With the midterm elections now in focus, both political parties see the House as where power will be decided in two years, NBC News reported on Saturday.
President-elect Donald Trump’s win in November also gave the GOP down ballot victories in maintaining a narrow margin in the House and flipping the Senate Republican. The margin of victory was so segmented, both parties see 2026 as an opportunity to expand, in the case of Republicans, or flip in the case of Democrats.
National Republican Congressional Committee’s chairman, Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., told the outlet there are more than a dozen Democrats in districts that Trump carried compared to only three Republicans in districts that Vice President Kamala Harris won. “So that tells me we’re going on offense,” Hudson said.
Yet Democrats see the 2024 map as telling a different story. Republicans only hold a five vote majority in the House at 220 to 215, leaving no margin for error when it comes to building a conservative coalition. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s chairwoman, Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., said the tight race shows the Democrats message is resonating.
“I think we got our message out to voters. We need to do more. Clearly, I want to make sure that we have the gavels,” she said in a phone interview. “But I think we did a lot of things right in a tough environment across the country because we connected with voters.”
Conservative strategists have warned not to take the 2026 midterms lightly reminding GOP leadership the Democrats have already impeached Trump twice and will almost certainly try again if they control the House. Steve Bannon, who served in the first Trump administration, said Democrats will pour billions into flipping the House solely for that purpose.
"Hakeem Jeffries could be, will be, the speaker of the House in two years," Bannon said. "And the first thing he will do in the early days of 2027 is move to impeach Donald Trump. Trust me. They're gonna put $10 billion in back of him.”
DelBene and other Democrat Party strategists will look to a more independent brand of candidate that has won in a Trump district. Rep. Tom Suozzi, D, N.Y., is one such candidate and said his constituents know him as well as he knows them. “And I know that Donald Trump’s not going to be on the top of the ticket in 2026 and midterms are often very different. And whatever happens, I’ll be prepared,” he added.