WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) – Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives will defend a narrow majority in the November midterm elections, while Democrats hope to pick up enough seats to win control of the chamber, which would give them the power to investigate President Donald Trump’s administration.
Voters will select candidates in party primary elections over the next several months. Some of these races could provide clues about the direction of each party and the competitiveness of the overall election.
Here are some races to watch in the coming months:
TEXAS 23RD DISTRICT: A SCANDAL-TARRED INCUMBENT VS. A RIGHT-WING INFLUENCER (MARCH 3)
Republican Representative Tony Gonzales is battling a late-breaking scandal as he tries to hold off a challenge from right-wing YouTube personality Brandon Herrera.
Local media have published text messages indicating Gonzales had an affair with a staffer who died by suicide last year. Gonzales faces an ethics investigation in Congress and several of his colleagues have called on him to resign. He has denied wrongdoing, but the allegations will not help his primary battle with Herrera, who came within 350 votes of unseating him in the 2024 primary.
Herrera, a gun company owner who calls himself “the AK Guy,” has joked about veteran suicide and the Holocaust on his YouTube channel. The sprawling district, which stretches from San Antonio to El Paso, is solidly Republican, but analysts say it could potentially become competitive in November.
TEXAS 2ND DISTRICT: THE RIGHT TARGETS A VETERAN (MARCH 3)
Republican Representative Dan Crenshaw, a combat veteran who lost an eye in Afghanistan, has a solidly conservative track record but has been targeted by right-wing media for his support of Ukraine and his vote to certify Trump’s 2020 election defeat. He is the only Republican House incumbent in Texas not to win Trump’s endorsement this time.
Crenshaw is being challenged by Steve Toth, an ordained pastor who is one of the most conservative members of the Texas Legislature. If he unseats Crenshaw, that would send a warning to other Republicans who occasionally break with Trump.
TEXAS 21ST DISTRICT: TEIXEIRA AT THE PLATE (MARCH 3)
Former Major League Baseball star Mark Teixeira is the front-runner in a crowded field to fill an empty seat representing the Hill Country between Austin and San Antonio. Teixeira won a World Series ring with the New York Yankees but has never held elected office. He is backed by Trump, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, and several senior House Republicans. But with more than 10 candidates vying for the Republican nomination, Teixeira may not clear 50%, setting up a May 26 runoff.
TEXAS 15TH DISTRICT: THE SINGER VERSUS THE EMERGENCY ROOM DOCTOR (MARCH 3)
Democrats are excited about the candidacy of Bobby Pulido, a Tejano music star hoping to oust incumbent Republican Representative Monica De La Cruz. But he faces a tough challenge from fellow Democrat Ada Cuellar, an emergency-room doctor who is arguing that Pulido does not support abortion rights strongly enough. Pulido says he is personally opposed to abortion but thinks it should be legal.
TEXAS 18TH DISTRICT: AL GREEN’S SWAN SONG? (MARCH 3)
Democratic Representative Al Green has served in Congress since 2005, but he’s perhaps best known for literally standing up to Trump – most recently during last week’s State of the Union speech, when he was escorted out of the chamber for holding a sign that said “Black people aren’t apes” in a protest of a racist video Trump’s White House had posted.
Green’s career might soon come to an end, as Democratic voters have pressured aging leaders to step aside after former President Joe Biden’s ill-fated 2024 reelection bid.
After a Republican-led redistricting, Green now must win a primary against fellow Democratic Representative Christian Menefee in the same downtown Houston district. Polls show Menefee, 37, leading by a wide margin.
NORTH CAROLINA 1ST DISTRICT: REPUBLICANS VIE FOR A COMPETITIVE SEAT (MARCH 3)
Republicans in North Carolina redrew their districts last year to make it easier to defeat Democratic Representative Don Davis, who represents the only competitive House district in the swing state.
Retired Army Colonel Laurie Buckhout, who lost to Davis by less than 2 points in 2024, leads a field of five Republicans who are squaring off for the chance to take on Davis in the fall. A Buckhout victory would point toward a competitive general election race, while an upset by one of the lesser-known candidates could help Davis hang on.
NORTH CAROLINA 4TH DISTRICT: A DEMOCRATIC REMATCH (MARCH 3)
A rematch in North Carolina’s Research Triangle could provide a clue about whether the Democratic Party is shifting left. Incumbent Representative Valerie Foushee faces a challenge from Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam, the first Muslim elected official in the state, who is backed by progressive groups like Justice Democrats and the Working Families Party. Those groups are also mounting challenges to other sitting Democrats who they say are not doing enough to fight Trump.
Foushee defeated Allam by 9 percentage points in 2022.
GEORGIA 14TH DISTRICT: FILLING MTG’S SHOES (MARCH 10)
The race to fill the seat vacated by former Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has exposed divisions in Trump’s base. Some 15 candidates are running for the seat in this deeply conservative northern corner of Georgia, and Trump’s endorsement of former district attorney Clay Fuller has failed to clear the field. Fuller has vowed to move past Greene’s combative style and focus on economic development, but other candidates like former state Senator Colton Moore have portrayed themselves as more loyal supporters of the president.
ILLINOIS 9TH DISTRICT: A CROWDED FIELD FOR DEMOCRATS (MARCH 17)
Sixteen Democrats are running to fill an empty seat in a district that includes the northern reaches of Chicago and several nearby suburbs. Leading candidates include Kat Abughazaleh, a progressive Palestinian-American social media influencer who faces criminal charges stemming from an immigration protest in October; Evanston Mayor Dan Biss, who is endorsed by the retiring incumbent Jan Schakowsky; and state Senator Laura Fine.
KENTUCKY 4TH DISTRICT: TRUMP TRIES TO OUST A REPUBLICAN DISSIDENT (MAY 19)
Trump hopes to oust one of his most prominent Republican critics in Congress, Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who voted against Trump’s signature tax and spending bill last year and led the drive to release millions of government files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump encouraged retired Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein to run for the seat last year and endorsed him even before he entered the race. Massie, an MIT-trained libertarian, has represented the northern Kentucky district since 2012 and has won every primary by lopsided margins since then.
(Reporting by Andy Sullivan; editing by Scott Malone)
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