The returning head of the House Republican campaign committee says President-elect Trump’s convincing White House victory in 2024 gives the GOP a big home advantage as the party aims to defend its slim majority in the election. 2026 midterm.
“The battleground is really spreading in our favor. There are 14 Democrats who won seats that Donald Trump also won. There are only three Republicans in seats that were won by Kamala Harris. That tells me we’re going to be on the offensive.” , emphasized the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Representative Richard Hudson, in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.
Trump won all seven crucial battleground states and, for the first time in three presidential elections, won the national popular vote by defeating Vice President Harris last month.
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President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP/Evan Vucci)
Republicans also wrested control of the Senate from Democrats, and while they suffered a net loss of two seats in the 435-member House, they will have a fragile 220-215 majority when the new Congress convenes next month.
Eight years ago, when Trump first won the White House and the GOP maintained its majority in the House, Democrats targeted about two dozen Republicans in the 2018 midterm elections in districts that Trump lost in the 2016 election.
Democrats, in a blue wave election, managed to flip the House majority.
Eight years later, the story is different, as this time Republicans will defend seats in friendly territory in districts that the president-elect won.
“There are a lot more opportunities for us to go on the offensive,” touted Hudson, who has represented a congressional district in central North Carolina for a dozen years.
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Hudson also argued that the House Republicans who will once again be targeted by Democrats in the next election cycle are “really battle-tested. I mean, these are people who have been through fire before. They’ve been through several cycles now with millions of dollars spent against them.
“They have been able to be successful because they work very hard in their districts. They have established very strong brands, as you know, people who know how to get things done and how to deliver for their community,” he emphasized. “Republicans in difficult positions are our best candidates.”
The three House Republicans who are in districts Harris won last month are Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mike Lawler of New York.
Now President-elect Donald Trump greets Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 18, 2024 in Milwaukee. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
But there will be one big difference in 2026: Trump, who helped drive low-propensity voters to the polls this year, will not be on the 2026 midterm election ballot.
“I would certainly prefer to have him on the ballot because he creates voters who don’t support other candidates,” Hudson acknowledged.
But he argued: “If you look at the way this race is shaping up, we campaigned on a key set of issues that we promised we would deliver on. If we deliver on those things and we have Donald Trump there with us campaigning with our candidates,” I think that we can expel a larger percentage of those voters than we have in midterm elections in the past.
Hudson said Trump “was a great partner” with House Republicans this year and will be again in the next election cycle.
“[Trump] He cares deeply about having a majority in the House because he understands that a Democratic majority in the House means his agenda comes to a grinding halt. “That’s why he’s been very committed, he was a very good partner for us in the last election and I anticipate that will continue.”
Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, is interviewed by Fox News Digital on December 11, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Hudson, who returns for his second consecutive term as NRCC chair, said at the top of his committee’s to-do list are candidate recruitment and fundraising.
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“I mean, the first thing we have to do is go out and recruit candidates. You know, the quality of the candidates matters. And then we have to raise the money. So I’ll be on the road and I’ll be out there helping our incumbents, but I’m looking forward to it,” he stressed.
Fox News’ Emma Woodhead contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: Fox News Digital also interviewed the chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington. That report will be released on Friday.
