With a handful of open seats, Republicans currently hold a slim 218-213 edge in the US House, but that will narrow further after the swearing-in of Representative-elect Christian Menefee, a Texas Democrat who also won on Saturday to fill a vacancy in a longtime Democratic district whose previous representative died in March.
The 53-47 Republican-controlled US Senate will pose a bigger challenge for Democrats, but party leaders are encouraged by their candidates who have won before in competitive states like North Carolina, Maine, Ohio and even Alaska.
Trump has encouraged primary challengers to some incumbent Republican senators, such as Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy, and suggested on Sunday he will make an endorsement in the three-way Republican contest in Texas that includes another incumbent, Senator John Cornyn, state Attorney General Ken Paxton and Representative Wesley Hunt.
“I like all of them,” Trump said.
Democratic strategists urged their party to continue emphasizing affordability and pocketbook issues.
“This win is another rejection of the chaos that Trump is creating, and people don’t want chaos in their communities,” Meghan Hays, a former Biden campaign and White House official, said in a Sunday interview with Reuters.
“Ahead of November, Democrats need to focus on kitchen-table issues and they need to have real solutions. That’s what you’re seeing in these local races.”