Appropriations chairman says a small number of competitive districts nationwide will make voter turnout decisive in the battle for control of the House.
MOORE — Moments after casting his ballot Tuesday at his polling place in Moore, U.S. Rep. Tom Cole said the battle for control of the U.S. House remains highly competitive despite political conditions that historically favor the party out of power in midterm elections.
“Most midterms work to the advantage of the minority,” said Cole, a Moore Republican and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “I think this is a little different this year, in that there’s not many seats that are contested.”
Cole said only about 40 House districts nationwide are truly competitive, compared with roughly 160 or 170 when he served as chief of staff at the Republican National Committee more than two decades ago. With so few battlegrounds, both parties can focus money and manpower on a limited number of races and recruit strong candidates.
“We have a very good set of candidates in the contested seats,” Cole said. “The Democrats are in the same position.”
While Democrats have maintained an advantage on the generic congressional ballot, Cole said the margin is considerably smaller than it was in 2018, when Democrats regained control of the House during President Donald Trump’s first term.
“The margins aren’t that great,” he said. “We’re very much in the game.”
Cole said the relatively small number of competitive districts means both parties can concentrate resources and mobilize their supporters, making turnout especially important.
“It’s a contest between the two bases, and they’re very evenly divided,” Cole said. “Who gets their people out, I think, will ultimately be the people that win.”
Looking beyond the elections, Cole said the House has moved 11 of its 12 annual appropriations bills out of committee and is ahead of schedule on funding legislation.
“We are actually pretty close to being ready to go,” Cole said.
Even so, he predicted Congress likely will need a continuing resolution to keep the government funded beyond Sept. 30 while the Senate works through its spending bills.
“My guess will be the Senate will not want to do that,” Cole said of completing the appropriations process before the fiscal year ends. “It will pass what’s called a CR, continuing resolution, keep the government funded through some point in November.”
Cole said lawmakers also are expected to continue work on bipartisan housing legislation and monitor developments involving Iran when Congress returns to Washington.
As Oklahoma voters headed to the polls Tuesday, Cole urged them to participate, calling voting a privilege won through generations of sacrifice.
“I just hope people vote,” he said. “So many people have sacrificed over 250 years now so we have the privilege of doing what’s pretty rare around the world, and that’s choosing our leaders.”
