47%.

Wagner also was pitted in a close race in November 2020 when she faced state Sen. Jill Schupp.

Schupp was a veteran Missouri legislator with a strong support base in west ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County, not only because of her 12 years in the state Legislature, but also from time served on the Ladue school board and Creve Coeur city council.

But in spite of the stout competition, Wagner ended up pulling 52% percent of the vote, compared to Schupp’s 46%.

And since those close calls in 2018 and 2020, the landscape of Missouri’s congressional districts changed — much to Wagner’s favor.

Thanks to a redistricting that changed congressional boundaries in Missouri, several of the near west ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County suburbs that had begun to trend toward Democrats were moved into the First District.

Those areas — parts of Maryland Heights, Bridgeton, Clayton, Brentwood and Webster Groves — are now represented by U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell.

In exchange, Wagner’s Second District received areas in Franklin and Warren counties, decidedly Republican-leaning territories.

After those boundary changes went into place, Wagner returned to registering double-digits wins in 2022 and 2024.

Her last “W,� this past November against well-known newspaper publisher Ray Hartmann, was a 54.5% to 42.5% win.

Locally, Wagner spokesperson Arthur Bryant said Wednesday that Wagner already has announced her candidacy for 2026.

“She has handily beaten radically liberal (Democratic) candidates before, and she will do it again in 2026,� Bryant said.

As for the national GOP establishment, it is expressing — in no uncertain terms — little concern over the concerted effort to unseat Wagner and other Democrats.

National Republican Congressional Committee Zack Bannon spokesman called Wagner a “stalwart voice for the people of Missouri.�

Said Bannon, “Any pathetic attempt by out-of-touch Democrats will be nothing but an embarrassing waste of money.