Congress

House members keep losing their bids for higher office. Some think they know why.

Published

5 months ago

June 5, 2026

Nearly 30 House members who were sworn in at the start of this Congress have launched campaigns for other, more prestigious offices. Voters have not been especially interested in granting them promotions.

The trend was on full display in recent weeks: Rep. Randy Feenstra lost the GOP nomination to be Iowa governor Tuesday despite a late endorsement from President Donald Trump, just as Rep. Dusty Johnson fell short in his bid for governor of South Dakota. A week prior, Rep. Chip Roy lost a runoff to be Texas attorney general.

House Democrats have been similarly hapless. In the Illinois Senate primary, Reps. Robin Kelly and Raja Krishnamoorthi both lost to the state’s lieutenant governor, and in Texas, Rep. Jasmine Crockett fell to a state representative in the Democratic Senate race.

Some of those who have been on the campaign trail this year have a simple explanation for the trend: It’s hard for members of a dysfunctional and unpopular institution to ask voters to reward them with even bigger jobs.

“There’s definitely those out there who think, ‘Well, it’s broken, and they’ve been in it a long time, and obviously it’s still broken,’ so we kind of get the blame for it,” said Rep. Buddy Carter, who fell short last month in making it to a runoff in Georgia’s Republican Senate primary.

Even as public sentiment toward Congress has crashed to historic lows and partisan mudslinging has crescendoed to a fever pitch, some House members have found success.

Rep. Mike Collins advanced in the race Carter lost and has led most polls of the GOP runoff. Reps. Andy Barr and Ashley Hinson are now the Republican Senate nominees in Kentucky and Iowa, respectively, and Rep. Julia Letlow is the favorite in a GOP Senate runoff in Louisiana. One Democrat sworn in for the 119th Congress, New Jersey’s Mikie Sherrill, is now governor.

But if congressional service was once considered a helpful asset not so long ago — half of last year’s elected class of freshmen senators served previously in the House — members now fear that their time on Capitol Hill has become politically toxic.

In the races House members are losing, state-level officials and political outsiders have found more success.

“The voters all across the country aren’t particularly fond of D.C., so are you perceived to be part of the establishment or someone that’s been battling it?” said Rep. David Schweikert, who is now running for the GOP nomination for Arizona governor.

As he spoke to a reporter in the Capitol, he held a mug with the words, “I’d rather be in Arizona.”

Schweikert is facing a colleague, Rep. Andy Biggs, in next month’s primary. Polls suggest either man would face an uphill battle to unseat Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.

Other House members are finding long odds as they look for seats in the Senate or in state houses — even as some distance themselves from their current positions.

In Tennessee, for example, GOP Rep. John Rose has trailed Sen. Marsha Blackburn in public polling even as he plays down his service in Washington. In one recent ad, he identified himself as “a father, a farmer and a CEO,” and his website also makes no mention he is a sitting member of Congress.

Tuesday’s GOP primary for South Carolina governor could at least temporarily extinguish the political careers of two more other members, Reps. Ralph Norman and Nancy Mace. Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette was already a front-runner in several public polls, and won Trump’s endorsement last week.

The pileup of losses could weigh even more heavily on House leaders who have struggled to get members to show up for votes in the closely divided chamber. Speaker Mike Johnson has already canceled multiple voting days this year to accommodate House members’ primary schedules, and the risk of no-shows is likely to increase.

For instance, Dusty Johnson, usually a reliable leadership ally, missed votes Wednesday just as a contentious effort to curb Trump’s military campaign against Iran hit the House floor.

There are, of course, many reasons for success or failure in politics, and some members who have been on other ballot lines this year have been more careful about attributing their fortunes to the House itself. Roy, for instance, pointed out that he was facing a largely self-funded opponent — an oil-and-gas executive who poured $17 million into the race and was able to use the funding advantage to connect with voters.

“You just got to go to where the voters are,” he said. “Some guys have gone out, done well. Some have not.”

Kelly, whose House career is ending after 14 years representing a Chicago-area district, blamed bad timing, insufficient fundraising and other pressures as reasons she and other members have struggled.

“Most people highly respected me for my work in Congress,” Kelly said in an interview. “Even the ones that didn’t endorse me out loud.”

Still, voter sentiment is growing clear to many lawmakers, who are warily watching their own races ahead of November.

“People are anti-incumbent,” said one House Republican who is seeking reelection and was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “They’re mad. They want change across the board.”

The rest of the year is likely to be a mixed bag for House incumbents. GOP Reps. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma and Harriet Hageman of Wyoming appear to be well on their way to winning Senate nominations — and general elections — in solid red states. Polls show Rep. Byron Donalds is on track to be Florida’s next governor, and Trump-endorsed Rep. Barry Moore is well-positioned to win an Alabama Senate seat if he can emerge from a competitive Republican runoff.

