Every two years, all seats in the House of Representatives are contested.
The current House is composed of 231 Republicans, 201 Democrats, 1 Independent and 2 vacancies. The redestricting in 2002 based on new census data has increased the number of "safe" districts -- districts where an incumbent is almost guaranteed re-election.
An open seat is one where the incumbent is not running for re-election. This is where a change in party is more likely to occur.
This year, there are open seats in 19 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont and Wisconsin.
| Open Democratic Seats |
| District |
Representative |
Status |
| FL-11 |
Jim Davis
Running for Governor |
Candidates:
|
| HI-23 |
Ed Case
Running for Senate |
Candidates:
|
| MD-03 |
Ben Cardin
Running for Senate |
Candidates:
|
| MN-05 |
Martin Olav Sabo
retiring |
Candidates:
|
| NJ-13 |
Bob Menendez
Won Election for Senate |
Candidates:
|
| NY-11 |
Major Owens
retiring |
Candidates:
|
| OH-06 |
Ted Strickland
Running for Governor |
Candidates:
Chuck Blasdel (R) ;
Charlie Wilson (D)
|
| OH-13 |
Sherrod Brown
Running for Senate |
Possible candidates:
Craig Foltin (R) ;
Bill Grace, Tom Sawyer, Betty Sutton (D)
|
| TN-09 |
Harold Ford
Running for Senate |
Possible candidates:
|
| Open Republican Seats |
| District |
Representative |
Status |
| AZ-08 |
Jim Kolbe
retiring |
Possible candidates:
State Rep. Randy Graf, State Rep. Steve Huffman (R),
former state GOP Chair Mike Hellon;
State Sen. Gabrielle Giffords (D)
|
| CA-22 |
Bill Thomas
retiring |
Possible candidates:
|
| CA-50 |
Duke Cunningham
Indicted |
Possible candidates:
State Sen. Bill Morrow, former Congressman Brian Bilbray, former Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian (R) ;
College Professor Francine Busby (D)
|
| CO-05 |
Joel Hefley
retiring |
Possible candidates:
|
| CO-07 |
Bob Beauprez
Running for Governor |
Possible candidates:
Education Official Rick O'Donnell (R) ;
Peggy Lamm, State Sen. Ed Perlmutter (D)
|
| FL-09 |
Mike Bilirakis
retiring |
Possible candidates:
Son and State Legislator Gus Bilirakis (R) ;
County Commissioner Phyllis Busansky (D)
|
| FL-13 |
Katherine Harris
Running for Senate |
Possible candidates:
Vern Buchanan, Tramm Hudson, Nancy Detert. (R) ;
Christine Jennings (D)
|
| IA-01 |
Jim Nussle
Running for Governor |
Possible candidates:
Bill Dix, Brian Kennedy, Mike Whalen (R) ;
Bruce Braley, Rick Dickinson, Bill Gluba (D)
|
| ID-01 |
Butch Otter
Running for Governor |
Possible candidates:
|
| IL-06 |
Henry Hyde
retiring |
Candidates:
Peter Roskam (R) ;
Tammy Duckworth (D)
|
| MN-06 |
Mark Kennedy
Running for Senate |
Possible Candidates:
Michele Bachmann, Jim Knobloch, Phil Krinkie (R) ;
Elwyn Tinklenberg, Patty Wetterling (D)
|
| NE-03 |
Tom Osborne
Running for Governor |
Possible Candidates:
|
| NV-02 |
Jim Gibbons
Running for Governor |
Possible Candidates:
Sharon Angle, Dawn Gibbons, Dean Heller (R) ;
Jill Derby (D)
|
| NY-24 |
Sherwood Boehlert
retiring |
Possible Candidates:
|
| OH-04 |
Michael Oxley
retiring |
Possible Candidates:
|
| OK-05 |
Ernest Istook
Running for Governor |
Possible Candidates:
|
| TN-01 |
Bill Jenkins
retiring |
Possible Candidates:
|
| WI-08 |
Mark Green
Running for Governor |
Possible Candidates:
John Gard, Terri McCormick (R) ;
Steve Kagen, Nancy Nusbaum, Jamie Wall (D)
|
| 1 Open Independent Seats |
| District |
Representative |
Status |
| VT-all |
Bernie Sanders
Running for Senate |
Possible candidates:
Shumlin and Welch (D) ;
Dubie and Rainville (R)
|
