| Democrats are poised to take back control of the U.S. House this November as the tide rapidly turns against Republicans’ broken promises to lower costs.
“History, polling, a narrow Republican majority, a string of off-year victories and voter anxiety over the economy favor the Democrats, who lead in support for control of Congress by five percentage points in a Post average of November and December national polls,” the Washington Post reports this morning.
Democrats need to flip just three seats to win control of Congress, and the DCCC is expanding the House battlefield in districts won by President Trump with battle-tested recruits, a common sense message, and grassroots momentum.
Read the full story from the Washington Post here.
Washington Post: Democrats look primed to win the House, but a wave might be harder
By Yasmeen Abutaleb | January 5, 2026
- Democrats are celebrating signs that the tide is turning their way for the 2026 midterms.
- History, polling, a narrow Republican majority, a string of off-year victories and voter anxiety over the economy favor the Democrats, who lead in support for control of Congress by five percentage points in a Post average of November and December national polls.
- Of the 39 seats Democrats are competing for, 28 are in districts that Trump won by five or more percentage points.
- The good news for Democrats this year: They need only three seats to regain control of the House.
- Party leaders, however, argue they are well positioned to compete in heavily Trump districts.
- Democrats have coalesced around a midterm message focused on the cost of living and health care, hammering Republicans for passing a $4 trillion budget bill that includes steep cuts to Medicaid and food stamps. They have also highlighted Republicans’ failure to extend pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that expired Dec. 31 that will drive up premiums for millions of Americans this year.
- Democratic Party leaders have been energized by off-year and special elections in which Democrats performed above expectations.
- Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Washington), chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in an interview that many candidates competing in Trump districts are closely connected to their communities and “independent-minded.”
- “Authenticity matters a ton because you’re talking to folks across the political spectrum,” DelBene said.
- Democrats believe they have effectively neutralized Republican efforts to pick up additional seats through gerrymandering in Texas, Ohio and North Carolina by gaining seats of their own in California and Utah. The Indiana Senate rejected a partisan gerrymander last month, and Democrats are still exploring whether they could pick up seats in Virginia, Illinois and Maryland. Wasserman said the post-gerrymandering landscape remains “pretty equitable to both parties.
- As Trump’s approval ratings fall — 39 percent of voters approve of the job he is doing, according to a Washington Post average of polls in early December — Democrats are working to wipe out some of the gains he made with voter groups that are traditionally aligned with them.
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