{"id":29892,"date":"2026-08-06T14:09:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T09:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=29892"},"modified":"2026-08-06T14:09:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T09:09:28","slug":"house-gop-scandals-expand-democrats-2026-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=29892","title":{"rendered":"House GOP scandals expand Democrats&#039; 2026 map"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/FbdImyY79nJcgyWlNuS03DnMJKI=\/0x0:6217x3497\/1366x768\/2026\/08\/06\/1785975905155.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Four scandal-plagued House Republicans whose seats should be gimmes for the GOP have instead turned their races into unexpected battlegrounds.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters:<\/strong> These aren&#8217;t districts you&#8217;d expect to be in play \u2014 Donald Trump carried all four comfortably in 2024. But the incumbents&#8217; ethical troubles are making Republicans spend time and money defending the seats \u2014 in a cycle where neither party has any room for error.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/08\/05\/chuck-edwards-reelection-censure-harassment\" target=\"_blank\">dropped his reelection bid<\/a><strong> <\/strong>after the Ethics Committee found he violated House rules by sexually harassing female aides and creating a hostile work environment. That&#8217;s set off a scramble to find a replacement just three months before the election. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The race was shifted to &#8220;toss-up&#8221; last week by Sabato&#8217;s Crystal Ball, even before the ethics report was released. Trump won Edwards&#8217; district by 9.5 points last cycle.<\/li>\n<li>Whoever North Carolina Republicans choose on Monday night to replace Edwards will have a short runway to fundraise and introduce themselves to the district.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Max Miller (R-Ohio)<\/strong> is accused of assaulting his ex-wife and their child, allegations he denies.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Even Trump expressed doubts to Miller that he can win, Axios <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/08\/04\/trump-max-miller-moreno-election-house\" target=\"_blank\">reported<\/a> this week. But he&#8217;s been defiant amid calls for him to drop out.<\/li>\n<li>Democrats are pinning their hopes on ironworker Brian Poindexter, a progressive populist backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).<\/li>\n<li>Trump carried the district by 11 points two years ago.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Cory Mills (R-Fla.)<\/strong> remains under an active Ethics Committee investigation over allegations that center on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/live-updates\/2025\/02\/24\/congress\/cory-mills-denies-assault-allegations-00205873\" target=\"_blank\">domestic abuse<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.notus.org\/congress\/cory-mills-iraq-bronze-star\" target=\"_blank\">stolen valor<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.news-journalonline.com\/story\/news\/nation-world\/2025\/03\/28\/cory-mills-finances-companies-reviewed-by-house-ethics-committee\/82696536007\/\" target=\"_blank\">financial misconduct<\/a>, all of which he denies.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Trump won Mills&#8217; district by 13 points in 2024, but Mills is facing a tough primary fight. <\/li>\n<li>Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Mike Haridopolos (R-Fla.) officially backed Mills&#8217; primary challenger, Ryan Elijah. Haridopolos told Axios Wednesday that Elijah is a &#8220;true family man who can win in November in this safe Republican seat.&#8221; <\/li>\n<li>Multiple Democrats are vying to challenge Mills, but party leadership has lined up behind former NASA Chief of Staff Bale Dalton.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) <\/strong>had his phone <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2024\/08\/07\/house-republican-phone-andy-ogles-fbi\" target=\"_blank\">seized by the FBI<\/a> in 2024 as part of an investigation into his campaign finances.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Justice Department dropped the case after Trump returned to office last year, but the probe has left Ogles politically vulnerable.<\/li>\n<li>Democratic leadership&#8217;s top-flight recruit in the district, Columbia Mayor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/nashville\/2026\/02\/23\/national-democrats-name-columbia-mayor-chaz-molder-a-priority-candidate\" target=\"_blank\">Chaz Molder<\/a>, has a 3-to-1 fundraising advantage over Ogles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What they&#8217;re saying: <\/strong>Viet Shelton, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), projected confidence that all four of these districts are very much in play.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Vulnerable House Republicans mistakenly think that no matter how awful their behavior is, they are untouchable,&#8221; he said in a statement.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Voters in these districts are pissed over higher costs, Republicans&#8217; broken promises, and are ready to reject these scandal-plagued members, who&#8217;ve made voters&#8217; lives worse.&#8221; <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Between the lines:<\/strong> There&#8217;s a chance Ogles, Mills and Miller don&#8217;t make it to the general election.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/30\/republican-primary-andy-ogles-super-pac\" target=\"_blank\">Ogles<\/a> and Mills are both facing primary challenges from GOP rivals who have out-raised them.<\/li>\n<li>Miller has until next week to withdraw from the ballot and Republicans are eyeing contingency plans in case he bows to growing pressure.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The bottom line: <\/strong>&#8220;If all four of them are on the ballot, it&#8217;s a lot more of a pain in the ass,&#8221; one GOP operative told Axios shortly before Edwards dropped his bid.<\/p>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Four scandal-plagued House Republicans whose seats should be gimmes for the GOP have instead turned their races into unexpected battlegrounds. Why it matters: These aren&#8217;t districts you&#8217;d expect to be in play \u2014 Donald Trump carried all four comfortably in 2024. But the incumbents&#8217; ethical troubles are making Republicans spend time and money defending the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/FbdImyY79nJcgyWlNuS03DnMJKI=\/0x0:6217x3497\/1366x768\/2026\/08\/06\/1785975905155.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}