By John Ransom
With the GOP projected to win a majority in the House on Nov. 8, listed below are the most competitive House seats for the GOP to either hold or gain, according to ratings by the Cook Political Report.
The list totals 36 seats, with 34 currently held by Democrats and two held by the GOP.
Next to each race is commentary provided by award-winning pollsters WPA Intelligence.
All told, Cook currently lists 60 competitive races in Democratic districts versus 26 in Republican districts.
WPA Intelligence
Seat | Candidates & What to Watch | Cook Rating |
---|---|---|
AK-00 | Alaska At-Large District â Begich (R) vs. Palin (R) vs. Peltola (D): Intra-party warfare and the specific way AK implemented ranked-choice voting cost Republicans this seat in the special election and it could again. | R+8 |
ME-02 | Maine 2nd District â Poliquin (R) vs. Golden (D): Golden needed the ranked-choice voting to save him two years ago. In a more Republican year and a district that became very (very) slightly more Republican in redistricting, even that may not be enough. | R+6 |
VA-10Â | Virginia 10th District â Cao (R) vs. Wexton (D): Wexton running negative means theyâre nervous. How well Cao does here will tell us how high the red wave goes. | D+6 |
NY-04 | New York 4th District â DâEsposito (R) vs. Gillen (D): DâEspositoâs law enforcement background is going to be a boon in an area very focused on crime. | D+5 |
CA-13 | California 13th District â Duarte (R) vs. Gray (D): Weâll see if Hispanics are really shifting right. | D+4 |
OR-06 | Oregon 6th District â Erickson (R) vs. Salinas (D): Democratsâ redistricting efforts might have backfired in a year where theyâre facing significant headwinds. | D+4 |
PA-08 | Pennsylvania 8th District â Bognet (R) vs. Cartwright (D): Redistricting made this rematch slightly better for Democrats, but this district is a particularly swingy Obama-Trump district. | R+4 |
RI-02 | Rhode Island 2nd District â Fung (R) vs. Magaziner (D): More blue state woes for Democrats. Even their internals appear to have the Republican up. | D+4 |
OR-04 | Oregon 4th District â Skarlatos (R) vs. Hoyle (D): No public polls in a while but furtherest reach of the Oregon seats has a good GOP candidate and a right-leaning issue set. | D+4 |
CA-49 | California 49th District â Maryott (R) vs. Levin (D): Democrats have a blue state problem; expect to see more upsets. | D+3 |
CT-05 | Connecticut 5th District â Logan (R) vs. Hayes (D): Itâs never a good sign when the Democratâs House Majority PAC is on TV doing positive ads for one of their incumbents. Hayesâ campaign has been out-hustled from day one by challenger George Logan. And they havenât even done a good job of it, having multiple of their ads taken down. | D+3 |
IN-01 | Indiana 1st District â Green (R) vs. Mrvan (D): All star GOP recruit, solid fundraising numbers, and realignment of blue collar workers puts this district on the map. | D+ |
NV-01 | Nevada 1st District â Robertson (R) vs. Titus (D): Nevada Democrats took a big risk turning a 1 safe D, 1 safe R, 2 swing map into 1 safe R, and 3 seats where Dems would probably be favored in a âneutralâ year, and it might bite them in a red wave year. | D+3 |
NY-17 | New York 17th District â Lawler (R) vs. Maloney (D): Maloneyâs bail reform comments and Democrat infighting gave Lawler an opening, and he took full advantage of it. | D+Â 3 |
CA-47 | California 47th District â Baugh (R) vs. Porter (D): Porter had a late pivot to the economy, will it be enough? | D+3 |
IL-13 | Illinois 13th District â Deering (R) vs. Budzinski (D): Uphill climb for Republicans after ridiculous redistricting by IL Democrats. | D+3 |
