The 2018 blue wave is fading — Can Democrats sustain 2026?

The 2018 Blue Wave changed Congress — but eight years later, most of those Democrats are gone. Of the 42 Democrats who flipped Republican-held House seats in 2018, only 14 remain. Some lost reelection, some lost Democratic primaries, some moved to higher office, and others chose to leave. Now, as Democrats try to recreate a 2018-style wave in the 2026 midterms, the party faces a very different electorate.