Just one week before Election Day 2022, 10 more House seats in reliably blue districts, areas where President Joe Biden cruised to victory in 2020, have shifted in the GOP’s favor, spelling trouble for Democrats in what may turn out to be an intense red wave.
Two seats in New York and one in California have been moved from leaning Democratic to now being deemed toss-ups, and a toss-up race in Oregon has been updated to lean Republican, according to new ratings from the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
Republicans now have more hope for extra pickup opportunities as they seek to gain control of the House for at least the next two years.
“If you’re looking for House upsets, the best places to watch might be blue states where there’s no competitive statewide races driving turnout, Democratic governors are underperforming and GOP candidates have been able to seize on high crime and inflation,” the article said.”
“I’ve never seen an election where the signs are this divergent and … lumpy,” one veteran Democratic strategist told the outlet. “It’s less nationalized than we’re accustomed to, and there’s more weakness in the blue end of the battlefield.”
“This week, we’re moving ten seats in the GOP’s direction – all in very blue states and all in districts Biden carried by between eight and 20 points in 2020. Three are open seats where the lack of an incumbent has allowed the GOP to remain,” it continued.
Another five races have been shifted from being “likely Democratic” to “lean Democratic” and one House race in New York has moved from being “solid Democratic” to “likely Democratic.”
As of Tuesday, at least 212 seats lean toward Republicans, 188 lean toward Democrats, and 35 remain toss-ups, according to the Cook Political Report. The RealClear Politics House map currently projects 228 Republican, 174 Democratic, and 33 toss-ups.
RealClear Politics also recently updated their senate projections, predicting that New Hampshire would flip red, bringing the total gains made by the GOP in the Senate to a possible 4 seats.
