“Democrats believe President Trump has committed impeachable offenses. But they’re divided over whether they should try to impeach him if they win control of the House,” Axios reports.
“If Democrats win the House, as expected, their 2027 decision on whether to try to impeach Trump could have major consequences for the 2028 presidential race.”
“Theoretically, impeaching Trump would be easy for a unified, Democrat-controlled House.”
“I think the scary part is we don’t know where the bottom is.”
— A senior House Republican, quoted by Politico, on Democrats suddenly competitive in deep red districts.
Cook Political Report: “In the final weeks of the election, Republicans have hoped that a massive ad campaign effort could dent Democratic candidates’ images and shore up Republicans struggling to free themselves of the anchor of President Donald Trump.”
“With less than four weeks to go, that heavy spending has yet to move the needle.”
“That is a key factor prompting us to move ratings for 18 more House races, all in Democrats’ favor. Four GOP incumbents who previously sat in the Toss Up column are shifting into Lean Democrat — three of these members won their races by less than two points in 2024 and should be the easiest seats for Democrats to pick up in a favorable environment. And four more races previously rated Lean Republican are shifting into the Toss Up column.”
“With these new moves, we’re also adjusting our range: the most likely outcome is now that Democrats will pick up nine to 19 seats. That would give them 224 seats on the lower end and 234 on the upper end. At this point, Democrats only need two.”
Bloomberg: Democrats push to turn House edge into wave.
“House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries declared Wednesday that the path to a Democratic majority goes through Trump country, with his party seriously battling for seats that the president won by double digits two years ago,” CNN reports.
“But with limited resources, there’s still friction over whether to play it safe, or try to run up the margin.”
“The tension inside the party came into focus this week when Democrats added six, fresh Democratic candidates to the list of pickup opportunities it felt worth prioritizing from districts in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, New York, Nevada and Tennessee – all of which President Donald Trump carried, two of them by more than 20 points.”
“President Donald Trump lambasted incumbent Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) calling the congressman ‘a loser’ on Wednesday, while criticizing the lawmaker for remaining a Democrat after receiving a presidential pardon,” Fox News reports.
“Trump pardoned Cuellar and his wife last year as the couple faced charges pertaining to bribery and money laundering.”
Said Trump: “In any event, I did the pardons, and made no deal, where a crooked politician would have, but I thought there would be a good chance that Cuellar, who was persecuted by Democrats because they didn’t like him, would have routinely gone over to the Republican Party — the people that saved him from years in prison.”
“Speaker Mike Johnson suggested that he could leave Congress if Democrats regain control — the farthest he has gone in acknowledging what he would do in a GOP House minority,” Politico reports.
Said Johnson: “Heaven forbid, if we lose this majority or whatever, I don’t know what my next chapter of life is. If God moves on our hearts and says we should, you know, go back to my hometown of Shreveport and start a lawn business, I’ll do that with equal fervor.”
“With just under a month to go until Election Day, financial decisions made by both parties appear to suggest the question being asked is not if Democrats take control of the House, but how large the majority may be,” NPR reports.
“Currently, Republicans hold a narrow 218-214 seat advantage. In February 2025, the Cook Political Report’s initial ratings for the midterms found a small slice of 39 races listed as competitive, with 18 classified as ‘toss-ups.'”
“That topline number has shifted, with Cook currently listing 43 districts as competitive, including 22 toss-ups. But beyond that, under the hood, Democratic and Republican groups are marshalling hundreds of millions of dollars to influence an electoral landscape that is much larger.”
“House Speaker Mike Johnson raised $30 million in the third quarter, bringing his total haul this cycle to $156 million as Republicans fight to hold on to their increasingly endangered majority,” Axios reports.
“House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats would move swiftly to reverse Trump-era cuts to healthcare spending and bring down households’ costs, expressing confidence that his party would win a majority during President Trump’s final two years in office,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The New York Democrat, speaking with a group of reporters, laid out some of his key priorities Wednesday should his party win back control of the House in November’s midterm elections, while also nodding toward planned investigations of GOP ‘crooks’ but giving few details.”
“Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) and Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) are no longer a congressional couple,” TMZ reports.
“Sources with direct knowledge say the Georgia congressman and Texas congresswoman called it quits — although it’s unclear exactly when. However, we’re told there’s no bad blood between the two.”
“Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans have grown increasingly anxious that the current GOP-controlled Congress could thwart the seating of Democrats in January. A bipartisan group of lawmakers is trying to take the tactic off the table,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Reps. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, and Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, are seeking written pledges from their colleagues to accept the midterm election results.”
“The race for Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District shouldn’t be competitive, just based on history and math,” NPR reports.
”But the Republican Party’s nominee, David Flippo, is facing an unusually tough race despite having President Trump’s endorsement, bogged down by allegations that he exaggerated his military service and lacks real ties to the district.”
“After Representative Max Miller, the Republican from Ohio accused of physically abusing his ex-wife and young daughter, rebuffed calls from his own party to drop out of his re-election campaign,” the New York Times reports.
“They advised Republicans who had demanded Mr. Miller’s resignation to quiet down and let him try to win, according to two people familiar with the conversations who were granted anonymity to speak candidly.”
“They also spoke and texted directly with Mr. Miller, urging him to stop talking about his family drama in public.”
“Their warnings have largely been heeded, forcing many Republicans to walk an awkward line between helping Mr. Miller win and staying away from his embattled campaign.”
“House GOP leaders are now openly acknowledging that their mid-decade redistricting push didn’t work out as well as they’d hoped,” Axios reports.
“Republicans kicked off the redistricting wars hoping new maps would give them a bigger cushion against the historical headwinds facing the president’s party.”
“That advantage is looking a lot smaller than they envisioned.”
“During the summer, GOP Rep. Max Miller’s re-election hopes looked dim following domestic-violence allegations. Fellow Republicans—including the state’s two senators—said he should drop out, and President Trump told him his prospects for winning weren’t good,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“But headed into the final stretch, Republican groups are now throwing millions of dollars behind Miller, as the GOP tries to salvage the seat amid a grim outlook in the midterms. Miller said Trump called last month to praise him after initial doubts, and he said he had a ‘really good’ conversation recently with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). He said voters in his red-leaning constituency are aware of the allegations but are sticking with him.”
Said Miller: “The people of our district know who I am. We’re going to be OK.”
“House Majority PAC, Democrats’ chief super PAC focused on congressional races, is going on air with new TV and digital ads in 21 districts,” Punchbowl News reports.
“Many of the ads are running in deep-red territory, including newly drawn seats in Florida and Texas.”
“House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) is scaling back expectations and zeroing in on a narrowed battlefield as Republicans’ prospects of keeping their majority look increasingly bleak,” Axios reports.
“Emmer, a former National Republican Congressional Committee chair who helped the GOP unexpectedly gain seats in 2020, argues his party can still defy historical headwinds in November.”
“But with less than a month to go, Emmer acknowledges that some tough decisions are coming about where Republicans spend their money, including walking away from races they don’t think they can salvage.”
Mediaite: House Republicans in “triage mode” over feared blue wave.
“Rep. Juan Ciscomani — an incumbent Republican running in a swing district in Arizona — is out with a new campaign video in which he says he won’t be a ‘rubber stamp’ in Washington while also touting his background as an immigrant,” the Washington Post reports.
“‘As an immigrant, I’m grateful for the opportunity America has given me,’ he says directly to the camera. ‘I’m not a rubber stamp for anyone.'”
“Ciscomani is running in a toss-up race against Democrat JoAnna Mendoza, a retired Marine who on the trail has argued that Ciscomani has consistently voted for Republican policies — including the One Big Beautiful Bill — that have made life more expensive for the district’s residents.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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