# US House races 2026 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 23, 2025, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336 "2025-09-23T16:38:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336/181 "2026-10-22T13:51:01Z")
If he couldn’t be convicted in either of his two previous impeachment trials, given the appalling conduct which led to each, I can’t imagine what might lead to a conviction the third time. I’m afraid it would almost certainly be a wasted effort. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336/182 "2026-10-22T18:32:14Z")
The point wouldn’t be to get a conviction. Instead, I think two other points are important. First is to lay out in front of the American people exactly what impeachment worthy actions Trump has taken but which have not been formally presented to the American people. Second is to show the people that elected Democratic legislators are willing to hold Trump accountable as opposed to “going along to get along”. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336/183 "2026-10-22T19:49:50Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > I don’t think the House should impeach unless the Senate has the votes to convict. Maybe once, but more that once is pointless. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336/184 "2026-10-22T20:00:11Z")
May I suggest we continue the discussion in the other thread? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336/185 "2026-10-23T12:41:11Z")
It looks like Florida is scared because I’ve been getting a lot more ads in my mail than I usually do, and the vast majority for the Republicans when normally it’s been mixed. I decided to put it in this thread because the biggest offender is the red Congressional member. Furthermore, he _emailed_ me four times yesterday with scare stories about the Democrats (at least according to the titles.) I reported it as spam which I haven’t done in quite a while, since reputable companies don’t spam me, and disreputable companies aren’t generally even located in the US, and furthermore, it was 4 times in a day. (Note that I’m not trying to get him into legal trouble as the email itself is probably legal due to it being political. However, hopefully it will mean I wont get emails from him from now on and, hope beyond hope, maybe it will train the email AI to recognize it as possible spam for other people.) What’s worse than the simple act of dropping four right wing emails, though is the fact that _The GOP now has my email_. It was even addressed to my real first name. I’ve certainly never emailed this bozo, and have never emailed a politician in my lifetime that I can remember. I have emailed non-political government offices, so I wonder if that is how my email was leaked, either that or they bought my name from a disreputable email harvesting company. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336/186 "2026-10-23T14:04:24Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > It looks like Florida is scared because I’ve been getting a lot more ads in my mail than I usually do, and the vast majority for the Republicans when normally it’s been mixed. It’s anecdotal for me as well, but in MO-02 (Ann Wagner, R-Inc) I have been getting a _ton_ of attack mailers and text spam. I almost never get anything from her campaign, as it is a pretty red district (Trump won by 8 here). We’ll see if it means anything, but it’s at least a sign the GOP is dropping some serious money on some pretty red seats. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336/187 "2026-10-24T02:13:50Z")
[CNN: Cook Political Report moves 19 House races in Democrats’ favor](https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/23/politics/live-news/midterm-election-congress) ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336/188 "2026-10-24T11:44:57Z")
We’ve got some local fun. Our old house member, Chuck Edwards, resigned in disgrace after an ethic investigation revealed a series of texts to his young female lackeys [as creepy as they were cringe](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/08/04/chuck-edwards-creepy-poems-ice-cream-ethics-report-findings/91165021007/). Now our Democratic candidate–a good ol boy farmer from a family of farmer politicians (full disclosure: I’ve taken classes on field trips to his farm)-- was no longer running against Edwards. The new candidate, [Jennifer Balkcom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Balkcom), came out of nowhere: nobody I know had heard of her before she announced her candidacy. We’ve heard of her now. She’s distinguished herself in three ways: 1. She [gave an interview](https://www.mediaite.com/politics/republican-candidate-turns-in-disastrous-interview-complete-with-wildly-long-pause/) where she repeatedly said (barely paraphrased) “I dunno” in answer to policy questions. She varied her answer once by staring silently at the interviewer for like fifteen seconds before saying “I dunno.” 2. She had a political ad whose substance was her mom sitting next to her saying, “Someone tried to break into my house, so I SHOT him!” and it was like, “Jennifer Balkcom: Mountain values.” You might think I’m exaggerating, [but no](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/opinion-balkcom-s-momma-ad-is-brilliant-but-questions-remain/ar-AA2ev4eP). 3. She responded to an Ager ad. Ager’s ad was [him at one of the barn dances](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKU7RR90A-I) that his family holds monthly. Different mountain values. And it discussed some policy issues over the fiddle music. Balkcom’s response? [An AI generated ad](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/asheville-drag-queen-says-attack-ad-that-falsely-links-her-to-jamie-ager-was-made-with-ai/ar-AA2fXj5s) of Ager dancing with a drag queen, plus a bunch of other folks in drag. At least one of them is a real person whose likeness was used without her permission; she’s never met Ager. I’d never heard of Balkcom before this. Please, WNC, let me never have to hear of her again after this. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336/189 "2026-10-24T14:27:48Z")
The Wiki page you linked to says she’s a Republican. It also says, > In 2026, it was reported that Balkcom had previously been a member of the [Libertarian Party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian_Party_(United_States) "Libertarian Party (United States)") from 2002 to 2005, then a [Democrat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_(United_States) "Democratic Party (United States)") from 2005 until 2016, when she became a Republican.[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Balkcom#cite_note-assemblync-6) I suspect her political affiliation is Opportunist. She’s just in it for the paycheck and the retirement plan. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336/190 "2026-10-24T17:02:46Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > WNC Had to google that. So she’s trying to sabotage her new party? She came across as unsteady, mentally ill in her ad with her mom. Goodness gravy put her on blast. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336/191 "2026-10-24T18:28:14Z")
Sorry about the acronym. Here in Western North Carolina, it is so standard that I didn’t even think about it. I don’t think she is trying to sabotage anybody. When Chuck Edwards suddenly dipped in disgrace, Republicans really had no good options to take his place. They gambled on an unknown candidate. She still might win, because this district is gerrymandered to fuck. If it weren’t, though, the Democrat would be a shoo-in. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336/192 "2026-10-24T19:14:56Z")
I’d seen that idiotic “My mom shot someone!” ad before, but I appreciate hearing more of the context around it. And wow, a rural politician hosting monthly barn dances is just so stereotypical that I wouldn’t have expected to ever see it these days. Let’s hope it works. ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336/193 "2026-10-24T20:46:04Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Sorry about the acronym. Here in Western North Carolina, it is so standard that I didn’t even think about it. That’s almost as good as > The far southwestern part of northeast South Dakota What can I say? I grew up on Dr. Seuss. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336/194 "2026-10-25T04:15:14Z")
Reminds me of the halcyon days of my musical pathology studies at the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2026, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336/195 "2026-10-27T06:05:40Z")
> **[Republicans rush to save another batch of deep-red House seats](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/10/26/800116819/elections/republicans-rush-to-save-deep-red-house-seats/)** > > Republicans are unloading millions to try to save a new crop of districts. > [@](#): > > So Republicans are frantically booking ad reservations to try to prevent an impending apocalyptic scenario. Districts that they’re spending money in (details in the article) are NE-01 NC-09 IN-05 FL-13 MN-01 All these are districts Trump won by double digits. And most of them weren’t on anyone’s radar even a week ago. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336.md?page=9)