While marquee races from Maine to Michigan get all the attention, and draw in a ton of money, a significant batch of lower-profile contests across the US could result in upsets.
Democrats have a strong edge heading into November’s US midterm elections, polls show. In recent days, election prognosticators have shifted even more races in favor of Democrats.
Still, some races have openings for Republicans to pick off an incumbent Democrat, or win over voters for open seats. Republicans are pouring money into these places in hopes of minimizing their losses. Mid-decade redistricting in red states also may help Republicans knock off some Democrats.
Here are 10 under-the-radar races worth keeping an eye on.
-
1. US Senate – New Hampshire
Democratic senator Jeanne Shaheen’s retirement leaves an open race, which Cook Political Report considers a tossup despite the expected blue wave. That’s largely because Republican John Sununu comes from political royalty in the state: his dad and his brother were both governors, and he was a US senator himself until losing his seat to Shaheen in 2008. Chris Pappas, a US representative since 2019 now running as the Democratic nominee to succeed Shaheen in the Senate, was the first openly gay man to represent the state in Congress. Democrats have the edge in this race, but New Hampshire voters are known to split tickets. The state’s governor is a Republican, and Republicans control both chambers of the state legislature, but both of its US senators are now Democrats.
-
2. US Senate – Kansas
Could Democrats beat the odds and win in Kansas, which hasn’t elected a Democrat to the US Senate since 1932? It’s possible – both because of the strength of Democratic candidate and pastor Adam Hamilton, and a medical billing scandal for Republican incumbent Roger Marshall. A New York Times investigation in September showed Marshall had sued more than 700 patients of his OB-GYN practice for unpaid bills, resulting in arrests for 81 of them who missed court dates. Hamilton, the founder of the largest Methodist congregation in the US, won in a crowded Democratic primary earlier this year.
-
3. US Senate – Minnesota
An open seat after Democratic US senator Tina Smith’s retirement leaves Democrats trying to keep the midwestern state in their hands. The race is looking a bit closer than expected. Peggy Flanagan, the state’s lieutenant governor and the Democratic nominee, faces Michele Tafoya, a former NFL sideline reporter turned conservative media darling. Tafoya has shown strong fundraising and approves of some level of abortion access. The state typically elects Democrats, but Flanagan – a progressive – could suffer because of fraud scandals in state public services under governor Tim Walz’s administration.
-
4. Florida’s 13th congressional district
Democrats are hoping to unseat incumbent Republican Anna Paulina Luna in this right-leaning Gulf Coast district. Election prognosticators have shifted the race from a likely win for Luna to just leaning toward her. Leela Gray, the Democratic contender and a retired army brigadier general, has seen more money come in to support her bid. While Florida Republicans’ mid-decade redistricting made Luna’s district a bit redder, Democrats still think they have a shot at ousting her.
-
5. Wisconsin’s first congressional district
In this southeastern Wisconsin district, a slightly red-leaning area, Republican incumbent Bryan Steil has overperformed in previous cycles. This time it’s looking close, however, and the national environment could help Democratic contender and registered nurse Mitchell Berman flip the seat from red to blue.
-
6. Alabama’s second congressional district
Democratic incumbent Shomari Figures is fighting to hold on to his district after mid-decade redistricting enabled by the US supreme court’s gutting of the Voting Rights Act made it more favorable to Republicans – and carved out his home town of Mobile. Republican Rhett Marques, on paper, has a strong edge in the newly redrawn district. Figures first won the area in 2024, when it was then a newly drawn majority-Black district.
-
7. New Mexico’s second congressional district
Incumbent Democratic representative Gabe Vasquez is fending off big spending by Republicans, with the party set to dump millions of dollars into ads to boost former police officer Greg Cunningham, the Republican contender. The southern New Mexico district is evenly divided, and Vasquez won in 2024, when Donald Trump narrowly won the district. Vasquez first captured the district in 2022, when he defeated the Republican incumbent.
-
8. Texas’s 34th congressional district
In the south Texas borderland district, Democratic incumbent Vicente Gonzalez is working to fend off Trump-endorsed Eric Flores, a veteran and former federal prosecutor. The district was redrawn as part of Texas Republicans’ mid-decade redistricting and now looks tougher for Gonzalez, who already faced tough races in the previous iteration of the district.
-
9. New Jersey’s seventh congressional district
Democrat Rebecca Bennett, a former US navy helicopter pilot, should have a strong chance to unseat an incumbent in this district, where voters went for Joe Biden in 2020 then Trump in 2024 – but not simply because the area is a swing district. Incumbent Republican Tom Kean Jr went missing for months while serving in Congress, refusing to say why he wasn’t going to work until he returned months later. He later disclosed he was treated for depression.
-
10. Nevada governor
Democratic attorney general Aaron Ford wants to unseat incumbent Republican governor Joe Lombardo in the southwestern swing state. Lombardo, previously the sheriff of Clark county, where Las Vegas is, beat an incumbent Democrat in 2022 to take the state’s executive office. Democrats control both chambers of the state legislature, and a win by Ford would give the party a governing trifecta.
The Guardian wp:paragraph
هلدینگ کاسپین استانبول | خرید ملک در ترکیه | صرافی معتبر ایرانی در ترکیه | خرید و فروش طلا در ترکیه | مهاجرت به ترکیه | واردات و صادرات در ترکیه | نیازمندیهای ترکیه | اخبار ترکیه | اخبار جهانی | توریست ایران | خدمات توریستی در ایران | تورهای گردشگری ایران | هلدینگ اول | خدمات کاریابی و فریلنسری و شغل | مرجع اطلاعات ایران (همه چیز در ایران) | کیف پول و خدمات مالی و پرداخت یار | اخبار ایران | تابلو زنده قیمت ارز در ترکیه و استانبول | صرافی آنلاین ترکیه | قیمت طلا و نقره در ترکیه | سرمایه گذاری در ترکیه | جواهرات در ترکیه | نرخ لحظه ای ارزها در استانبول | قیمت دلار امروز در ترکیه | قیمت دلار استانبول امروز | قیمت لحظه ای دلار | اخبار روز ترکیه استانبول | اپلیکیشن ISTEX | اپلیکیشن قیمت لحظه ای دلار و یورو و لیر و ارزها در ترکیه
/wp:paragraph wp:paragraph /wp:paragraph
About the Author
