A staggering 30 House Democrats are facing at least one primary challenger who has raised $100,000 or more. A dozen of them have been out-raised by their rivals, as Axios
reported on Tuesday.There is less of a concerted effort to unseat incumbent Republicans, but
mid-cycle redistricting and
anti-endorsements from President Trump are keeping things interesting.
Zoom in: Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), a longtime target of the right, was defeated in Texas' 2nd district by Texas state Rep. Steve Toth who criticized him as insufficiently conservative.
Texas' 18th: Reps.
Al Green (D-Texas), 78, and Christian Menefee (D-Texas), 37, are set for a runoff after being forced to fight for one Houston-based seat by Texas Republicans' mid-decade redistricting.Texas' 23rd: Rep.
Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) will go to a runoff with right-wing gun influencer and past opponent Brandon Herrera. Gonzales faces a
House Ethics probe over an alleged affair with a staffer who died by suicide.Texas' 33rd: Freshman Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Texas) is facing a runoff with former Rep. Colin Allred, who had
millions to spend from his
abandoned Senate bid.
Zoom out: The varied reasons for these results highlight just how many anti-incumbency crosscurrents lawmakers in both parties are facing this cycle.
Ideology: Moderate and establishment House members are defending themselves from charges of being too weak or willing to compromise with the opposing party at a moment where hyper-partisanship has never been more in vogue.Age: President Biden's halting debate performance in 2024 has reverberated throughout the Democratic Party, with grassroots activists trying to
oust as many of the party's oldest lawmakers as they can.Redistricting: Texas' mid-decade redrawing of its congressional maps opened the floodgates, with Democrats forcing multiple Republicans to fight for the same district in California and potentially Virginia.
Yes, but: In North Carolina's 4th district, Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.) may narrowly fend off progressive challenger Nida Allam.
That race saw considerable spending from outside groups, with Allam trying to outflank Foushee to her left and go after her on
issues like Iran.As in the case of the Green vs. Menefee, there was an also an element of
Democrats' generational civil war in this race: Foushee is 69, while Allam is just 32.
What's next: There are dozens of Democratic primaries, from Hawaii to California to Tennessee to Massachusetts, in which incumbents are trying to fend off well-funded, younger insurgents.
On the Republican side, Reps. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) and Young Kim (R-Calif.) are facing off for a single seat due to mid-decade redistricting.Rep.
Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is being challenged by Trump-backed Ed Gallrein. Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.), who recently had his Trump endorsement rescinded, also has a primary challenger.
Editor's note: This article has been corrected to reflect that it's Rep. Jeff Hurd who faces a primary challenger (not former Rep. Will Hurd).
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