House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., made it official on Friday, announcing that votes are no longer expected during the month of October, and that the House will reconvene on Nov. 13.

While the chamber had long been scheduled to be in session during the first two weeks of October, the move had been widely expected and comes as House Republicans are defending dozens of competitive seats on Nov. 6. It allows vulnerable members to spend the run-up to the midterm elections in their districts. 

That will allow some House Democrats who are seeking Senate seats (Kyrsten Sinema in Arizona, Jacky Rosen in Nevada and Beto O’Rourke in Texas) to spend time on the ground while the GOP Senate incumbents some are challenging (Dean Heller in Nevada, Ted Cruz in Texas) are scheduled to be in session in Washington for part of October.

That cuts both ways for some Senate Democrats, though, as Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer will have North Dakota to himself while Democrat Heidi Heitkamp is in D.C., for instance. 

For a rundown of the political landscape, check out Roll Call’s 2018 Election Guide.