Reeling Republicans Prepare to Pick Their House Leader
WHO:
ABC News - Rep. Richard Hudson chaired the National Republican Congressional Committee, which supports Republican House campaigns.
ABC News - Rep. Bryan Steil had won his four previous elections by at least 9 points; former House Speaker Paul Ryan represented his Wisconsin district for two decades, and no Democrat had won it since 1993.
ABC News - The outcome of Steil’s race could affect Wisconsin politics because he was considered a likely future Senate candidate.
ABC News - Brandon Herrera, the Republican candidate in the district vacated by Tony Gonzales, was a gun enthusiast YouTuber with about 4 million subscribers.
ABC News - Rep. Victoria Spartz had sometimes withheld support for legislation until the last minute while seeking concessions from party leaders.
ABC News - Rep. Jeff Van Drew first entered Congress as a conservative Democrat in 2018 and switched parties in 2020 after Trump’s first impeachment.
Alternet - Sen. Ron Johnson said there was corruption “within the Trump administration” and that Republicans should “embrace the enduring principles of our founders, limited government.”
Alternet - Alternet reported that President Trump promoted Stephen Miller, described by the article as the architect of the deportation program.
Alternet - Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) wrote, “We cannot expect different results from the same leaders,” and said he respected Mike Johnson’s decision to step aside.
Alternet - Maine Democrat Troy Jackson defeated Susan Collins, leaving New England without a Republican senator; Maine’s 2nd Congressional District elected former Gov. Paul LePage, the region’s sole Republican member of Congress.
Alternet - Connecticut Republican leaders described Turning Point USA as “a destructive force” “driving us to extinction”; a New York Republican Assembly leader said the state party needs “an enema.”
ABC News - Richard Ojeda, a former Army major, defeated Rep. Richard Hudson in North Carolina’s 9th District.
ABC News - Jessica Killin, a former Army captain, defeated Rep. Jeff Crank in Colorado.
ABC News - Teresa Benitez-Thompson became the first Democrat elected to represent Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District, defeating David Flippo.
ABC News - Mitchell Berman, an emergency room nurse making his first run for office, defeated Rep. Bryan Steil by nearly 4 percentage points.
ABC News - Katy Padilla Stout defeated Brandon Herrera by 8 points in the Texas district vacated by Rep. Tony Gonzales.
ABC News - J.D. Ford defeated Rep. Victoria Spartz by 3.4 percentage points in Indiana.
ABC News - Zack Mullock, Cape May’s Democratic mayor, defeated Rep. Jeff Van Drew in New Jersey.
ABC News - Lindsay James, a Democratic state lawmaker and minister, defeated Joe Mitchell in Iowa.
NBC News - House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he would not run for minority leader and would leave leadership.
NBC News - House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), founding chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, are competing for minority leader. Both are allies of President Trump and unsuccessfully ran for speaker in 2023.
NY Post - Scalise and Jordan are contacting lawmakers, including freshmen, as they seek to lead House Republicans.
NBC News - Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) is seeking to retain the whip post, challenged by August Pfluger (R-Texas), chairman of the Republican Study Committee.
NBC News - House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) faces challenges from Erin Houchin (R-Ind.) and Greg Steube (R-Fla.).
NBC News - Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is running for minority leader; no opponent had announced. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) are expected to retain their leadership posts.
NBC News - Sen. David McCormick (R-Pa.) urged delaying Senate leadership elections. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and four other Senate Republicans asked for discussion and evaluation before the vote.
NBC News - House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, both New York Democrats, are favored for the next House speakership and Senate majority leadership. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said he was listening to calls for him to run against Schumer.
NBC News - Rep.-elect Adam Hamawy (D-N.J.) said progressives were undecided about supporting Jeffries; Sen.-elect Peggy Flanagan (D-Minn.) said she was open to new leadership but had made no commitment.
WHAT:
ABC News - Democrat Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the party’s victories reached “deep red territory.”
ABC News - Leticia Gutierrez said Democrats and donors had considered her Texas race a lost cause and did not invest time, money, or resources in her campaign.
Alternet - The White House sent a memo to more than 3,000 right-wing groups saying it was monitoring their statements, press releases, and media engagements.
ABC News - Democrat Leticia Gutierrez defeated Republican Alex Mealer by a little over 15 points in a Texas congressional district redrawn to favor Republicans.
ABC News - All of Nevada’s congressional seats will be held by Democrats for the first time.
ABC News - Rep. Tony Gonzales declined to seek reelection after acknowledging an affair with a former staff member who later died by suicide.
