Districts without incumbents due to retirements or redistricting
The holiday season is a traditional time to announce political retirements -- a respectful time after the November elections, and a respectful time before the spring 2026 primaries, so that candidates can announce and plan.
These are NOT House members who are running for other office -- they are listed below -- which take place earlier than general retirements. We'll update this retirement list, but here are two examples with their rationale:
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (TX-37-D) announced on Dec. 5 that he was retiring due to redistricting:
According to RollCall.com,
the "Supreme Court said it would allow Texas to use the new GOP-drawn map...
Doggett took aim at Trump’s push for mid-decade redistricting to help House Republicans defend their majority."
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14-R) announced on Jan. 5 that she was resigning Congress.
According to OpenSecrets.org,
Greene cited "frustration with party leadership and her fallout with President Donald Trump."
Both those rationales focus on efforts to maintain Republican control of the House of Representatives.
Currently the partisan split is 219 Republicans to 212 Democrats -- which means if four seats "flip", the Democrats gain the House majority.
With a House majority, Democrats can decide which bills come to a House vote --
i.e. the majority party determines the agenda, including calling for President Trump's impeachment.
(NY-12): Announced retirement Sept. 1; challengers: State Rep. Alex Bores (D); State Rep. Micah Lasher (D); Jack Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg (D); George Conway (D)
House members running for Senate and Governor: Nov. 15, 2025
House incumbents running for other office, and early House challengers
Now that the 2025 election is over, the 2026 election cycle begins.
We list some early retirement announcements below, for House incumbents retiring to run for other offices.
We also list "hot races": early candidacy announcements of serious challengers to House incumbents who are not retiring.
This list is disproportionately long on the Republican side -- which gives Democrats many more openings for re-taking the House majority. But most of these are "safe" seats; the "open" seats are more likely to "flip".
(MN-2): Running for Senator from Minnesota; House challengers: State Rep. Kaela Berg (DFL); State Sen. Matt Klein (DFL); State Sen. Matt Little (DFL); State Sen. Eric Pratt (R)
Democratic candidates came out ahead in most races this November (on the left below), which is typical for when Republicans hold federal power (GOP results on the right below).
New House members gun control/gun rights legislation
On Aug. 27, a mass shooting killed two children, and injured 18 others, at a Minneapolis Catholic School. After mass shootings, there is a call for new legislation. We survey past state legislation: addressing mass shootings has been an active topic across dozens of states for decades. Generally, the parties believe:
Democrats support fewer guns via new restrictions on the most deadly or untraceable weapons.
Republicans support more guns in the hands of good guys, as defense against guns in the hands of bad guys.
However, look at the party affiiliations below for numerous exceptions among both Democrats and Republicans -- indicating that these are "votes of conscience" much more than partisan votes.
OnTheIssues digs up past state legislative voting records when covering new candidates -- all of the records below are for newly-seated U.S. House members or Senate/Governor candidates in the previous election cycle.
OnTheIssues supports non-publication of the mass shooter's name, since one of the stated goals of the Minneapolis shooter was notoriety.
State Legislation on firearms for newly-elected U.S. House members (with party affiliation in state legislatures)
OnTheIssues excerpts the Sunday pundit shows as candidates prepare for the 2026 Senate and Gubernatorial races, as well as some 2025 Mayoral raceas and Cabinet members.
Currently, five separate "talking head" programs appear on five different TV stations every Sunday morning.
Recent sample excerpts below, for all five shows, citing their respective interviewing pundits and each pundit's political affiliation:
ABC This Week: 9 AM - 10 AM EST: (George Stephanopoulos & Martha Raddatz; liberal)
CNN "State of the Union": 9 AM - 1 PM EST: (Dana Bash & Jake Tapper; moderate liberal)
Fox News Sunday: 9 AM EST; plus other pundit shows: (Shannon Bream & Sean Hannity; conservative)
NBC Meet the Press: 9 AM EST; rebroadcast 4 AM Monday: (Kristen Welker; moderate)
CBS Face the Nation: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM EST(Margaret Brennan; moderate)
Elon Musk breaks with Trump: June 28-July 20, 2025
Issue coverage of Musk and The America Party (if it forms)
Elon Musk has entered electoral politics, so OnTheIssues.org will now cover his issue stances.
