Democrats Flip Nine House Seats in Red Districts
New congressional members from states including Texas, Wisconsin, and Nevada are set to take office after defeating long-tenured incumbents and Republican challengers.
By Priya Marino ·
The balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives shifted sharply this week as Democrats captured nine seats in districts that were historically safe for Republicans. These victories included races in states where the party had not won the specific congressional district in decades.
Rep. Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, noted that the party reached into deep red territory. She stated that the outcome was impressive not just for the number of seats gained, but for the geographic reach of the wins.
North Carolina’s 9th district was one of the first seats to change hands. Rep. Richard Hudson, a seven-term member who led the National Republican Congressional Committee, lost to Richard Ojeda. Ojeda is a former Army major who built a following as a liberal social media influencer during the first Trump administration. Hudson’s defeat followed a difficult cycle for the state’s GOP, which pulled support from Senate candidate Michael Whatley as he struggled against Roy Cooper.
In Wisconsin’s 1st district, Mitchell Berman defeated Rep. Bryan Steil by nearly four points. Steil had won all four of his previous elections by at least nine points. No Democrat had held that Wisconsin seat since 1993. Berman, an emergency room nurse running for office for the first time, used his middle-class background to appeal to voters. The result removes a likely future Senate candidate from the Republican roster.
Texas saw two major upsets. Katy Padilla Stout won the 23rd district by eight points, ending a period where the seat had elected only Republicans since 2012. Stout, a lawyer and former teacher, defeated Brandon Herrera, a gun enthusiast YouTuber with four million subscribers who had been selected by primary voters after Rep. Tony Gonzales retired. In the 9th district, Leticia Gutierrez defeated Alex Mealer by slightly more than 15 points. The district had been redrawn in 2025 to favor Republicans, but Gutierrez, a former Houston city government worker, defeated the well-funded military veteran.
Nevada’s 2nd district elected Teresa Benitez-Thompson, the first Democrat to win the seat. Her opponent, David Flippo, faced questions about his military record and late financial disclosures. Longtime Rep. Mark Amodei, who retired, refused to endorse Flippo and called him a fraud. With this win, all of Nevada’s congressional seats are now held by Democrats.
Other districts that changed hands include Colorado’s 5th, where Jessica Killin defeated Rep. Jeff Crank. Killin, a former Army captain, ran as a moderate in a district home to military installations and the evangelical group Focus on the Family. In Indiana’s 5th district, state Senator J.D. Ford defeated Rep. Victoria Spartz by 3.4 points. Spartz had previously won by large margins in a district that was made more conservative by redistricting in 2021.
New Jersey’s 2nd district went to Zack Mullock, the mayor of Cape May, who defeated Rep. Jeff Van Drew. Van Drew had switched from Democrat to Republican in 2020. In Iowa’s 2nd district, Lindsay James defeated Joe Mitchell. James, a state lawmaker and minister, credited her victory partly to the presence of two other candidates on the ballot who received more votes than her margin of victory over Mitchell. The new members are scheduled to arrive at Capitol Hill this week to begin their terms.