But Democratic Reps. Angie Craig of Minnesota and Haley Stevens of Michigan have struggled to break out in their respective Senate primaries. If he can emerge from a crowded primary field, GOP Rep. John James faces a tough general election in the Michigan governor race, as does Rep. Tom Tiffany, a Republican running for governor in Wisconsin.

All of them will have to convince voters that their years of service in Washington are worth rewarding.

“I was a mayor for eight years, I was a state legislator for 10 years, I’ve been in Congress for 12 years, and I feel like that’s important,” Carter said. “I think experience and that service is invaluable [but] I think it kind of worked against me in a lot of ways … just being in politics for so long.”

Congress

Senate Democrats start spending in Mississippi

Published

4 hours ago

October 20, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Democrats’ money machine is on its way to Mississippi.

Senate Majority PAC is putting an initial $1.2 million on television statewide through Election Day to boost Scott Colom, the group announced Tuesday — another plunge into deep-red territory for Democrats as they take advantage of a dismal environment for Republicans.

Colom, a local prosecutor, has gained on GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in recent public polling, and has started to gain the attention of national Democrats. Some Senators, including Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock and Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, have pushed for more party investment in the race, which they believe in the right environment could flip a traditionally red seat.

But until now, Democrats said their resources were stretched too thin across a widening map that would allow them to play in the Magnolia State.

SMP is launching its first ad Wednesday attacking Hyde-Smith as a “do-nothing” senator and is planning a digital program as well. Lauren French, a spokesperson for SMP, said in a statement that “it is clear Colom is running a competitive race that has put Hyde-Smith on her heels.”

Hyde-Smith’s campaign downplayed the race’s competitiveness while tying Colom to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“It took Chuck Schumer and his Super PACs thirteen months to run a single ad for Scott Colom,” Hyde-Smith campaign spokesperson Nathan Calvert said in a statement. “Chuck knows what Mississippians know, Scott Colom is too liberal, supports transgender surgeries for children, men in women’s restrooms and locker rooms, open borders, and higher taxes. Team Cindy is confident that voters will reject this radical agenda at the ballot box on November 3rd.”

Colom’s campaign didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

Other national Democrats have started paying attention to the race too, with several set to descend on Mississippi ahead of Election Day. Former Vice President Kamala Harris will campaign alongside Colom later this week, and former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg will hit the trail next week.

The state has the highest proportion of Black people in the nation, giving Democrats a high base of support in most elections — and has long left Democrats dreaming they could win statewide, having invested some resources in recent Senate and governor’s races over the past decade. Hyde-Smith did not top 55% of the vote in either of her previous elections, and Colom has seized on an interview clip when she was asked about the high price of beef: “You know, you have so many proteins to choose from.”.

Still, despite the overall positive environment for the party, flipping the seat remains a steep uphill battle. Republicans control all levers of state government, and Trump handily won by 24 points in 2024. The last time Mississippians elected a Democrat statewide was 2015, and the last time the state sent a Democrat to the Senate was 1982.

SMP’s investment in Mississippi follows multimillion-dollar dives into Kansas and Texas that collectively show how far the Senate map has shifted onto red turf in the midterm’s closing weeks. The Chuck Schumer-aligned group has also cut back on spending on television in North Carolina and Georgia in recent weeks amid increasingly bullish outlooks for Democrats Roy Cooper and Sen. Jon Ossoff, respectively.

Congress

DCCC launches ads against Mike Turner in red Ohio district

Published

12 hours ago

October 20, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Democrats’ campaign arm is launching its first ad buy against seven-term GOP Rep. Mike Turner in his western Ohio district as they seek to turn up the pressure on Republicans in once-safe red seats.

The DCCC is dropping separate six-figure buys on two coordinated television ads boosting challenger Kristina Knickerbocker, spokesperson Riya Vashi said — a remarkable investment considering Turner won in 2024 by over 18 percentage points, overperforming President Donald Trump.

Ohio adopted a new redistricted congressional map last year that was expected to favor Republicans. Turner’s 10th District voted for Trump by 6 points in 2024; under the new lines it would have been closer to 8 points.

The first ad airing this week opens with a woman saying, “It’s time we had someone in Congress who actually stands up for us” as Knickerbocker jogs through a neighborhood.

Democrats are eyeing Turner’s Dayton-area seat as a reach opportunity. A new internal DCCC poll of 535 likely general election voters reviewed by Blue Light News shows Knickerbocker running three percentage points ahead of Turner. Polling from this summer showed Turner leading the race.

