By Nathan L. Gonzales | Roll Call
Nearly seven months before Election Day, the fight for the House majority is taking shape with a dozen rating changes in a dozen races. While eight of the changes made by Inside Elections benefit Democrats, some of those are on the outskirts of the battlefield, and Republicans are in a better position to control the House next year.
Overall, 72 races are rated as competitive by Inside Elections. That’s a slightly larger House battlefield compared with this point in 2022 (65 seats), 2020 (66 seats) and 2018 (69 seats) but dramatically larger than the end of March 2016, when just 34 House seats were rated as competitive.
There’s unintentional symmetry at the core of the battlefield, where Republicans currently represent 15 seats and Democrats represent 13 seats rated as Toss-up, Tilt Democratic or Tilt Republican. But that understates Democrats’ challenge to gain control.