Here’s a look at ‘reach’ election races where Democrats hope to pull off House upsets

But Democrats are dreaming of pulling off upsets in what might be called “reach” House districts, where Republicans usually win and likely will again — but where races could tighten if a rare political wave gains strength in November. The party in power traditionally suffers losses during midterm elections. Democrats managed to avoid a predicted 2022 “red wave,” but they saw Republicans flip both chambers when President Donald Trump was reelected last cycle.

Now, with an unpopular war in Iran and lingering concerns about inflation, Democrats are hoping that this year could be a replay of 2018, when a backlash against Trump changed the balance of power in Congress. “House Democrats are expanding the battlefield deep into Trump terrain,” said Washington Rep. Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella countered that “national Democrats can keep throwing darts at the map and calling wherever they land a battleground, but nobody is buying it.” Here are some long-shot races, where stronger Democratic performances might signal an especially good election nationally for the party. A candidate moved back to Nebraska after DOGE cuts While all eyes are on the open seat in Nebraska’s hotly contested “blue dot” 2nd Congressional District in Omaha, another race in the nearby, but more rural, more conservative, 1st District might be heating up. The seat hasn’t gone blue since President Lyndon B.

Johnson topped the ticket in 1964, but the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added the race to its list of those “in play,” meaning national party support. Hoping to break the losing streak is Chris Backemeyer, a former senior State Department official who said he left Washington after the Elon Musk-ledDepartment of Government Efficiency “came in and just wanted me to fire a lot of people.” Born and raised in the college town of Lincoln, the bluest part of an otherwise Republican district, Backemeyer quit his job and embarked on a cross-country road trip with his wife and three children, before eventually attending a town hall last summer hosted by Republican Rep. The line to get into the event stretched for blocks, Backemeyer recalled, and the atmosphere turned tense as audience members pressed Flo…

Not even close.But Democrats are dreaming of pulling off upsets in what might be called “reach” House districts, where Republicans usually win and likely will again — but where races could tighten if a rare political wave gains strength in November.The party in power traditionally suffers losses during midterm elections. Mike Flood.The line to get into the event stretched for blocks, Backemeyer recalled, and the atmosphere turned tense as audience members pressed Flood on cuts t…