Axios Hill Leaders

June 18, 2026
Happy Friday! Tonight's edition is 603 words, 2.5 minutes.
- 🎯 New 2026 long shots
- 🛑 House Dems hit a ceiling
💣 Situational awareness: Two Senate Republican committee chairs — Intel Chair Tom Cotton (Ark.) and Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (Miss.) publicly expressed concern today about the U.S.-Iran deal.
- Cotton told Fox News that "certain aspects of this deal are a step in the wrong direction."
- Wicker said in a statement that the deal "negotiates away the victories of Operation Epic Fury."
Programming note: We'll be off tomorrow for Juneteenth and back in your inboxes on Monday.
1 big thing: 🎯 New 2026 long shots

Republicans have stranded nine House Democratic incumbents in districts President Trump carried by double digits in 2024, thanks to the redrawn House map.
- Why it matters: This is the individual lawmaker version of how redistricting has become a powerful firewall for Republicans. It gives the party a way to threaten Democratic seats even if the national environment turns ugly for the GOP.
The big picture: Under the new maps, Democrats are defending 23 House seats that Trump won in 2024, according to an NRCC analysis we viewed.
- Republicans are defending just eight seats that former Vice President Kamala Harris carried last cycle.
- These races will determine which party controls the House and test whether incumbents' personal brands can overcome the new electoral realities created by redistricting.
Zoom in: Cleo Fields (D-La.) is running in a Trump +31.8 district.
- Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) is in a Trump +18.4 district.
- Darren Soto (D-Fla.) is in a Trump +17.8 district.
- Shomari Figures (D-Ala.) is in a Trump +14.3 district.
- Don Davis (D-N.C.) is in a Trump +11.4 district.
- Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) is in a Trump +10.6 district.
- Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) is in a Trump +10.4 district.
- Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) is in a Trump +10.4 district.
- Vicente Gonzalez Jr. (D-Texas) is in a Trump +10.1 district.
Between the lines: Democrats have overperformed in special elections by 13% so far this cycle, according to The Downballot.
- They'll only need to flip three seats to win back the majority next year, compared to the 47 they had to flip in 2018.
What they're saying: "Democrats' path to the majority runs straight through districts that already rejected them," NRCC spokesperson Mike Marinella told us in a statement. "The battlefield has shifted, and they're on the wrong side of it."
- DCCC spokesperson Viet Shelton told us in a statement: "Democrats are poised to retake the House majority, and Republicans know it. It's why they've resorted to trying to rig the midterms through illegal gerrymanders and voter suppression, but it won't work."
— Kate Santaliz
2. 🛑 House Dems hit a ceiling


August's Senate primaries in Michigan and Minnesota will give House Democrats a shot at breaking their 0 for 3 record this year of advancing in statewide races.
Why it matters: Winning a promotion out of the House has been hard for lawmakers from both parties this year.
- House Republicans are 3 for 10 in statewide primaries this year after wins in Georgia, Oklahoma and Alabama. They'd previously lost seven times in a row.
Zoom in: In March, Democratic Reps. Robin Kelly and Raja Krishnamoorthi lost to Lt. Gov Juliana Stratton in the Illinois Senate primary, while Rep. Jasmine Crockett lost to James Talarico, a state lawmaker from Austin, in the Texas Senate primary.
- Next up: Rep. Haley Stevens, a moderate, is competing against a Sen. Bernie Sanders-backed candidate, Abdul El-Sayed, and Mallory McMorrow, a liberal state senator, in Michigan's Aug. 4 Senate primary.
- A week later, Rep. Angie Craig will face off against Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota's Senate primary.
— Kathleen Hunter
This newsletter was edited by Justin Green and copy edited by Kathie Bozanich.
Sign up for Axios Hill Leaders

