The 10 GOP frontliners who will determine control of the House
WASHINGTON — The outcome of races for 10 House Republican incumbents will determine whether the lower chamber falls to Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections.All the GOP lawmakers have expressed confidence in their re-election despite the historic headwinds their party faces and President Trump’s growing unpopularity.But several have also survived tough matchups in the past and are counting on their legislative record to help them defend the GOP’s 218-214 majority in the House.Hudson Valley Rep.Mike Lawler was first elected to Congress in 2022 as one of several New York Republicans who helped deliver them the House during former President Joe Biden’s presidency.His reelection would be a big step to keeping GOP control of the House under Trump.Lawler, 40, opted against a run for governor in his state and has consistently touted himself as one of the most bipartisan members of the lower chamber and as a Republican who is willing to break publicly with the president on health care, tax and immigration issues.The latest poll shows Lawler and his opponent, Cait Conley, an Army combat veteran and ex-Biden administration official, in a statistical tie.The Michigan Republican is serving his first term in the House after winning election to a seat left vacant by then-Rep.
Elissa Slotkin, who triumphed in her 2024 Senate race.Some polls have shown Barrett, an Army helicopter pilot and Iraq war veteran, beating his Democratic opponent this cycle, William Lawrence, a self-described democratic socialist who’s drawn scrutiny for eyebrow-raising remarks wishing death on a centrist lawmaker.Kiggans was one of several House Republicans whose seat was threatened through a redistricting effort pushed by Virginia Democrats that was eventually struck down by the courts.But surveys are still showing her tied or in a statistical tie with Democrat Elaine Luria, who previously lost the seat in Virginia’s Second District to Kiggans in 2022.Ohio Rep.Max Miller is headed into th...