Fox News - Nebraska’s officially nonpartisan, unicameral legislature was counted among Republican-controlled legislatures because it has a Republican majority.
Fox News - A Fox News voter analysis found that 66% of voters rated the economy positively and 34% negatively at the comparable point in Trump’s first term.
Alternet - Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress and a majority of governorships, according to the article.
Alternet - Connecticut Democrats were projected to hold 32 or 33 of 36 state Senate seats, with one election pending, and as many as 118 of 151 state House seats.
Alternet - Gov. Ned Lamont won a third consecutive term by 18 points, the largest margin by a Democrat since Watergate.
Fox News - A Fox News voter analysis found 79% of voters reported hardship from inflation; three-quarters viewed the economy negatively, and three-quarters were dissatisfied or angry about the country’s direction.
Fox News - Democrats gained control of more state legislatures than Republicans: Democrats control both chambers in 24 states, Republicans in 22; North Carolina and Texas have split legislatures, while Alaska and Georgia races remained pending.
Fox News - Democrats won both legislative chambers in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Arizona and New Hampshire, and flipped the Pennsylvania Senate and the House in Georgia, North Carolina and Texas.
NBC News - House minority leader candidates need a majority of the House Republican conference to win; Senate leadership candidates need a simple majority of the Senate Republican conference.
NBC News - John Barrasso and Tom Cotton are expected to remain the second- and third-ranked Senate Republicans, respectively.
NBC News - Hakeem Jeffries’s top lieutenants Katherine Clark, Pete Aguilar and Ted Lieu are running unopposed for the other top House Democratic leadership posts: majority leader, majority whip and Democratic Caucus chair.
Alternet - Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) joined Ron Johnson in pushing to delay the Senate Republican leadership vote.
Alternet - The senators argued that John Thune’s leadership should be evaluated alongside how aggressively he manages the Senate’s calendar over the next two months.
Alternet - Thune said he was “open to hearing what the arguments are for that” but did not know whether a delay “solves anything,” adding that Republican senators would make the decision.
Alternet - Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) criticized Republican leaders for saying the economy was doing well while housing, grocery, and other costs strained family budgets. He wrote that the median home costs six times the median household income and said, “Gaslighting did not lower the cost of gas, homes, or healthcare.”
NBC News - Jim Jordan argued he was best positioned to combat Democratic investigations of the Trump administration and its allies.
NBC News - John McCormick said, “We need leadership in place fast, but Tuesday is too soon,” and called for Republicans to discuss election results and their agenda before choosing leaders.
NBC News - Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats would work to reach the 218 votes needed for speaker and were confident they would get “to that number and beyond.”
NBC News - House and Senate Republicans planned leadership elections by secret ballot, requiring a simple majority of each conference. House candidates were to address members before an afternoon vote.
Fox News - Ron Johnson and four allies sought to delay Senate GOP leadership elections, calling for a reckoning after election losses.
NBC News - A House Republican backing Jordan said, “We’re ready to move on. We need a pivot,” and added, “Everything is on the table.”
NBC News - Scalise argued he could unite Republican factions against “socialists”; Jordan said he was “battle-tested on the oversight front” and knew “the Democrats’ playbook.”
NBC News - Steube criticized current leaders for choosing “accommodation over conviction.”
NBC News - NBC projected Democrats would win 259 House seats, leaving Jeffries able to withstand roughly 40 defections and still reach the 218 votes needed to become speaker.
WHERE:
ABC News - Richard Ojeda had served at Fort Bragg before running against Hudson in North Carolina’s 9th District.
ABC News - Colorado Springs’ district includes NORAD, Fort Carson, the Air Force Academy, and Focus on the Family.
ABC News - Indiana’s redistricting removed parts of more Democratic-leaning Marion County and added conservative rural areas to Spartz’s district.
NBC News - The leadership elections concern the U.S. House and Senate; Republicans’ votes were to take place in closed-door meetings.
WHEN:
NBC News - House and Senate Republican leadership votes were scheduled for Tuesday; House candidates were to begin making their pitches at 9 a.m. ET.
NBC News - Senate Democrats planned to elect leaders in early December; House Democrats planned to choose their leaders the following week.
NBC News - The House speaker vote was scheduled for Jan. 3.
WHY:
ABC News - The article said young families moving to Colorado Springs were contributing to the city’s shift toward moderation, while Trump’s approach to the military and the Iran war unsettled veterans.
