ATLANTA (AP) — Even though Republican Brian Jack is only a first-term congressman, he’s become a regular in the Oval Office these days. As a top recruiter for his party’s campaign team, the Georgia native often reviews polls and biographies of potential candidates with President Donald Trump.
Lauren Underwood, an Illinois congresswoman who does similar work for Democrats, has no such invitation from the West Wing. She’s on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, working the phones to identify and advise candidates she hopes can wipe out the slim Republican majority in the House in November’s midterm elections.
Although they have little in common, both lawmakers have learned from the lessons of 2018, when Democrats flipped dozens of Republican-held seats to turn the rest of Trump’s first term into a political melting pot. Underwood won her race that year, and Jack became responsible for managing the fallout when he became White House political director a few months later.
Underwood wants to repeat in 2026, and Jack tries to stand in her way.
For Republicans, that means going all-in on Trump and his “Make American Great Again” agenda, gambling that lasting enthusiasm in his base will trump broader discontent with his leadership.
“You see a lot of people very inspired by President Trump,” Jack said of his party’s House candidates. “They are excited to serve on this body with him and the White House. This has been a tool and a motivator for so many people who want to run.”
Underwood said he looks for candidates with community involvement and public service beyond Washington politics. A registered nurse, she was a health care advocate before running in 2018, joining a group of Democratic newcomers that included military veterans, educators, activists and business owners.
“It’s about getting ordinary Americans to come around” in a way that “creates a stark contrast to the actions of these MAGA extremists,” she said.
Trump’s involvement is more direct than in 2018
It is routine for a president’s party to lose ground in Congress during the first half-term after winning the White House. Trump, however, is in the rare position of testing this historic trend with a second, non-consecutive presidency.
Neither party has published its list of favored candidates in the targeted seats. But Jack said the Oval Office talks with Trump are focused on who can align with the White House in a win-win way.
Jack singled out former Maine governor Paul LePage as an example. LePage is running in a GOP-leaning district where Democrats face the challenge of replacing Rep. Jared Golden, another member of the party’s class of 2018, who recently announced he would not seek re-election.
Trump’s involvement contrasts with 2017, when he wasn’t as tied to House leadership, including then-Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on the details of the midterm campaign as he is now. Jack, who started with Trump managing delegate communications ahead of the 2016 convention, was deputy White House political director during that time. He was promoted to political director after the 2018 losses.
Jack continued to advise the president, particularly on his endorsements, between Trump’s 2021 departure for the White House and Jack’s campaign for Congress in 2024. He described Trump as heavily involved in recruiting decisions and open to advice on his endorsements since those 2018 defeats.
Trump’s loyalty won’t always be easy to gauge, especially with first-time candidates.
But Jack said Republicans have quality options. He pointed to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Republicans could have a competitive primary that includes Jose Orozco, a former Drug Enforcement Administration contractor, and Greg Cunningham, a former police and Marine officer.
“They both have very inspiring stories,” Jack said.
Orozco asked voters to “give President Trump an ally in Congress.” Cunningham did not focus on Trump in his campaign launch.
Democrats describe a district-by-district approach
Underwood said Democrats are replicating a district-by-district approach from 2018. Recruiting in the Trump era, she said, is more often about talking to potential candidates who have raised their hands to run than talking them into politics.
The notable number of women and combat veterans in his first-term class, Underwood said, was not a top-down strategy but the result of candidates who saw Trump and Republicans as threats to functioning government and democracy.
Underwood, who at age 32 became the youngest black woman ever to serve in Congress after her 2018 election, recalled that Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act prompted her to run because of her training as a nurse. She shares those experiences with recruits, clarifying how they can connect her ideas and experience to the job of a congressman.
Underwood said she also regularly fields questions about serving in an era of political violence and the day-to-day balance of being a candidate or member of Congress, especially from recruits who have children.
National security is again a draw for the Democrat. Former Marine JoAnna Mendoza is running in a largely rural southern Arizona seat, and former Rep. Elaine Luria, another classmate of Underwood’s and a former naval officer, is running again in Virginia after losing her seat in 2022. Luria was among the lead House investigators on the Capitol Hill since January 6, 2021.
Underwood said there are clear parallels to 2018, when successful congressional candidates included Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot who is now the governor-elect of New Jersey; Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger who is one of her recruiting co-chairs; and Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA case officer.
Democrats also noted the need to find candidates who reflect a district’s cultural sensitivities, meaning a candidate who can withstand Republican charges that national Democrats are out of touch with many voters.
For example, in one South Texas district, the most likely Democratic challenger is Tejano music star Bobby Pulido. The five-time Latin Grammy nominee criticized progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York for using the term “Latinx” rather than “Latino” or “Latina.”
Trump’s gerrymandering battle is causing uncertainty
Gerrymandering since mid-decade, mostly in Republican-led states at Trump’s behest, leaves the state’s 435 House districts in flux. Even with the changes, Democrats identify more than three dozen Republican-held seats they believe will be competitive. Republicans are contesting about two dozen Democratic-held seats they believe they can flip.
In the Southwest, Democrats are targeting three Republican seats in Arizona. The GOP is targeting three Democratic seats in Nevada. From the Midwest to the Philadelphia suburbs, Democrats want to flip two seats in Iowa, two in Wisconsin, three in Michigan, three in Ohio and four in Pennsylvania. Republicans are targeting four Democratic seats in New York.
Almost all of the Democratic targets were within 15 percentage points in 2024, many of them much closer. Democratic candidates in the 2025 special election have typically managed double-digit gains compared to Trump’s 2024 margins, including the recent Tennessee House special election, when Democrats came within 9 points in a district Trump won by 22 points.
“It’s the same kind of changes that we saw in 2017 before the victories in 2018,” said Meredith Kelly, a senior official at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during Trump’s first presidency. “So it becomes a combination of that national environment and finding the right candidates that fit a district and can take advantage.”