The Democratic Party’s worst fears are being realized as several vulnerable House Democrats are abandoning re-election bids in favor of running for higher office, further complicating the map for the Democratic National Committee and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) as they push to flip the U.S. House of Representatives next November.

Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) announced Thursday that he will be opting for a Senate bid rather than run for re-election in the midterms. The announcement follows what was widely viewed as another setback for Democrats after Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) announced that she will not be seeking re-election.

While New Hampshire has stayed loyal to Democrats, albeit by narrow margins, in presidential elections, Republicans will have a strong chance to flip the seat if current polling holds up. Former Republican Governor Chris Sununu, who enjoyed widespread popularity throughout his tenure in office, has long hinted at running for the soon-to-be open seat.

A recent poll from Quantus Insights — one of the most accurate pollsters of the 2024 presidential election — found Sununu leading in a hypothetical matchup with Pappas by a whopping nine-point margin, with 53 percent of respondents expressing support for Sununu compared with just 44 percent for Pappas.

With Pappas now officially in the race, the DNC will be scrambling to prevent a Republican flip in the Granite State’s 1st Congressional District. According to the Cook Partisan Voting Index, the seat currently grades as D+2, placing it well within flip territory in any cycle, but especially without an incumbency advantage.

Pappas campaigns for Hillary Clinton at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire
Photo: Tim Pierce

The Democratic Party’s issues in New Hampshire may not stop with Pappas, as Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH) is also considering a Senate run. While the freshman congresswoman has yet to announce a bid, she has been hosting a number of town hall events across the state in order to gauge interest, according to a report from local outlet Valley News.

Goodlander’s district mirrors the partisan lean of Pappas’ with a D+2 Cook PVI grade and has been listed as a potential flip target by the NRCC.

Back in March, Axios reported that the prospect of vulnerable Democrats leaving their current seats to seek higher office has Democratic Party leaders spooked.“The worst outcome for Jeffries would be multiple House departures for a single Senate seat,” one Capitol Hill source told the outlet.

New Hampshire is not the only seat where Democrats may have to defend vulnerable seats. In Ohio, Rep. Greg Landsman is considering abandoning his swing-district in favor of a statewide election run in 2026. Elsewhere in the Buckeye State, Rep. Emilia Sykes has been meeting with consultants and abortion advocacy groups in order to plan a course for a long shot Senate bid.

Fourth-term Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) has also hinted at a Senate run for another soon-to-be open seat thanks to a retiring Democrat. Speculation over Craig’s potential bid surged last month when she penned an appeal to rural voters in Time magazine.

In Michigan, Kristen McDonald Rivet, another freshman congresswoman, is exploring the possibility of a Senate run herself. Like Craig, McDonald was recently featured with a spotlight piece in The Washington Post.

Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), who is widely viewed as the most vulnerable House Democrat in the nation, has also been linked to a Senate bid in order to challenge longtime Republican incumbent Susan Collins. Golden has represented Maine’s Second Congressional District, a largely rural area, since 2019. The district currently grades as R+6 according to the Cook Partisan Voting Index and was carried by President Trump by nearly 10 percentage points back in November.

“House Democrats are scurrying away from competitive districts like rats fleeing a sinking ship,” NRCC Spokesperson Ben Petersen told Breitbart News. “Democrats’ abandonment of these seats leaves Hakeem Jeffries with a skeleton crew and hands Republicans an open path to flip crucial swing districts without facing entrenched incumbents.”

The NRCC listed all of the aforementioned districts at the top of their list of seats to target in a press release last month.