Former RNC chair: Democrats will ‘probably’ take House control

Former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna McDaniel signaled Tuesday that Democrats were likely to regain control of the House with a week to go before the midterm elections .

“I think the House, you know with three seats that the Dems need to pick up, is probably going to go to the Democrats,” she told CBS News’s Major Garrett. “And right now, all eyes are on the Senate, but certainly the map has expanded and Democrats are feeling bullish.”

The Democratic Party has around an 80 percent chance of retaking control of the lower chamber of Congress, according to Decision Desk HQ’s (DDHQ) latest projection. Democrats have a narrower advantage in the Senate, with DDHQ placing the party’s odds of regaining the majority in the upper chamber at around 57 percent.

McDaniel, who oversaw the RNC from 2017 to 2024, also pointed to President Trump’s recent travel to red states like Kansas, South Carolina, Mississippi and Texas as indications of electoral trouble for Republicans this midterm cycle .

“I know for a fact, you’re not in these states unless there’s a data point that’s driving him to spend time in those states,” she continued. “How many times has he been to Texas? I mean, we shouldn’t be spending $200 million or $300 million in Texas to defend a Senate candidate, so there’s a lot at stake.”

Trump made his fourth visit to the Lone Star State in the past two months on Tuesday for two rallies with the GOP’s Senate nominee, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, in Corpus Christi and Lubbock.

The president’s political PAC, MAGA Inc., has donated millions to support the attorney general in his race against state Rep. James Talarico (D). The Democrat has also raised a significant amount of money throughout his campaign, reporting nearly $10 million in cash on hand in Federal Election Commission filings earlier this month.

Talarico has performed well in polling among likely voters in the state, raising concerns among Republicans that he could be the first Democratic candidate to win a U.S. Senate seat in Texas since 1988.

During the president’s rallies in Texas on Tuesday, Trump criticized the candidate for his stance on issues like immigration and energy and used his preferred nickname for the Democrat, “Talafreako.”

Talarico brushed off the attacks in a Lubbock rally held the same day .

“That’s a lot of Talafreakos in one room,” he told a crowd of supporters before declaring the state was “ready for change.”