Republicans eye seven more districts for potential majority gains in upcoming midterms 

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) on Monday added seven more districts, one including the Kansas City area, to its target list as Republicans seek to expand their narrow House majority in this November’s midterm elections.

“Vulnerable House Democrats are stuck defending a wildly unpopular record and a radical socialist agenda,” NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson said in a statement Monday. “The NRCC will take the fight into their districts, hold every one of them accountable and expand our House majority in November.”

The NRCC, founded in 1866 to support Republican candidates for the U.S. House, identifies Democratic-held seats as top targets for Republican pickups. The committee added seven districts Monday – AL-02, FL-14, FL-22, LA-06, MO-05, OH-01 and TN-09 – bringing its target list to 36 districts.

Redistricting has shifted the political makeup of many districts across the country, creating potential pickup opportunities for Republicans, the NRCC says. Missouri’s 5th Congressional District now includes more rural communities, shifting it from reliably Democratic to Republican-leaning, according to the Cook Political Report. The new district lines would have increased President Donald Trump’s margin in the district by 18.4 percentage points in 2024, according to the NRCC.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Missouri, currently represents the 5th District and is running unopposed in the Democratic primary Aug. 4 ahead of the November general election. Cleaver served as Kansas City’s first black mayor from 1991 to 1999 before being elected to Congress in 2004, according to his congressional biography.

Cleaver is campaigning on affordability and accessibility in education, health care and housing and ended March with more than $1 million in campaign funds, according to Roll Call, which named him the chamber’s “most vulnerable member of Congress.”

“Emanuel Cleaver spent years rubber-stamping the Democrats’ out-of-touch agenda while ignoring the voters he claims to represent,” NRCC spokesman Zach Bannon said in a statement to Heartlander News. “Missouri’s Fifth District is no longer a safe haven for career politicians, and Cleaver will be sent packing this fall.”

Six Republicans have entered the race with the primary scheduled for Aug. 4.

Nationwide, 23 Democrats are running in districts Trump won in 2024, with Trump receiving more than 50% of the vote in 21 of those districts, according to the NRCC. The committee also said only eight Republicans are running in districts won by former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 and that Trump carried 17 of the 18 districts rated as tossups.

Nationally, however, Trump’s approval rating has fallen, including in key House district races. In Missouri, Trump’s net approval rating was minus 3, while Kentucky was even, down from plus 23 at the beginning of his term, Newsweek reported. The publication also reported Trump was “underwater” in every major swing state.

“The deficits are not overwhelming, but they reinforce a broader pattern: Trump is underwater across the states that are likely to play the biggest role in shaping control of Congress and the White House,” Newsweek wrote.

The NRCC did not address those polling figures in its comments to Heartlander News.