ABC News - Teresa Benitez-Thompson’s opponent David Flippo faced accusations of exaggerating his military record and failing to file required financial disclosures on time; Rep. Mark Amodei declined to endorse Flippo and called him “a fraud.”
Fox News - Fox News voter polling identified concern about inflation and the cost of living, government corruption, the Iran war and negative views of President Trump’s job performance as factors contributing to Democrats’ gains.
Alternet - The article attributed Republican losses partly to Hispanic backlash against Trump’s deportation program and said the White House warned more than 3,000 right-wing groups it was monitoring their statements and media appearances.
ABC News - Republicans’ North Carolina organizations pulled support from Senate candidate Michael Whatley as he struggled against Democrat Roy Cooper.
ABC News - Rep. Ashley Hinson’s decision to run for the Senate left Iowa’s House seat open.
Alternet - The Hill reported that a Senate leadership shake-up could affect efforts to pass President Trump’s agenda before January and Republicans’ strategy to rebuild and reclaim the House majority in 2028.
Alternet - The senators pressing for a delay said they wanted to assess Thune’s leadership and Senate calendar management after President Trump criticized the Senate for “getting nothing passed.”
Fox News - Thomas Massie is reintroducing articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth; the article said House Republicans may not have enough votes to stop them.
NBC News - Republicans were choosing leaders after a major Democratic election victory. McCormick said the party needed to discuss what went wrong, what it stood for, and how to address voters’ concerns.
NBC News - Some Democrats were considering alternative leadership amid grassroots calls for more forceful opposition to Trump and progressive policies.
HOW:
ABC News - Trump visited Dubuque two days before the election to boost turnout for Republican candidate Joe Mitchell in Iowa.
Fox News - Axios reported that 75% of Americans live in a state with a Democratic governor and 53% live in a state where Democrats control both the legislature and governorship.
ABC News - Lindsay James’s Iowa victory was aided by a libertarian and an unaffiliated candidate whose combined vote total exceeded her margin over Mitchell.
NBC News - Five Senate Republicans, led by Ron Johnson, asked Senate Republican Conference Chairman Tom Cotton for “a robust discussion and evaluation” of leadership candidates before the vote.
(UPDATED November 10, 2026 22:59 UTC)
Democrats captured both chambers of Congress, with victories reaching deeply Republican territory nationwide. Mike Johnson is leaving House leadership, as Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan compete. Democrats flipped Nevada’s congressional delegation and won several state legislative chambers.
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(UPDATED November 10, 2026 22:01 UTC)
Democrats captured Congress, while Republicans face leadership contests after Mike Johnson stepped aside. Scalise and Jordan are vying to lead House Republicans. Democrats also gained state legislatures and Maine’s Senate seat, ending New England’s Republican representation.
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(UPDATED November 10, 2026 21:00 UTC)
Democrats won control of Congress and most governorships, while Republican leadership contests intensified. Mike Johnson will leave leadership; Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan are vying to replace him. Senate Republicans are weighing whether to delay their leadership vote amid calls for reflection.
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(UPDATED November 10, 2026 16:02 UTC)
Democrats won several congressional races and expanded control across state legislatures nationwide. House Republicans face a leadership contest as Mike Johnson prepares to leave leadership. Senate Republicans are weighing a delayed leadership vote amid calls to reassess.
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(UPDATED November 10, 2026 14:58 UTC)
House Speaker Mike Johnson is leaving leadership, with Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan competing to replace him. Five Senate Republicans want to delay their leadership vote, while John Thune remains unopposed. Democrats’ Hakeem Jeffries is favored to lead the House, though some progressives are undecided.
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(UPDATED November 10, 2026 14:13 UTC)
Mike Johnson is leaving House Republican leadership, with Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan competing to succeed him. Five Senate Republicans want to delay voting on John Thune’s leadership. Hakeem Jeffries remains Democrats’ favored choice for House speaker, though some progressives are undecided.
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(UPDATED November 10, 2026 13:02 UTC)
Mike Johnson says he’ll leave House Republican leadership, opening a contest between Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan. Five Senate Republicans, led by Ron Johnson, seek discussion before choosing their party’s leaders. Democrats’ Hakeem Jeffries is favored for speaker, while lawmakers weigh calls for alternative leadership.
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(UPDATED November 10, 2026 11:59 UTC)
House Speaker Mike Johnson says he will leave leadership, prompting a contest to lead Republicans. Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan are competing, while some senators urge delaying leadership elections. Democrats are weighing leadership questions after a major election victory, with Hakeem Jeffries favored for speaker.