Another Democratic group, House Majority PAC, has already poured more than a million dollars into the race against Turner and has reservations planned through Nov. 3. Knickerbocker is not on the DCCC’s “Red to Blue” roster of candidates who get the bulk of its resources.

“Alarm bells should be ringing for Mike Turner,” Vashi said in a statement. “Kristina Knickerbocker has the momentum in this race, and the DCCC will make sure every voter in this district knows exactly how Turner has betrayed them.”

But the NRCC has been spending in the district for several weeks to boost Turner. House Republican campaign operatives are so far dismissing efforts to flip the seat.

NRCC spokesperson Zach Bannon called Turner “a life-long Ohioan who has a record of cutting taxes, lowering costs, and making Ohio streets safer.”

“While Congressman Turner delivers commonsense conservative wins, out of touch Democrat Kristina Knickerbocker supports a radical far-left agenda,” Bannon said. “This November, Ohioans will reject liberal Knickerbocker and send Congressman Mike Turner back to Congress.”

Congress

Capitol agenda: Dem gavels are coming for Elon Musk

Published

12 hours ago

October 20, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Elon Musk is facing a gauntlet of Democratic oversight.

Democrats have long eyed investigating the world’s richest man and the GOP’s top donor. They may get their chance if they win back congressional power in November, and senior members are mulling how a range of panels could target Musk and a huge swath of his businesses.

Their list of potential probes is growing.

Some members are eager to dig into Musk’s possible role last week in throttling crucial internet access to the Ukrainian military as President Donald Trump seeks to pressure the country into cutting a peace deal with Russia.

“What happens when one guy gets a giant contract from the government and then uses it to do something that shuts down communication in a war that has been extremely important to the United States to support Ukraine?” Rep. Pramila Jayapal said in an interview.

The incident is one of a glut of alleged conflicts of interests members cited as ripe for oversight, as Musk’s companies like SpaceX and Tesla rake in multi-billion dollar federal contracts and subsidies.

“The sheer number of conflicts of interest are astounding,” top Space, Science and Technology Democrat Rep. Zoe Lofgren said.

Spokespeople for Musk did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Members of House Oversight and other panels also want to examine Musk’s role in eliminating over 250,000 federal jobs during his time at DOGE, withholding congressionally appropriated money and accessing sensitive government data.

“Congress must demand a full accounting of the damage Mr. Musk and DOGE caused, and we will not let anyone obstruct our oversight,” House Foreign Affairs ranking member Rep. Greg Meeks said in a statement Monday, referring to the so-called Department of Government Efficiency Musk headed last year.

Meeks named Musk’s part in “the cruel dismantling of USAID” as a prime target for his panel next year.

Some Democrats are not waiting for gavels: House Homeland Security Democrats demanded last month Musk testify under oath about a watchdog report claiming DOGE overstated its savings. And Ways and Means Democrats called for an investigation into the group’s alleged data theft from Social Security records.

But even members on panels with less obvious ties to the tech mogul are eyeing targets. Rep. Maxine Dexter, who sits on Natural Resources and Veterans Affairs, said she sees Musk among “the well-connected billionaire, trillionaires who have seen government contracts as a way to subsidize their own company’s research, development, and bottom line.”

“We need to shut that down,” she said.

What else we’re watching:

— MEET TRUMP’S HILL LIAISON: Katie Bailey is poised to run point between the White House and a chaotic Congress — especially if Democrats prevail in the midterms. Trump’s pick for the new director of the Office of Legislative Affairs is a longtime former congressional aide with wide-ranging experience in oversight and investigations. Her first task will be helping navigate a fast-moving, high-stakes “lame duck” legislative session, where lawmakers rush to pass outstanding bills and avoid a government shutdown. James Braid, who previously held the role before announcing his departure in August, said in an interview that Bailey is up for that task.

— GOP TRIES TO SPARE UKRAINE FROM TRUMP: Republican lawmakers are scrambling to find a way to stop Trump from cozying up to Russia and dismissing Ukraine — but they’re running low on options. All of it comes in response to the president’s decisions to purchase Russian diesel, waive sanctions on Moscow and potentially stop sharing intelligence with Ukraine. Lawmakers are also frustrated with days of unexplained disruptions in Kyiv’s U.S.-controlled satellite defenses. The disparate responses reflect an undercurrent of Republican angst about an administration that has largely ignored Congress on Ukraine and foreign policy more broadly — and the lack of a coordinated response from the legislative branch. They underscore just how little power Trump’s own party has had in reining in his attacks on longstanding allied relationships.

Riley Rogerson, Chris Marquette, Adam Wren, Mia McCarthy, Mark Satter and Leo Shane III contributed to this report.