Democrats are betting big on the 2026 midterms. Vulnerable Republicans have nearly 19 months of Trump’s inevitable chaos to weather.
The 2026 midterm elections, which will determine which political party controls the U.S. House and Senate, are still nearly 19 months away. But those fights are already turning chippy.
Democrats, eager to find a way back from political relegation, are in a solid position to retake the House next year. Republicans, keen on keeping control in both chambers of Congress, are already teeing off on Democratic contenders.
A prime example is U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican seeking a sixth term next year in a purple congressional district in the suburbs just north of Philadelphia. Fitzpatrick is just one of three Republicans in the House who won in districts where Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris beat Republican opponent Donald Trump in November’s election.
He’s accustomed to having a target on his district. Next year will be no different.
Fitzpatrick has for years bedeviled activists on both ends of the political spectrum. Ardent Trump supporters in the district hate to hear him described as a conservative. Progressives there are driven to distraction when Fitzpatrick is called a moderate.
This has worked for Fitzpatrick for nearly a decade. But now, he’s tied again to a deeply unpopular president. Fitzpatrick’s only tough election was in 2018, a midterm election. Guess who was president then.Democrats have chosen which GOP seats they want to flip
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on April 8 named Fitzpatrick’s seat one of 35 districts held by Republicans targeted to flip next year.
This was, of course, an advantageous week for that sort of messaging, giving Trump’s flippity-floppity flirtation with economic calamity, concerns about federal budget cuts starving off access to programs like Social Security and Medicaid, and sinking approval ratings for Republicans in Congress.
The Center for Politics at the University of Virginia on April 10 listed Fitzpatrick’s seat as one of 13 held by Republicans across the country considered a « toss-up » next year.