NV-04 | Nevada 4th District â Peters (R) vs. Horsford (D): Nevada Democrats took a big risk turnout a 1 safe D, 1 safe R, 2 swing map into 1 safe R, and 3 seats where Dems would probably be favored in a âneutralâ year, and it might bite them in a red wave year. | D+3 |
OH-09 | Ohio 9th District â Majewski (R) vs. Kaptur (D): Kaptur might survive for another cycle with a weaker GOP opponent, but statewide Ohio trends could still prevail. | R+3 |
IL-17 | Illinois 17th District â King (R) vs. Sorensen (D): Kingsâs fundraising advantage along with a voting population that overwhelming think the country is on the wrong track will bolster her ability to close this race out. | D+2 |
MI-07 | Michigan 7th District â Barrett (R) vs. Slotkin (D): Public polls are all over the place here, but voters are getting pounded with ads from both sides. | R+2 |
OR-05 | Oregon 5th District â Chavez-DeRemer (R) vs. McLeod-Skinner (D): Democrats redistricting efforts might have backfired in a year where theyâre facing significant headwinds. | D+2 |
PA-07 | Pennsylvania 7th District â Scheller (R) vs. Wild (D): Rematch with Scheller in a much better GOP year, but can Scheller out perform the statewides (does she need to)? | R+2 |
VA-02 | Virginia 2nd District â Kiggans (R) vs. Luria (D): Jen Kiggans has run a solid race focused on the economy while Luria has been focused on issues most voters donât care about. | R+2 |
NH-02 | New Hampshire 2nd District â Burns (R) vs. Kuster (D): Democrats meddling in Republican primaries may have paid off for Kuster. | D+2 |
NY-03 | New York 3rd District â Devolder-Santos (R) vs. Zimmerman (D): Long Island went red last year, strong possibility of going red again next week. | D+2 |
MN-02 | Minnesota 2nd District â Kistner (R) vs. Craig (D): Craigâs party-line voting record coming back to haunt her in this swing seat. | D+1 |
NV-03 | Nevada 3rd District â Becker (R) vs. Lee (D): Nevada Democrats took a big risk turnout a 1 safe D, 1 safe R, 2 swing map into 1 safe R, and 3 seats where Dems would probably be favored in a âneutralâ year, and it might bite them in a red wave year. | D+1 |
OH-13 | Ohio 13th District â Gilbert (R) vs. Sykes (D): Crime becoming an issue at the close should tilt this seat Republican. | R+1 |
VA-07 | Virginia 7th District â Vega (R) vs. Spanberger (D): Spanberger has been overly focused on abortion and not speaking about the economy until her closing ad, but all the attacks havenât stuck to Vega as much as the Dems would hope. | D+1 |
KS-03 | Kansas 3rd District â Adkins (R) vs. Davids (D): A highly college educated seat where many registered Republicans arenât really Republicans anymore, but they still donât like Davids voting in lock step with Biden. | R+1 |
MI-03 | Michigan 3rd District â Scholten (R) vs. Meijer (D): Opposition research still matters. | D+1 |
MI-08 | Michigan 8th District â vs. Junge (R) vs. Kildee (D): Name ID matters. Family ties could keep Kildee afloat despite a wave. | R+1 |
NY-18 | New York 18th District â Schmitt (R) vs. Ryan (D): Easier general for Ryan than in the special, but if Zeldinâs momentum is real, heâll have coattails here. | D+1 |
NH-01 | New Hampshire 1st District â Leavitt (R) vs. Pappas (D): Late primaries make for a quick sprint in the general and Leavittâs focus of pocketbook issues like cost of living, especially energy costs in New England, hone in on the real issues that are impacting voters in the first. | Even |
NY-19 | New York 19th District â Molinaro (R) vs. Riley (D): Concerns about the economy and crime are going to drive votes here, couple that with Bidenâs low approval in the district, Republicans have the environment. | Even |
PA-17 | Pennsylvania 17th District â Shaffer (R) vs. Deluzio (D): Biden approval /disapproval isnât nearly as bad here as in other even districts but Schaffer will benefit from Republican headwinds and trends coming out of the Senate race. | Even |