House Democrats on Tuesday rolled out an initial list of 35 Republican-held seats they are targeting next year as the party looks to win control of the chamber.
The list from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee includes traditional swing seats but also districts that Donald Trump carried by up to 18 points in November, underscoring Democrats’ confidence in their chances of flipping the House more than eighteen months out from the midterm elections.
“House Republicans are running scared, and they should be. They’re tanking the economy, gutting Medicaid, abandoning our veterans, and making everything more expensive. In short, they’ve lost the trust of their constituents, and it’s going to cost them the majority,” DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene of Washington said in a statement.
While Democrats lost the White and House and Senate in last year’s elections, they had a net gain of one seat in the House, cutting into Republicans’ narrow majority. The party hopes that sets the scene to flip at least three more seats next year.
“The DCCC is already busy recruiting compelling, authentic candidates in these key districts who will serve their communities, not Elon Musk and Donald Trump,” she added.
Democrats are once again seeking to oust longtime targets such as GOP Reps. David Valadao of California, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Don Bacon of Nebraska. They’re also targeting four freshmen who flipped key seats last year: Michigan’s Tom Barrett, Colorado’s Gabe Evans and Pennsylvania’s Rob Bresnahan Jr. and Ryan Mackenzie.
But the party is also looking to expand its reach into districts that weren’t considered competitive last year. Those include Iowa’s 2nd District, where Republican Ashley Hinson won reelection by 16 points last year and voters backed Trump by 10 points, according to calculations by elections analyst Drew Savicki. Also on the list are Ohio’s 15th District represented by Republican Mike Carey, which Trump won by 9 points; and Kentucky’s 6th District, which Trump won by 15 points and whose GOP congressman, Andy Barr, is considering a Senate run this cycle.
That bullishness follows a pair of special elections for deep-red House seats in Florida last week, in which Democrats’ cut their losing margins by roughly half from November. Party officials have also sharply criticized Trump’s new tariff policies over the past week, which looks poised to be a significant messaging line in the midterm campaign.
Kentucky Rep. Morgan McGarvey, a recruitment co-chair at the DCCC, cited that overperformance in Florida as a reason for the committee’s “aggressive” list of targets, while also pointing to the high turnout at town halls and rallies from voters angry at the Trump administration.
“We are ready to turn this anger into action and take back the House, and that starts with recruiting highly qualified candidates who are ready to win tough races,” he said in a statement.
Last month, the DCCC named 26 Democratic incumbents to its Frontline program for vulnerable members. That list heavily overlaps with the targeted members rolled out by the National Republican Congressional Committee last month.
The NRCC dismissed Tuesday’s list of targeted seats, pointing to Democrats’ record-low favorability ratings.
“It’s a week after April Fool’s Day, but the DCCC is still joking around with this laughable list in a pathetic attempt to distract voters from their party’s terrible approval ratings,” committee spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement. “Voters aren’t buying it, and they know Democrats are too extreme, too unpopular, and totally out of touch.”
Here’s the full list of Republican members included in the DCCC’s “Districts in Play” for 2026:
- Nick Begich of Alaska’s at-large district
- David Schweikert of Arizona’s 1st District
- Eli Crane of Arizona’s 2nd
- Juan Ciscomani of Arizona’s 6th
- David Valadao of California’s 22nd
- Young Kim of California’s 40th
- Ken Calvert of California’s 41st
- Gabe Evans of Colorado’s 8th
- Cory Mills of Florida’s 7th
- Anna Paulina Luna of Florida’s 13th
- María Elvira Salazar of Florida’s 27th
- Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa’s 1st
- Ashley Hinson of Iowa’s 2nd
- Zach Nunn of Iowa’s 3rd
- Andy Barr of Kentucky’s 6th
- Bill Huizenga of Michigan’s 4th
- Tom Barrett of Michigan’s 7th
- Open; Michigan’s 10th District
- Ann Wagner of Missouri’s 2nd
- Don Bacon of Nebraska’s 2nd
- Thomas H. Kean Jr. of New Jersey’s 7th
- Mike Lawler of New York’s 17th
- Max Miller of Ohio’s 7th
- Michael R. Turner of Ohio’s 10th
- Mike Carey of Ohio’s 15th
- Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania’s 1st
- Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania’s 7th
- Rob Bresnahan Jr. of Pennsylvania’s 8th
- Scott Perry of Pennsylvania’s 10th
- Andy Ogles of Tennessee’s 5th
- Monica De La Cruz of Texas’ 15th
- Rob Wittman of Virginia’s 1st
- Jen Kiggans of Virginia’s 2nd
- Bryan Steil of Wisconsin’s 1st
- Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin’s 3rd
The post House Democrats unveil 35 Republican targets for 2026 midterms appeared first on Roll Call.
