A total of 23 seats in Congress flipped political parties during the 2022 midterm elections, data shows.
Of the 23 seats that switched political parties, 16 seats flipped from Democrat to Republican and seven flipped from Republican to Democrat.
The House of Representatives is a 435-seat chamber. A party needs to hold 218 seats to claim a majority. Ahead of the 2022 midterms, Democrats held 220 seats and Republicans held 212 seats. Nine incumbents—six Democrats and three Republicans—lost their reelection bids on Nov. 8. Three seats were vacant.
Of the three vacant seats, two were previously held by Democrats and one was held by a Republican:
- Florida’s 13th District: Democrat Charlie Crist resigned on Aug. 31 with no special election held.
- Florida’s 23rd District: Democrat Ted Deutch resigned on Sept. 30 with no special election held.
- Indiana’s 2nd District: Republican Jackie Walorski died on Aug. 3. A special election was held Nov. 8.
The 2022 midterms were the first elections to take place following congressional apportionment and redistricting after the 2020 census. As a result of apportionment, six states—Texas, Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina, and Oregon—gained districts. Seven states—California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia—lost districts.
Starting in January, when the new members are sworn in, Republicans will control 221 House seats, leaving Democrats with 212 seats.
Of the 23 congressional seats that switched political parties, 16 seats flipped from Democrat to Republican and seven flipped from Republican to Democrat.
Democrat to Republican
Arizona
- District 2: Republican Eli Crane defeated three-term Democrat Rep. Tom O’Halleran. The election filled the seat held by Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick, who first assumed office in 2019. Kirkpatrick announced on March 12, 2021, that she would seek reelection.
Florida
- District 13: Republican Anna Paulina Luna defeated Democrat Eric Lynn, 53 percent to 45 percent. The newly redrawn district had been represented by Democrat Charlie Crist, who resigned his office to launch an unsuccessful gubernatorial challenge against Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
- District 7: Republican Cory Mills defeated Democrat Karen Green. The district, which became solidly red after redistricting, was represented by retiring Democrat Stephanie Murphy.
California
- District 5: Republican Tom McClintock defeated Democrat Mike Barkley, 60.1 percent to 38.7 percent. The seat had been held by Democrat Mike Thompson, whose term ends on Jan. 3, 2023. Thompson held the seat since 2013.
- District 13: On Dec. 2, Republican John Duarte declared victory against Democrat state Assemblyman Adam Grey in a district where Democrat voters outnumber Republicans by a margin of 42 percent to 24 percent. District 13 has not elected a Republican since 1974. Duarte will assume the seat long held by Democrat Rep. Barbara Lee, who ran for a seat in the 12th District due to redistricting.
Georgia
- District 6: Republican Rich McCormick defeated Democrat Bob Christian, 62.4 percent to 37.6 percent. Democrats had held the seat since 2018.
Iowa
- District 3: Republican state Sen. Zach Nunn narrowly defeated two-term incumbent Democrat Rep. Cindy Axne—the state’s only Democrat member of Congress—with 50.3 percent of the vote. Iowa will send four Republicans to the House of Representatives for the first time since 2004, when the state had five representatives. Iowa’s House delegation has not been singularly Republican since 1994.
Michigan
- District 10: In a redrawn congressional district in the Detroit suburbs, Republican John James defeated Democrat Carl Marlinga by a narrow margin of 48.6 percent to 48.4 percent.
New Jersey
- District 7: Republican Tom Kean Jr. defeated incumbent Democrat Tom Malinowski by 4.6 points. Malinowski had held the seat since 2019.
New York
- District 3: New York Republican George Devolder-Santos defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman by a margin of nearly 8.4 points—54.2 percent to 45.8 percent—flipping the district to red for the first time since 2010. Zimmerman sought the Long Island seat after Democrat Rep. Tom Suozzi, who held the district since 2016, vacated his seat to launch an unsuccessful gubernatorial bid.
- District 4: Republican Anthony D’Esposito defeated Democrat Laura Gillen, securing the seat held by retiring Democrat Rep. Kathleen Rice.
- District 17: Republican state Assemblyman Mike Lawler defeated Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney by a margin of 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent.
- District 19: By a margin of 51.1 percent to 48.9 percent, Republican Marc Molinaro defeated Democrat Josh Riley. Incumbent Democrat Pat Ryan ran for reelection in New York’s 18th Congressional District due to redistricting.
Tennessee
- District 5: Republican Andy Ogles defeated Democrat Heidi Campbell 56.3 percent to 42.6 percent. Ogles will replace retiring Democrat Jim Cooper, who decided not to seek reelection following redistricting that shifted the district from solid blue to “likely” red.
Virginia
- District 2: Republican Jennifer Kiggans unseated incumbent Democrat Rep. Elaine Luria by a margin of 52 percent to 47.9 percent. Luria had held the seat since 2018.
Wisconsin
- District 3: Republican Derrick Van Orden defeated Democrat state Sen. Brad Pfaff by 4 points following Democrat Rep. Ronald Kind’s decision not to seek reelection to Congress. In 2020, Kind beat then-first time congressional candidate Van Orden by about 3 points.
Republican to Democrat
Alaska
- At-Large District: Incumbent Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola defeated Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich and Libertarian candidate Chris Bye. Peltola, Begich, Palin, and Republican Tara Sweeney advanced from the Aug. 16 top-four primary. Sweeney withdrew from the race, leaving Bye, the fifth-place finisher, to advance. The seat was left vacant by the death of Republican Rep. Don Young in March. Young had held the office since 1973.
Illinois
- District 13: Democrat Nikki Budzinski defeated Republican Regan Deering by a margin of 54.7 percent to 45.3 percent. The seat had been held by Republican Rodney Davis, who lost the Republican primary on June 28 and had held the seat since 2013.
Michigan
- District 3: Democrat Hillary Scholten defeated Republican John Gibbs, 54.8 percent to 41.9 percent. Republican incumbent Peter Meijer, who represented the district since 2021, lost his reelection bid against Gibbs in the Aug. 2 Republican primary.
New Mexico
- District 2: Democrat Gabriel Vasquez defeated freshman incumbent Republican Rep. Yvette Herrell by a margin of about 1,300 votes. Vasquez’s win once again gives New Mexico an all-Democrat congressional delegation.
North Carolina
- District 13: Democrat Wiley Nickel defeated Republican Bo Hines, 51.3 percent to 48.7 percent. Incumbent Republican Rep. Ted Budd vacated the House seat to run for Senate and won his election to the upper chamber.
Ohio
- District 1: Republican Rep. Steve Chabot lost his reelection bid to Democrat Greg Landsman by a margin of 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent. Chabot was first elected in 1994. After losing his 2008 reelection bid, he was elected again in 2010.
Texas
- District 34: While Republican Mayra Flores defeated Democrat Dan Sanchez in Texas’s June special election to replace Democrat Filemon Vela, who left Congress in April, she was defeated on Nov. 8 by two-term Democrat Rep. Vicente Gonzalez. The two incumbents squared off following redistricting.
From The Epoch Times