A rough timeline of the "Trump-Musk fued" and the birth of the America Party:
Jan. 20: Appointed head of DOGE, Department of Government Efficiency
May 30: Musk formally leaves DOGE to return to CEO role.
June 5: Musk proposes "The America Party" targeting swing districts.
June 28: Musk criticizes the "Big Beautiful Bill," Trump's landmark accomplishment.
July 1: Musk offers to finance re-election campaign Rep. Thomas Massie who opposed the BBB.
July 4: Trump considers deporting Musk (who was born in South Africa but is a naturalized U.S. citizen)
July 20: Bloomberg News reports that "Tesla, SpaceX and xAI are struggling to deal with the fallout from Musk's Trump feud"
Elon Musk sometimes agrees with Trump on the issues, and sometimes disagrees; a sampling:
Issues where Elon Musk disagrees with Donald Trump:
New York Sun: I just don't want America to go bankrupt
Politico: Defends H-1B program bringing in high-skilled immigrants
Vox.com: Opposed Trump pulling out of Paris climate agreement
The Mercury News Supported reforming cannabis criminal penalties
Fox News: Opposed bill raising taxes on new wind and solar projects
Issues where Elon Musk agrees with Donald Trump:
FactCheck.org Claimed without evidence that noncitizens are voting
Democratic primary for NYC Mayor: June 14 - 24, 2025
General election for NYC Mayor cmoing November 4
The Democratic primary for NYC mayor will take place on June 24 (early voting began on June 14).
There is no Republican primary for mayor because only one candidate remained on the ballot (there is a Republican primary for City Council).
The Democratic primary will be decided by "ranked choice voting":
each voter ranks up to five candidates on a scale from 1 to 5; the vote transfers to the next-ranked candidate as each candidate is knocked out of the race.
Andrew Cuomo (D): The former Cabinet Secretary resigned as Governor after a scandal in 2021. This mayoral race is his attempt at a comeback after his resignation.
Zohran Mamdani (D): Member of the State Legislature and self-defined as "Pro-Palestinian" and "anti-Zionism", but claims he is not anti-Semitic.
Curtis Sliwa (R): The founder of the Guardian Angels, an NYC vigilante group, was nominated as the Republican nominee (for the November election) when the other contenders withdrew.
Eric Adams (I): The incumbent mayor was elected as a Democrat in 2021, but switched to Independent to avoid the Democratic primary and go straight to the November election.
Upcoming Gubernatorial and Mayoral Primaries: May 31, 2025
Only two states hold gubernatorial primaries in odd-numbered years (NJ and VA) -- all major candidates linked below.
Many cities hold mayoral races in odd-numbered years -- we cover three below (NYC, Jersey City, and Oakland CA)
Excerpts from Governor's late State of the State addresses
Governors' State of the State addresses finish up in March and April.
As with the early SOTS round, we highlight differences between the "left" and "right" stances on key issues -- with Democrat-vs-Republican indicated whether they're on the left or the right, and a non-partisan concluding set of quotes....
Gov. Mike Kehoe (R, MO): Jan. 28: Charge fentanyl dealer with first degree murder if user dies
We found one topic on which governors expressed a bipartisan consensus: banning cellphones in schools.
This was deemed an important enough topic to get into at least 13 State of the State addresses that we found
(Janet Mills and JB Pritzker and 7 other governors too, not listed below).
Presumably that means it will become law this year -- certainly at the state level and perhaps at the federal level.
Reproduction of material from any OnTheIssues.org pages without written permission is
prohibited. Copyright
1999-2025 by Jesse Gordon, OnTheIssues.org , all rights reserved. OnTheIssues.org 1770 Massachusetts Ave. #630, Cambridge MA 02140
E-mail: submit@OnTheIssues.org, Jesse Gordon, editor-in-chief
