National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Rich Hudson is “laughing” at the Democrats’ newly released list targeting dozens of Republican-held seats, some of which are in deep red districts.
His reaction came after the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Tuesday unveiled a 35-district list of seats it hopes to flip in the 2026 midterm elections.
Mr. Hudson, a North Carolina congressman, told The Washington Times that the Democrats’ list is simply “a lot of wishful thinking.”
Among the targets are Reps. Max Miller, Mike Carey and Mike Turner, all of Ohio; Cory Mills of Florida; Andy Ogles of Tennessee; Andy Barr of Kentucky; and Ashley Hinson of Iowa, all in seats that the Cook Political Report rates “Solid Republican.”
“I don’t remember laughing that hard since Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary night,” Mr. Hudson said. “It’s very humorous.”
Democrats gained one seat in the House during the 2024 cycle, further cutting into the House GOP’s razor-thin majority. They need a net gain of only three seats to recapture the majority in 2026.
Also on their target list are three Republicans — Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska, Mike Lawler of New York and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania — who eked out victories in districts that former Vice President Kamala Harris won in November.
But DCCC Chairwoman Suzan DelBene has set her sights beyond those perennially in-play seats and aims to flip districts where President Trump easily won last year.
She says Democrats’ overperformance in special elections in deep red districts in Florida this month — even though they lost — has positioned the party to go on the offensive.
“House Republicans are running scared, and they should be. They’re tanking the economy, gutting Medicaid, abandoning our veterans and making everything more expensive. In short, they’ve lost the trust of their constituents, and it’s going to cost them the majority,” Ms. DelBene, a congresswoman from Washington, said in a statement.
Democrats are also eyeing seven toss-up seats held by Reps. David Schweikert and Juan Ciscomani, both of Arizona; Gabe Evans of Colorado; Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa; Tom Barrett of Michigan; and Ryan Mackenzie and Scott Perry, both of Pennsylvania.
The NRCC released its own, 26-district target list last month that includes 13 Democratic lawmakers in districts that backed Mr. Trump last year. Many of those congressmen are in the committee’s Frontline program for incumbents facing tough races.
Republicans are hoping to break the trend of the majority party underperforming during midterm cycles. Mr. Hudson didn’t say whether he planned to expand his target map, but contended that the seats Republicans are eying are more “realistic.”
He said the House GOP could pick up seats that Mr. Trump carried or lost by less than 5%.
As for the Democrats’ targets, “they have to go to Ruby Red districts, so the list was laughable,” Mr. Hudson said.
