Republicans in the House of Representatives are foreseeing danger in 2018 for their majority, according to The Hill.
As Democrats appear to be gaining enthusiasm, President Donald Trump's approval ratings are low and the GOP-controlled Congress had achieved little in Trump's first days in office.
"If President Trump's popularity remains where it is, that's going to be a really hard thing for Republicans to run on," a former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee aide told The Hill.
"I think the House is in play. You always have to assume the House is in play just because of history," Ronna Romney McDaniel, Republican National Committee chairwoman, also told The Hill.
"So you want to make sure you are running as if you are behind always. We're taking the House very seriously," she said.
Historically, the party in power loses seats in midterm elections, The Hill notes. The GOP has held the majority in the House since 2010, and only lost six seats in 2016.
However, the failure to pass an Obamacare replacement could negatively impact Republicans. "The health debacle is a huge problem for Republicans and compounded by the fact that we don't have anyone to blame anymore," a former National Republican Congressional Committee staff member told The Hill.
The House Freedom Caucus could be instrumental in helping the Republicans. However, the former NRCC staff member said allying with the Caucus could be a bad idea, since they want to get rid of a popular insurance component, coverage of preexisting conditions.
"If we're going to let the Freedom Caucus get (rid) of coverage for preexisting conditions, we might as well give up the House right now. Those TV ads could be deadly," the staff member said.
"A number of things Republicans have proposed … they're totally toxic to older Americans. The number of opportunities the Democrats have may be smaller, but there's still a pathway to the majority," the former DCCC aide said.
To gain the majority in the House, Democrats would need to take 24 seats.
Democrat Jon Ossoff could take one of those 24 seats away from Republicans in Georgia on April 18 in a special election. The seat's former holder, Tom Price, left it vacant after being appointed Trump's Health and Human Services secretary, according to Newsweek.
"We aren't panicking, but there is concern," said Maggie Holliman, Republican state executive committee member, reports Newsweek.
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