Skip to content

Hoyer Expects Democrats to Lose Seats but Hold Majority

Updated: 10:05 a.m.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) predicted Sunday that Democrats will retain a majority in the House after the November elections.

“We’re going to hold the House,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Meanwhile, former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” predicted a GOP takeover that could possibly exceed the 54-seat gain he oversaw in the 1994 midterm elections. “I think they’re going to do somewhere between mid-40s and more than we did.” He predicted the high end of GOP gains would be around 60 seats.

“I think the momentum is building in the country: The unhappiness with the administration, the disarray of the Democrats, the problems like Congresswoman Waters and Congressman Rangel … All these things are coming together, I think, in a very dangerous brew for the Democrats,” he said, referring to the ethics investigations of Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.).

Hoyer conceded that he expects Democrats to have a smaller majority in the 112th Congress. “We’re going to lose seats,” he said, while declining to speculate on how many lawmakers may lose in the midterm elections.

Hoyer has been campaigning over the August recess, traveling to 11 states on behalf of 20 candidates. He said voters will compare Democrats “not with the perfect, but the alternatives.”

“We don’t have weak Democratic candidates,” Hoyer said.

He pushed back against news reports that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has already made decisions about pulling financial support from specific races. Hoyer specifically said that Reps. Betsy Markey (D-Colo.) and Frank Kratovil (D-Md.) remain in the mix, calling them “top priorities for me and for our party.”

“These candidates are in very good shape and they are going to win,” Hoyer said.

Recent Stories

Trump goes big on tariffs, floats business relocation penalty

He found a purpose working on the Hill. Now he needs a kidney

Tim Scott in line to chair Senate campaign arm for 2026 cycle

Rating Changes: 8 in the House, 2 in the Senate

Cleaver calls for ‘bold’ congressional response to hurricanes

Tax veterans see protracted standoff over expiring breaks