Republicans dispute Democrats’ expanding of House target map in 2026 midterms
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Emboldened, Congressional Democrats are expanding their battleground maps for this year’s midterm elections, in which Republicans will defend their razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives.
But Representative Richard Hudson, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), disagrees.
“I mean, I’ve been reading fiction my whole life and I know it when I see it,” Hudson said in an exclusive on Fox News.
Republicans currently control the House of Representatives 218-214, with two right-leaning districts and one left-leaning seat currently vacant. Democrats need to win just three net seats in the midterm elections to regain the majority for the first time in four years.
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Exterior view of the House side of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on January 12, 2026 (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) this week added five more attack opportunities to the list of areas they consider vulnerable to Republican-controlled House districts in Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, South Carolina and Virginia.
This brings the total number of districts Democrats hope to increase to 44. DCCC notes that all five of the new districts they added to their list of “attack targets” were carried by President Donald Trump by a margin of 13 points or less in the 2024 election.
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“Democrats are on the offensive, and our map reflects the reality that ordinary Americans are tired of broken promises from Republicans and ready for change in Congress,” DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene said earlier this week. he emphasized.
DCCC Spokesperson Viet Shelton also told Fox News Digital: “In a political environment where Democrats are outperforming by more than 17 points in congressional special elections, it’s pretty clear that we’re ready to retake the majority. While Republicans are scared, Momentum and the American people are on our side.”
When asked about the DCCC’s move, Hudson scoffed.
“They need to have a list that they can present to their donors,” he said, pointing to the DCCC. “But that’s unrealistic. I mean, if you look at the map, there are very few seats up for grabs, and the majority of those seats are held by Democrats, but these are the seats that Donald Trump carried or came very close to… if you look at the seats that we’re running for this fall. They’re all favoring Republicans.”
The House GOP campaign chairman added: “If you look at the map, it’s a Republican map. We just have to go out and win those races.”
This move by the DCCC comes at a time when Democrats are mobilizing despite the party’s electoral woes. Thanks to the Democrats’ lasers focus on affordability Amid persistent inflation, he has scored decisive victories in the 2025 election and has won or outperformed numerous scheduled and private ballot box contests since Trump returned to the White House a year ago.
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Republicans, meanwhile, face traditional political swings in which the party in power in the nation’s capital normally suffers defeat in midterm elections. The GOP is also concerned about Trump’s continued underwater approval ratings.
The latest national polls, including the latest Fox News poll, show Democrats leading Republicans by mid-single digits on the overall voting question, which asks respondents whether they would support the Democrat or GOP candidate in their congressional district without naming specific candidates.
When asked about the polls, Hudson said, “We almost never lead in the general vote. But we do very well in the general vote by single digits.”
The House GOP campaign chairman added that he remains “very optimistic.”
Cost-of-living concerns helped Trump and Republicans score big victories in 2024, but affordability and general economic concerns could work against them this year.
Although AP/NORC’s latest national poll shows the GOP with a slight advantage over Democrats in handling the economy, a number of polls, including the latest Fox News poll, show that many Americans feel things are worse off than they were a year ago and remain pessimistic about the economy.
But the latest government figures released on Friday showed inflation eased in January.
Hudson says the economy is still a winning issue for Republicans.
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“We’re implementing policies that will bring prosperity to the American people, and they’re starting to feel it,” Hudson touted, pointing to the numerous tax cuts that took effect this year in the GOP’s sweeping One Big Good Bill Act that Trump signed into law last summer.
“And as we head into tax season… those who work overtime, those who work for tips, they’re going to see a lot more money in their pockets with no tax on tips and no tax on overtime,” he added.
The GOP is also grappling with the problem of low propensity: MAGA voters who don’t always show up to the polls when Trump’s name isn’t on the ballot.
“Our voters tend to be more working-class voters, and you have to make an extra effort to get them to the polls,” Hudson said. “We know this is a challenge for us. President Trump knows this is a challenge and is committed to helping us.”
President Donald Trump gestures as he arrives to deliver remarks on the economy and affordability at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, on December 9, 2025. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
Pointing to the NRCC’s annual fundraising gala, which Trump will once again headline this year, Hudson said this dinner will be a great start to the year. We raised a lot of money with President Trump last year. “We’re planning to raise a lot of money with President Trump in March, and then he’ll get on the campaign trail and help us elect voters and make it happen.”
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When asked about his midterm election predictions, Hudson declined to give exact numbers.
“I won’t give you a number, but we’ll keep the majority,” he predicted. “President Trump was elected with a very specific agenda. We delivered almost his entire domestic agenda, and we’re going to go back to the voters and say that the promises that were made, the promises that were made, were kept, and they will maintain the House majority.”
