Mike Bishop

With 14 months to go before Election Day, the House battleground continues to take shape. Even though there is some uncertainty about what the political climate will look like next fall and whether normal historical midterm trends will hold under President Donald Trump, the House playing field is expanding, almost entirely in the Democrats’ direction.

As we’ve mentioned plenty of times before (and will likely repeat over and over again), history puts the Republican Party at a disadvantage: The president’s party has lost seats in 18 of the last 20 midterm elections, with an average loss of 33 seats. Democrats need to gain 24 seats next year for a majority.

Minnesota Republican Pete Stauber, a St. Louis County commissioner, announced his candidacy for the state’s 8th District on Monday.

House elections in the northern Gopher State district, represented by Democratic-Farmer-Labor Rep. Rick Nolan, have been among the most competitive and expensive in the country for the last two cycles.

Former Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense Elissa Slotkin announced a challenge to Michigan GOP Rep. Mike Bishop in the 8th District Monday.

Slotkin left government service and moved back to her family’s farm in Holly this spring, where she now runs her own consulting firm. 

BY BILL CLARK and TOM WILLIAMS

The Democrats outscored the Republicans to win Roll Call's 56th annual Congressional Baseball Game on Thursday by a score of 11-2. The game at Nationals Park went on in Washington, despite a shooting attack on the Republicans' practice the day before in Virginia that left the third-ranking GOP House member, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, in critical condition. Four others were also injured.

Members of Congress know they could be targets of violence, but they didn’t see it coming at their early morning practice for the Congressional Baseball Game.

“It was absolutely a safe space. We get up at 5:30 in the morning, just to go play baseball,” said Rep. Mike Bishop. “It does rattle your sense of what’s safe and what isn’t.”

BY LINDSEY MCPHERSON AND ERIC GARCIA

Republican congressmen described frantic efforts to find cover as they felt like “sitting ducks” when a gunman opened fire on them during their practice Wednesday in Alexandria, Virginia, for the Congressional Baseball Game.

The political media went into a frenzy last cycle when “Little House on the Prairie” actress and “Dancing With the Stars” contestant Melissa Gilbert decided to run for Congress in Michigan. Even though the Democrat eventually dropped out before she matched up against Republican Rep. Mike Bishop in the general election, it was clear that the media is hungry for any intersection of celebrity and politics.

This cycle, the early going has been meager on the celebrity front, but a handful of contenders have famous connections.

The midterm elections are still nearly a year and a half away, and the political dynamics could yet change, but we shouldn’t ignore the fact that history and the current environment are merging together for a potentially great set of elections for Democrats in November 2018. 

The president’s party has lost House seats in 18 of the last 20 midterm elections, and it’s lost an average of 33 seats in those 18 elections. Democrats need to gain 24 seats in order to take back the majority. 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

The Dubliner and Irish Times are two restaurants right in front of Union Station that are perfect places to celebrate the holiday.

Every year, Roll Call matches members of Congress with the field in the NCAA men’s college basketball championship bracket.