海角大神

The Democrat in charge of retaking control of the House said her party is in a 鈥渟trong position to take back the majority鈥� 鈥� and warned Republicans that they would face blowback if they try to gerrymander their way to keeping power.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chair Suzan DelBene, a congresswoman from Washington state, told reporters at a 海角大神 Science Monitor Breakfast Wednesday that the party is well positioned to net the three seats it needs to take power in the 2026 midterm elections.

Republicans are looking to shore up their majority by redrawing congressional district lines in Texas to create as many as five more GOP-leaning seats 鈥� and are eyeing doing the same in other states.

Representative DelBene warned that could backfire, predicting that in liberal-leaning states where Democrats have unified control, they鈥檇 respond with their own gerrymanders.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to fight with one arm tied behind our back. Republicans should be careful what they ask for, because Republicans are going to lose seats if this is the path that they go down,鈥� she said.

That鈥檚 easier said than done. Many liberal-leaning states where Democrats control the majority have laws on the books or in their state constitutions that limit or prohibit partisan gerrymandering.

In Texas, she predicted that Republicans could overreach with their map, potentially creating opportunities for Democratic pickups by spreading themselves too thin and turning currently safe Republican seats into new competitive districts. 鈥淲e have incredible opportunity when they start playing with the lines,鈥� she said.

The congresswoman is in her second cycle as DCCC chair. In 2024, Democrats gained a net of two House seats even as they lost the White House, leaving them just three seats short of a majority. Midterm elections tend to cut against the party in power, and as she pointed out, Democrats have been consistently overperforming in special elections since Trump returned to the White House early this year.

Ms. DelBene says this cycle has a different 鈥渋ntensity鈥� compared with the 2018 midterms, when Democrats took back control of the House during Mr. Trump鈥檚 first administration. Whereas that term was more defined by 鈥渞hetoric鈥� and threats to repeal the Affordable Care Act, she says, this term has seen Republicans fulfill that promise to constrain health care access.

When asked if there are particular districts where she sees opportunity, Ms. DelBene referenced Arizona鈥檚 2nd Congressional District, where former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez announced Tuesday he is聽running again for the Democratic nomination against Republican Rep. Eli Crane. She also mentioned the open seat in Kentucky鈥檚 6th Congressional District, where the departing GOP incumbent hopes to replace retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell, and Tennessee鈥檚 5th District, which is held by Rep. Andy Ogles, 鈥渁n extreme Republican who underperformed Donald Trump.鈥�

But Republicans actually have a structural advantage on the map. Currently, 13 House Democrats hold seats that President Donald Trump won last cycle. There are only three Republicans in seats where President Trump trailed Vice President Kamala Harris. That limits Republicans鈥� exposure.

And recent numbers show Republicans are ahead in fundraising. During the second quarter of 2025, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) , compared to the DCCC鈥檚 $29.1 million.

But President Trump鈥檚 poll numbers are sagging, and Democrats have led Republicans in recent polls asking which party voters prefer to win the House.

Ms. DelBene made clear that Democrats plan to run on economic issues. 鈥淐osts and the economy are absolutely No. 1,鈥� she said. And she repeatedly brought up the rising cost of living, the administration's tariff policy, and the GOP鈥檚 so-called 鈥渂ig, beautiful bill鈥� 鈥� what she dubbed the 鈥渂ig, ugly bill.鈥�

鈥淣o. 1 across the board is affordability, the cost of living. Folks are struggling with the cost of housing, food, child care, health care, energy costs. And that was the big promise Republicans made, that they were going to lower costs on Day 1. [They] absolutely are not focused on that at all.鈥�

Candidates win when they focus on issues that matter to voters, like the economy, said Ms. DelBene. When asked if she was concerned that Democrats would be hurt by being tied to New York mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, she said that those in competitive districts near the city 鈥渉ave spoken for themselves鈥� about their views on the race, while expressing skepticism that Mr. Mamdani would matter much to voters across the country.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that in Arizona or Michigan folks are thinking about who the mayor of New York is,鈥� she said.

The congressional leader attended the Monitor Breakfast as the House prepared to leave Washington for its August recess, after House Speaker Mike Johnson cancelled the last day of voting this week to avoid a vote on a bipartisan measure that would call on the Department of Justice to release all its material related to Jeffrey Epstein. Democrats have sought to capitalize on an unprecedented rift in the MAGA movement over GOP promises of transparency around the late sex offender and his elite connections.

When asked whether President Trump鈥檚 handling of the Epstein issue will be a key part of Democrats鈥� midterm messaging, Ms. DelBene said her party would point to it as 鈥渁nother example of a broken promise,鈥� before she quickly pivoted back to economic messaging.

鈥淭his goes into a string of broken promises,鈥� she said, arguing that Republicans had promised to lower costs and stand up for working families but instead focused on protecting wealthy people in their megabill.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e breaking promises to protect the well-connected, and not focused on the needs of the American people. That鈥檚 why it resonates so broadly across the country,鈥� she said.

Editor's note: This article was updated with additional material on July 23, the day of initial publication.