Democrats win House seats in eight states in the 2026 midterms

North Carolina’s 9th district falls to a former Army major

An Associated Press rundown of selected 2026 House races found Democratic wins in Colorado, Nevada, Wisconsin, Texas, Indiana, New Jersey, Iowa and North Carolina. Rep. Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said, “Our victory is not just impressive because of how many seats we gained — although we did gain a lot — what was incredible last night was how far we reached into deep red territory.”

Rep. Richard Hudson was in charge of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the organization dedicated to supporting the Republican Party’s House campaigns. The seven-term congressman could not save his own seat this year. In North Carolina, party organizations pulled support from Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley as he failed to gain traction against Democratic nominee Roy Cooper.

Hudson lost to Richard Ojeda. The Associated Press characterized Ojeda as a former Army major who “became a liberal social media phenomenon” during President Donald Trump’s first term. Ojeda ran multiple races in West Virginia before moving back to North Carolina, where he had served at Fort Bragg, and defeated Hudson. Ojeda arrived on Capitol Hill this week, one of several new members who had pulled off upset victories this year, according to the report.

Nevada’s congressional delegation becomes entirely Democratic for the first time

Former state lawmaker Teresa Benitez-Thompson made history as the first Democrat to win Nevada’s 2nd congressional district. Her Republican opponent David Flippo faced accusations that he exaggerated his military record and failed to release his required financial disclosures on time.

Benitez-Thompson campaigned as a moderate with longtime northern Nevada roots, contrasting herself with Flippo, who aligned himself closely with Trump and moved from southern Nevada to join the race after longtime Republican Rep. Mark Amodei announced his retirement. Amodei refused to endorse Flippo, calling him “a fraud.” With Benitez-Thompson’s victory, all of Nevada’s congressional seats will be held by Democrats for the first time.

Berman wins Wisconsin’s 1st congressional district; Ford wins Indiana’s 5th congressional district

In Wisconsin’s 1st congressional district, a southeast Wisconsin seat, Republican Rep. Bryan Steil won all four of his previous elections by at least 9 points. Before him, former House Speaker Paul Ryan held the seat for two decades, and no Democrat had won the district since 1993. The Associated Press said those factors made it improbable that Democratic newcomer Mitchell Berman, running his first campaign for any office, would win. Berman, an emergency room nurse, tapped into voter anger and leveraged his middle-class background to beat Steil by nearly 4 points. The report also said the outcome would ripple through Wisconsin politics, where Steil was widely considered a likely candidate for U.S. Senate down the road.

In Indiana’s 5th congressional district, Rep. Victoria Spartz, a Ukrainian-born lawmaker in the Republican caucus, has often withheld her support for legislation until the last minutes as she seeks concessions from party leadership. She seemed to be a safe reelection prospect in conservative Indiana, particularly in her affluent suburban and rural district north of Indianapolis. The seat became more red in 2021, when the state legislature removed portions of more Democratic-leaning areas of Marion County and added conservative rural tracts. Two years ago, Trump won the district by 17 percentage points, and Spartz won by even more. This year, Democratic state senator J.D. Ford beat Spartz by 3.4 percentage points.

Stout and Gutierrez won Texas House races

The Texas 23rd congressional district race opened when Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales announced that he would not run for reelection after admitting to an affair with a former staff member who later died by suicide. Primary voters chose Brandon Herrera, a gun enthusiast YouTuber with some 4 million subscribers, to run in his place. Democrats put up Katy Padilla Stout, a lawyer and former teacher who was believed to have little chance. The district had not elected a Democrat since 2012, but Stout won by 8 points.

Texas’ 9th congressional district had been considered so blue that Republicans did not put up a candidate there in 2024. A year later, at Trump’s urging, the state legislature redrew the congressional map, making the seat far more conservative. Leticia Gutierrez, who had previously worked in Houston city government, faced Republican Alex Mealer, a well-financed military veteran active in conservative politics.

Gutierrez said Democrats and donors regarded the seat as a lost cause and would not invest their time, money and resources in someone who had never run a congressional campaign. “Everyone felt it was a done deal that this was written for Republicans,” Gutierrez said in an interview with The Associated Press. “They just weren’t going to invest their time, money, and resources into someone that had never run a congressional campaign.” Gutierrez beat Mealer by a little over 15 points.

Killin and Mullock challenged Trump-aligned incumbents

Colorado’s 5th congressional district is home to NORAD, Fort Carson and the Air Force Academy, as well as the evangelical group Focus on the Family. Colorado Springs had been a conservative stronghold for years, but the city was slowly turning more moderate as young families moved in. Its veteran population was unsettled by Trump’s approach to the military and the Iran war.

Jessica Killin, a Democrat and former Army captain, capitalized on those conditions to run as a moderate against Rep. Jeff Crank, who had previously run the Colorado chapter of the conservative group Americans For Prosperity. Killin criticized Crank for falling in line behind Trump after the Republican entered the House.

New Jersey’s 2nd congressional district was one of the remaining Republican-held seats in the Northeast, in the southeastern corner of the state. The district stretches from shore resorts to the pine barrens and had been represented by Rep. Jeff Van Drew. He was first elected to Congress as a conservative Democrat in 2018 before switching parties in 2020 after Trump’s first impeachment. Van Drew kept winning reelection until this week, when he lost to Zack Mullock, the Democratic mayor of Cape May. Mullock focused his campaign on Van Drew’s support for the president, attacking him in a debate over the Iran war and tariffs. Van Drew argued that his connections with Trump would benefit the district.

James won Iowa’s open 2nd congressional district seat

When Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson decided to run for U.S. Senate, she left an open race for her House seat in the northeastern corner of Iowa. The Republican candidate was Joe Mitchell, a former state lawmaker, and Trump visited Dubuque just two days before the election to try to boost turnout. Mitchell lost to Lindsay James, a Democratic state lawmaker and minister.

“I am going to stay laser-focused on lowering costs for hard-working families here in my district because that’s what they have asked me to do,” James said in an interview. Her victory was boosted by two other candidates on the ballot, one Libertarian and one unaffiliated, who received more votes than James’ margin over Mitchell.

Associated Press writer Nicholas Riccardi authored the report, and Associated Press writers Hannah Fingerhut, Mike Catalini, Thomas Beaumont, Jesse Bedayn, Scott Bauer and Jessica Hill contributed to it.