The Cook Political Report has shifted 18 House races toward Democrats.
Eight races moved from "Likely Democrat" to "Solid Democrat," including the districts represented by Democratic Reps. Hillary Scholten in Michigan, Chris Deluzio in Pennsylvania and Dave Min and Raul Ruiz in California, while seven others moved into "Toss Up" or "Lean Democrat."
Three others shifted from "Solid Republican" to "Likely Republican."
"House Democrats only need to flip three seats to win a majority," analyst Erin Covey wrote in the analysis.
"Even if Democrats lose some of their own members defending particularly difficult seats, the number of Republicans in peril should give Democrats more than enough opportunities to win 218 seats."
The toss-ups include Republican Rep. Zach Nunn's seat in Iowa's 3rd Congressional District, Republican Rep. Mike Lawler's in New York's 17th, Ohio's 9th and Texas' 34th.
The three Democratic seats that moved to "lean" blue are Rep. Laura Gillen's seat in New York's 4th District, Rep. Adam Gray's seat in California's 13th and Rep. Gabe Vasquez's seat in New Mexico's 2nd.
"If the election were held today, Republicans would need to win roughly three-quarters of the Toss Up races to keep control of the House," Covey wrote.
"Though that's not impossible, it looks increasingly difficult."
The party in the White House rarely gains seats or even holds ground in the midterms. Sometimes the losses are steep, especially in the first midterms of a presidency. Second-term presidents struggle, too.
"It's an amazing phenomenon," President Donald Trump acknowledged at a recent House Republican retreat.
Since 1932, the sitting president's party has lost an average of 26 House seats, and only three times has the president's party gained seats.
The last time it happened was 2002 when Republicans picked up seats in the first national elections after the 9/11 attacks that made George W. Bush a wartime president at the time of the midterms.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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